PDF Awards?

ArthurQ said:
Hrm, actually, i disagree. I think it should be restricted to pdfs. And open to expand on other secure mediums when they become popular.
What is it about Adobe's (privately owned and heavily use-restricted) format that's so much better than a text file? I mean, other than being prettier? (Edited to clarify: or for that matter, some HTML and images, all hyperlinked together? These are primarily content awards, right?)

And of course if you're open to future formats, then it's obvious that the acronym "PDF" shouldn't be anywhere in the awards.
 
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Prest0 said:
I spent 30 minutes trying to come up with other names, but still like these two the best.

As far as how voting should be conducted, I agree that anyone with a stake in the awards shouldn't be voting. One thought is that you could recruit from print publishers in addition to reviewers. (Granted, some of them also e-publish as well). As previously stated, keeping it in the industry means judges who understand the work that goes into a production. I'd also recommend a large panel--something in the neighborhood of 15-20 judges. It may be harder to reach a consensus, but it should also minimize heckling about judge bias.

It seems to me that to keep this thing going from year to year it's going to need a permanent sponsor. The most logical choice would be some sort of industry guild or association. Does an e-(game) publisher association already exist? If not, maybe we need to talk about forming one. One with officers and dues. If each publisher ponied up something like $25 a year, there are hundreds of companies that specialize in taking care of the adminitrative side of running an association. They maintain the association website, process member dues, etc.

Whether or not we create a formal guild, the awards will need a council of organizers. That's partially what we're all doing here on the forums, but at the end of the day someone still has to 1) make the final decision, and 2) execute the plan.

That's my $0.02

Forming a guild or association of some sort is a good idea, however, getting people to help out in the long run would be the hard part.

Question is, what would the guild offer aside from the E-wards? Pre-release reviewing, help with marketing?
 

I think that restricting it to "pdf's" (for the moment) is a good idea because it raises the bar a bit. Anybody can paste together a .doc or .rtf file.

I dont know any professionals that release anything in txt or .doc or rtf.

Granted some do in .html. I wouldnt disagree that a really good html thats hyperlinked together wouldnt be valid. (For example the SRDs that were created for a contest.)

And for the record, there are free and legal programs out there that create pdfs. They dont have as many options as adobe however, but thats not my point.

A pdf establishes a certain quality that will be required for the awards.

YMMV and its just IMO though.
 

Maybe there can be a panel of "celebrity" judges. People who we all respect. Obviously they would not have to have anything in the program, but there have to be tons of RPG legends out there who are not going to have anything in this program.

Gary Gygax
Steve Jackson
Justin Achilli
Frank Chadwick
James Ernest

Just to name some.

People involved in the industry but not necessarily the "e" industry could help make the awards mean that much more.
 

annadobritt said:
Forming a guild or association of some sort is a good idea, however, getting people to help out in the long run would be the hard part.

Question is, what would the guild offer aside from the E-wards? Pre-release reviewing, help with marketing?

What? You expect me to come up with everything? Sheesh! :D

There would absolutely have to be tangible benefits to membership. Access to the e-Wards would be one such benefit. Others (off the top of my balding head) .... lower negotiated rates from certain artists? (essentially a "bulk rate") A guild reviewer? Negotiated rates for professional marketing advice?

It's a matter of asking ourselves what the hot topics are for the industryand how a guild could help make inroads in those areas.

To start a guild, we'd need to set up a volunteer council of 4-6 people. That council would draft a statement of purpose, solicit members, and organize elections. The elected officers would then be responsible for drafting and implementing the guild's initiatives for the year.
 

smokewolf said:
Maybe there can be a panel of "celebrity" judges. People who we all respect.
(snip)
People involved in the industry but not necessarily the "e" industry could help make the awards mean that much more.

I second that! If we want the award to carry weight, we need well-known, well-respected judges. AND we need to make sure the word gets out to "the press".
 

annadobritt said:
Forming a guild or association of some sort is a good idea, however, getting people to help out in the long run would be the hard part.

Question is, what would the guild offer aside from the E-wards? Pre-release reviewing, help with marketing?

The first and simplest means that such a guild could provide is a logo that would link all of us together. In many cases, some consumers may see the logo on a product and realise: "Hey, I've bought PDFs (or whichever) with that on their before and they were good." Link all of us together and use them to promote our products. It might be able to help bring some serious recognition in a market for which we're all fighting for a piece.
 

Warden said:
The first and simplest means that such a guild could provide is a logo that would link all of us together. (snip)

That's certainly a possibility. For such a brand to be effective it's got to stand for something--namely, quality. That means the guild would have to enforce quality standards among members (or at least ones who choose to use the logo). Personally I have zero problem with that, but I could see how it could rub a lot of people the wrong way. Not to mention the slippery matter of coming up with standards everyone agrees on. Maybe that should be a Year 2 initiative. :)
 

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