HalWhitewyrm said:
Let me shed some light at least on the lack of podcasting submissions.
Frankly, the submission process for a digitally available product (and while I'm talking about podcasts, I'll include here as well PDF game products) is archaic and ridiculous. Why should I go through the process of burning CDs and mailing them, when I can send an email with download links customized for the submission process?
Because those are the rules of the awards. They are asking you to incur less cost than anyone else. Everyone else is forced to send them copies of their products that vastly exceed the per-product value of a CD and an envelope. If the award is worth so little to you that it is not worth a few dollars to submit your product, then fine -- don't submit. Leave the awards to people who actually value receiving them.
Most academic journals, publishers and awards organizations keep requirements like this in today's electronic age because they weed out people who lack a real interest in submitting their stuff. They typically lack the personnel to read through piles of spam or vet random incompetent crap submitted on a lark. If the opportunity cost of submitting to an awards process is less than that of photocopying your backside at work, what kind of awards process is it going to be? (In addition, it doesn't hurt to have a procedure that forces podcasters to pick their best five episodes in a totally unequivocal way.)
It defeats the basic principle of them being downloadable digital content in the first place.
How fortunate that the ENnie awards don't take a position on that "principle" then.
As a general rule, we had little to no problem (there were some, but that can be covered in another thread) with the fact that we were asked to submit only 6 episodes for review, but the backlash against the submission process was overwhelming.
It sounds to me like the podcasting community wouldn't really value an awards from the ENnies then. If requiring a demonstration of basic competence and commitment to the process is offensive, perhaps it is best that the awards and podcasters come to a parting of the ways.
Why not have your own awards?
And yes, you can argue that why the hell are we making such a big fuss over sending some CDs in the mail when some people have to ship really heavy books. To that I'd say it has to do with the principle
Sorry but these objections don't rise to the level of principle.
This year, with the requirement for the CD, I passed on submitting my show -- I didn't feel comfortable with extending my carbon footprint to mail a CD containing content that is naturally available freely online.
You know: I have little patience for people who hide behind lame environmental rhetoric to make excuses for not having their excrement together.
Many of us podcasters work hard as media,
I'm sorry, I was unaware that how hard the product's creator worked was a factor that judges were supposed to evaluate.
The ENnies are designed to reward quality products. They do not and should not give a damn how hard anyone works.
A number of us, including myself, strive to be professionals in this field
It seems to me that a mark of professionalism is the capacity to meet basic criteria, like being capable financially and physically of mailing out 6 CDs. If fulfilling the basic criteria of an organization with which you are trying to interact is beyond you, I can't really see how professional you could be.
So, for podcasts to be regulated to "fan product" does read like a slap in the face -- after all, there's little difference between a guy in his home making an audio show and a guy in his home making an indie game book. We're both producing independent products for others -- as games or as media.
Podcasters should count themselves lucky that they are being compared to amateurs rather than professionals. Now that a year has passed, let me tell you what I said when I was an ENnies judge last year. I stated that I had listened to the podcasts that were submitted and felt that the category should be removed, that not enough podcasts were up to the standards of the co-op radio show my friends did when they were in high school.
Your category shouldn't even exist. The fact that only a tiny minority of podcasters were capable of amassing the resources to mail out six CDs only confirms the conclusions I reached last year. You people don't want to be up against individuals capable of utilizing postal outlets and stationery stores competently. They'd blow you out of the water.
If it were me in this situation, I can guarantee I would be emailing to have my nomination removed from the ENnies
You would have no choice. If you couldn't afford stamps, my guess is that long distance fees would be out of your reach.
-- I would have submitted for "Best Podcast," not "Best Fan Product."
Well, then you would have realized that because the judges reserve the right to reorder the categories
so as to guarantee that every product submitted is considered, I guess you would never have signed the agreement necessary to enter the awards.
(But, to be fair, that's easy to say as someone who didn't submit because of the archaic CD process.)
The process is brand new. Last year, the judges were forced to comb through dozens of podcasts per nominee. So they changed the procedure so as to force those submitting to select which podcasts they wanted to be judged on.
How nice that an added benefit of this was that people who lack the elementary competence needed to place something in a mailbox with correct postage could be eliminated in the process!
Thank you for last year -- you guys did an amazing job with our category, even with some turbulence that, frankly, y'all took care of fantastically well.
Nice that you're ending on a complimentary note after your litany of complaints.
But I'm afraid your olive branch here only further annoys me. We made bad decisions last year. We should never have let the category go to a vote. And we should never have let the disgraced cheaters fillibuster the awards ceremony (disguised as an awards presentation).