Earlier today, the
Full Eligibility List for the
6th Annual, 2013 LAMMY Awards was published.
The
LAMMYs (not to be confused with the
Lammys), are awards held annually by the
Large Association of Movie Blogs'—of which this blog is a proud member—to honor and recognize the best it has to offer in 18 different categories.
Currently, the rapidly growing organization represents over 1,000 active blogs, of which a total of
297 were made eligible for this year's awards via a three week long
open submission process.
Although this is the third year that my blog is eligible for participation, and I have one previous nomination. This will be the first time in which I'll be actively taking part throughout the entire process.
It's a big personal step, because I'm not at all the type to stand on the podium and campaign for myself. That, and up till now I've never really felt that I was 'the best' out of any of the available categories. But, now that I'm a little more established and comfortable with my place in the blogosphere; and seeing the many positive changes made to the rules and organization of this year's awards, I figure it will be fun to give it a go. At the very least, it will be an excellent opportunity to discover a few blogs I may have overlooked, and maybe get some new readers too.
First I would like to give a huge thank you to my fellow peers who graciously submitted me for consideration:
If you aren't familiar with their blogs, please check them out before you cast your ballots.
Thanks mostly to the names above,
Bonjour Tristesse the blog, as well as my blogging alter ego, are in contention for a nomination in seven different categories:
- Best Blog (78 eligible, 10 nominees)
- Best Design (35 eligible, 5 nominees)
- Best Film Festival and Convention Coverage (19 eligible, 5 nominees)
- Best Awards Coverage (19 eligible, 5 nominees)
- Best Movie Genre Blog (24 eligible, 5 nominees)
- Most Knowledgeable Writer (46 eligible, 5 nominees)
- Best Community Builder (28 eligible, 5 nominees)
Obviously my chances are better for some of these than in others:
The long list for
Best Blog has an intimidating lineup of 78 names with some real powerhouses included, I have no illusions or aspirations for that one; I'm just happy somebody out there felt my blog was worthy of inclusion. I feel the same way about
Most Knowledgeable Writer. That's an attribute of mine that is strong in certain places but overall I feel is currently no match for most of the other brainiacs in the list.
The ones I'm most confident about are
Best Film Festival and Convention Coverage and
Best Awards Coverage. I was the runner-up last year, when these two awards were combined into a single category, and I feel my overall coverage has improved since then, especially my comprehensive coverage of
VIFF 2012, and my unrivaled look at the Oscars
Foreign Film contenders. Additionally, last year's winner,
Never Too Early Movie Predictions, is ineligible this year because he is now one of the official LAMMY moderators. The mathematical chances also look pretty good here with only 19 blogs in each category. However, they are certainly not a lock, because there are still several impressive blogs in the running for both categories.
Best Movie Genre Blog is a brand new award this year,
and it's an eclectic and unpredictable mix of blogs with a main focus
on a specific genre that is not Horror and not Classic Films. I like the
concept of this award because it gives all us niche blogs that don't
fit into the other more popular categories a chance and also hopefully
gain some new like-minded readers.
Best Design is the only award out of all eighteen, where I think there is one clear front runner: Sati's
Cinematic Corner. A popular and absolutely gorgeous looking blog that deserves all the praise and more. The list is also full of other blogs (including last year's winner
French Toast Sunday) where it's immediately noticeable, the impressive amount of time and effort put into their layout and design. Nevertheless, design is an aspect of my blog that I am proud of; the unique overall look and feel, the ease of navigation, and particularly the amount of custom widgets and functionality I have implemented to go beyond the limits of a Blogger powered blog.
The final award I am eligible for is
Best Community Builder or the
"Burman Award", as it has been unofficially dubbed, in honor of The LAMB's Shepherd,
Joel Burman. This award is one that's open to a very broad range of interpretation. How do you really quantify and compare community building in a meaningful way? Still, I guess I can list the deeds I've done to help the greater good over the past twelve months while asking and expecting nothing in return:
- I've donated my time to design and implement the current LAMB site, migrating it from Blogger to a self hosted WordPress installation, and I voluntarily maintain it as well as troubleshoot any problems that may arise.
- A less visible contribution, but one I think is even more important: I created the database behind the LAMBTable, an application that helps Joel manage the ever growing membership, and frees up his time to improve and promote the LAMB instead of tedious bookkeeping.
- I also regularly make myself available and try my best to assist any and all who ask for help or advice of a technical nature, whether it be via email, on Twitter, in the LAMB forums, or on my auxilliary blog Stupid Blog Tricks.
In closing I'll leave you with this, my very first FYC poster: