lastcall
OK this whole DD Award thing is new to me and I apologize if this question is in the wrong thread: How exactly do we submit our comic for nomination? Do we need to be nominated by one of our fellow DD peers or something?

There will be a ballot that people fill out. You can't vote for yourself. (At least, that was what was decided both times before.)

It was an email/online form last year and a DD comic/comment thing the year before. JustNoPoint said that he's trying to get a forum set up to do the ballot (but still secret) this year.

Once the voting schedule is announced, you can let your readers know on your comic or wherever. We made a button/banner last year to help people link and get the word out.

usedbooks
There will be a ballot that people fill out. You can't vote for yourself. (At least, that was what was decided both times before.)

It was an email/online form last year and a DD comic/comment thing the year before. JustNoPoint said that he's trying to get a forum set up to do the ballot (but still secret) this year.

Once the voting schedule is announced, you can let your readers know on your comic or wherever. We made a button/banner last year to help people link and get the word out.

Awesome, thanks for the info! :)

I have a question, can people from other sites vote for our comic too? Like family or friends? And do they have to be registered at Drunkduck?

Ryuthehedgewolf
I have a question, can people from other sites vote for our comic too? Like family or friends? And do they have to be registered at Drunkduck?

amanda
I would NOT like to allow non-registered people to vote. These are the Drunk Duck Awards - honoring DD comics... and I think they should be chosen by DD readers, too.

I agree with amanda. It would also reduce chances of ballot stuffing/cheating. If your family/friends do want to vote, they should sign up for an account. ;)

usedbooks
There will be a ballot that people fill out. You can't vote for yourself. (At least, that was what was decided both times before.)

It was an email/online form last year and a DD comic/comment thing the year before. JustNoPoint said that he's trying to get a forum set up to do the ballot (but still secret) this year.

Once the voting schedule is announced, you can let your readers know on your comic or wherever. We made a button/banner last year to help people link and get the word out.

Oooh! This is very good to know! Ahaha, even though I've been on this site for a very long time, I still don't understand how most things work! But I'd like to try and be 'in the loop' this time around. Supporting a community, online or not, is a wonderful thing!

-Opinions/Suggestions-

amanda
*Comics should be judged on content produced since the 2008 Awards, not before.

I do agree on this, though I feel it has some short-comings. A comic should be judged as a whole, not just parts of it. The content before the 2008 Awards should be taken into consideration but not the total basis of it's final score. :3

amanda
*Comics should be primarily on DD, not just mirrored here. Creators should be active on DD - responding to comments, being on the boards, interacting, etc

I'd have to agree on this as well. A creator should make an effort to be part of this community in order to participate in an event that is community-oriented in the first place.

amanda
*A private/hidden/offsite forum for panelists to engage in discussion

This seems like a good idea. Activity on said site would show how dedicated the panelists are to the awards as well as provide a quiet, non-cluttered area for discussion.

amanda
*Panelists are responsible for determining the nominated comics' eligibility in a particular category. If the comic is deemed ineligible or a poor match, the next nominee is pulled up.

This is, most defiantely, a very good suggestion! However, if a miss-match is the case, then perhaps evaluating if it would be suitable for another categoery would be in order? Also, of course, a valid reason should be identified if this were the case.

-

Ah, yes, I know, a very long post. And I appologize if the length and/or content has bothered anyone in anyway. TwT Sorry!! <3

CatCatDragoo
This is, most defiantely, a very good suggestion! However, if a miss-match is the case, then perhaps evaluating if it would be suitable for another categoery would be in order? Also, of course, a valid reason should be identified if this were the case.

This is primarily a popular vote though. If the judges were to just put it in as a runner in another category that would push out a popularly chosen comic as a finalist. If it's nominated by the user's for the other category then that's cool, but if the judges are changing the nominations it undermines the point of the whole nomination process.

lba

CatCatDragoo
This is, most defiantely, a very good suggestion! However, if a miss-match is the case, then perhaps evaluating if it would be suitable for another categoery would be in order? Also, of course, a valid reason should be identified if this were the case.

This is primarily a popular vote though. If the judges were to just put it in as a runner in another category that would push out a popularly chosen comic as a finalist. If it's nominated by the user's for the other category then that's cool, but if the judges are changing the nominations it undermines the point of the whole nomination process.

Oh yes! I see what you mean! Thank you for pointing that out to me. :3 I guess I should of read my post more closely before pitching it out there like that. xD;

Updated the guidelines - mostly clarified some things, actually. We seem to be pretty solid on what we're expecting.

I was thinking about the off-site forum thing. Maybe we can have a couple dedicated people who will accept PQs/emails from people who aren't interested in maintaining another registration? For example, panelist A doesn't want to sign up for another forum, so he/she can PQ me, and I can post for said person?

So, how strict are you guys planning to be on that "keeping an update schedule" rule? Cause I've been known to miss many an update in my day. Also, I can think of some comics on here that are good and active, but appear to have no schedule by which they decide when to update.

Hrm, well... personally, as long as the comic is updating, then it's cool. But unless the comic is *supposed* to be on a once per month or once every two months basis, that's probably too infrequent.

That's something we'll need to hammer out before judging begins, but it really varies by comic. A comic might update once a week, which seems fine until you realize they promise M-F updates. I wouldn't consider that one to be eligible, for example. Maybe that's being mean? I dunno. It's hard to establish a standard that covers all the ground we'll need to cover.

Update schedules and frequency of updates were very thorny issues last year.

At least one comic had not updated during the eligibility period but hastily posted a "vote for me" page just before the deadline. Even though this was clearly nothing but "filler", the judges allowed it to be included.
Another comic which had not updated during the qualifying period was given an award that wasn't even on the ballot list.

It really doesn't matter what eligibility rules you have but, if you are going to have them at all, then in fairness to all the other comics here, they should be properly applied. Comics which do not meet them should be disqualified by the judges, even if their readers do vote for them.

lastcall
OK this whole DD Award thing is new to me and I apologize if this question is in the wrong thread: How exactly do we submit our comic for nomination? Do we need to be nominated by one of our fellow DD peers or something?

Yeah, other people have to nominate you. If it's like last years's awards, they'll be a form you can fill out.

I'm excited about this! Do you guys know when the official nominations will begin?

Korosu, look for the voting to open around the end of July or early August.

amanda
Korosu, look for the voting to open around the end of July or early August.

Oh jeez- Amada- if I can ask for one favor only this would be it.

--Please please make it in that time, cause man, if it was in August that would be so great for me.

I was really worried this would get started when I was away in Japan (June 7th - July 23rd) so this is like the best news ever for me.

THANK YOOOOU. :'D

Also, can't wait, I love the DrunkDuck awards.

I'm definatly sure I can make people vote for ELO a lot so it can finally get in there. (pastel rullleeees!)

amanda
Hrm, well... personally, as long as the comic is updating, then it's cool. But unless the comic is *supposed* to be on a once per month or once every two months basis, that's probably too infrequent.

That's something we'll need to hammer out before judging begins, but it really varies by comic. A comic might update once a week, which seems fine until you realize they promise M-F updates. I wouldn't consider that one to be eligible, for example. Maybe that's being mean? I dunno. It's hard to establish a standard that covers all the ground we'll need to cover.

I don't know if I agree on the missed schedule thing. I don't promise any kind of update schedule so it doesn't even personally affect me personally, but to me it sounds unfair to disqualify an active comic because of schedule misses. To me, if its an active comic, that's all that matters. That's just my opinion though.

So far as specific rules, my two cents.. I would say a comic would have to meet all these criteria to be considered active:

"Did the comic have more than X non-filler updates during the award period?" X being some agreed upon number, I'd say at least 20.

And "Has the comic had a non-filler update in the past X months?" to weed out comics that have stopped becoming active at the time of the awards. You'd probably need an exemption here for completed comics.

Exzachly
I don't know if I agree on the missed schedule thing. I don't promise any kind of update schedule so it doesn't even personally affect me personally, but to me it sounds unfair to disqualify an active comic because of schedule misses. To me, if its an active comic, that's all that matters. That's just my opinion though.

So far as specific rules, my two cents.. I would say a comic would have to meet all these criteria to be considered active:

"Did the comic have more than X non-filler updates during the award period?" X being some agreed upon number, I'd say at least 20.

And "Has the comic had a non-filler update in the past X months?" to weed out comics that have stopped becoming active at the time of the awards. You'd probably need an exemption here for completed comics.

I agree with the above. Many things interfere with a normal update schedule (I'm in this boat right now; waiting on Adobe to send me Photoshop for my new Mac), so it would be nice to give people a little leeway in this regard. :)

Also, how can we ask people to vote for our comic? Will there be some sort of button or banner we can paste into our coding template, or will they be directed to a particular website? How do we make our comic become eligible as a nominee (or does that automatically happen when someone votes for you)? Sorry if I'm asking redundant questions; I'm new at this thing.

No worries, LC. You'll be able to link to the awards once the ballot goes out. It'll probably be www.drunkduck.com/Drunk_Duck_Awards_2009 or something similar.

Shouldn't be a problem to set up a specific "Vote Here!" banner. =D

what if I don't have an update schedule, but I update once or twice (or even thrice!) a week?


I forgot to make an update schedule D:

Kristen Gudsnuk
what if I don't have an update schedule, but I update once or twice (or even thrice!) a week?


I forgot to make an update schedule D:

I think, or at least in my opinion, a random yet regular update schedule still counts, since you are still updating regularly, that rule seems to be more aimed towards people who update a few times and then don't update for another month and people who just update with fillers.

I completely agree, BFF. With the wildly different schedules people keep, it would be close to impossible to have a spelled-out rule about updating. In the initial list-narrowing, I'll try to weed out obvious offenders ^.^

Wow, thanks Amanda. This blog really clears up alot of my questions.

Thanks,
CyberDog out.

Yeah, what cyber said. :) I'm anxious to participate in all this.

...Do you guys need help with judging or banner/button making or anything? I'd love to help out in some form or fashion.

amanda
*Panelists should have a solid forum presence and good reputation

Okay, that's the only rule I don't agree with. "Good reputation", "solid forum presence". That's like saying "You have to be on the forums all of the time AND people have to like you if you want to be a judge/panelist."
Don't panelists discuss which comics deserve winning an award amongst themselves? So why exactly do you need to have a good reputation to have an opinion? That seems a bit facist.
I mean, honestly, let's try to make this blunt: Nobody likes Simon Cowell, but he's a damn good judge. He has a "bad" reputation: Being the jerk of the critique world, BUT people respect, and may even agree, with his judgings.
I just don't think that rule seems right.
Just saying.
Looking forward to the awards, anyway <3333 Can't wait to seee, this will be my first! :D
Totally nominating Ambrosia Syndrome (catcat <33333333)

I absolutely agree with what you're saying, iMimi ^.^ I'll update.

I agree with Mimi. Do the panelists HAVE to be active on the forums to be panelists? What if they're active on Drunk Duck in general, but just not the forums?
Also I'm wondering if a different voting system will be better. Like, people vote for comics in each category, then the top 5 of those from each category go into another round and then people vote for the winners out of the top 5.
That seems more fair to me. I mean, you're going to have bias, but that will happen anyway. I just think the people voting rather than a small panelist of judges voting is more fair.

amanda
I absolutely agree with what you're saying, iMimi ^.^ I'll update.

Thank you ^^ Thught I'd be lectured or flamed. <3333

No worries, iMimi - most of us are nice ^.^

And Emily, I can definitely see what you're saying. We elected to do the final round in a panel form instead of a popular vote since it really would turn into a popularity contest. Then it becomes more "who has more readers" than "who has the best comic."

That being said, if there's enough call for a popular vote next year, then we'll totally do it. OR if there aren't enough panelists this year ^.~ I don't need THAT much power, haha.

Just curious, but does the rule for NOT voting for yourself still stand in any way? (and category)

The rule stands - it's just kind of bad form, you know? ^.^

Understood, because that makes good sense. Thanks!