By The Way...

Now that the nominees for the Vivi are out, it's time to vote! This entry will tell you where and how to vote (that is, it will tell you manage the process -- you get to choose who you want to win, of course). Voting goes through 10/30 (it says November 30 on the entry right now, but I'm pretty sure that'll be corrected soon). Good luck to all the nominees!

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• #9 Comment from rrveh1 
  10/25/05 4:35 PM | Permalink

  I stand by my original  quote about AOL Journals Community,
  (First Year Celebration,)
  July - August 2004:
  
           "Every AOL JOURNAL is a STAR in the AOL Journals Sky!" _rRose
                                                                                   
  
  I would very much appreciate an AOL ALERT when a NEW JOURNAL is introduced into the AOL Journals Community.
  
  These peer spotlights are nice and major
  kudos to Patrick - "Patrick's Place" and others involved in this award process.
  Indeed, a lot of effort to bring the project together!
  
                      Best of Luck to all!
  
                                                 No Vote - No Complaint!  :)  
  
  During ol' voting times in The Virginias, good ol' boys,
  mountain moonshine (drink), and a wad of money did
  a lot of talking and vote buys behind the voting sites. :) _rRose  
  
  http://journals.aol.com/rrveh1/WAIT-NOTYET-/
  
  
• #8 Comment from monponsett 
  10/25/05 4:26 PM | Permalink

  I use John's comments to find journals to check out, and then I go to other journals from a link I find there.
  
  You can go to the Journals page and do a search (sports, Iraq, etc...). It's kind of a blind faith process, going by Journal name and description... but it keeps me busy.
  
  As for the Awards, I can only think to my time running WOWTOWN. The people there were divided between the people "in charge" at the moment, the people who used to be in charge, and the people who would one day come to take charge.
  
  I made a point somewhere about a Jethro Tull- style Grammy win, where a less deserving challenger (I'm thinking Metallica, 1988 or so?) is knocked off by someone who has been around a while, and knows all the judges.
  
  What I failed to see myself was that Metallica's time did indeed come after Jethro Tull's... most likely at the expense of a lesser known band that will- if they really deserve it- will get their Grammy once they've paid some dues.
  
  People should enjoy this, though... I added about 20 Journals to my favorites just researching the ballot. While I'm not above voting for myself... I did nominate the journals that I'm pretty sure will beat me in the end. I expect Alex to win, although I feel Sportz is the best... but I voted for me.  
  
  :-)
  
  
• #7 Comment from nzforme 
  10/25/05 4:16 PM | Permalink

  Y'know, I have a few ideas for how I'd "improve" the awards.  But, frankly, since I'm not the one busting my butt compiling votes in a zillion different categories as a (completely unpaid and largely unacknowledged) labor of love for this community, I'm gonna keep my yap shut.
  
  Know what?  There's over 100,000 journals on AOL.  (I know this because I went to the hometown search page and searched for journals with the word "journal" in them.  Pulled up 116,869 of them.)  If you want to paw through all those journals to find some more you think are worthy of attention, do so.  But, seeing as I don't have the time to put in that kind of effort, I'm going to rely on the rest of the community -- through links and the journals they have collectively singled out for awards -- to tip me off to some of the good ones I haven't seen yet.
  
  A last thought.  AOL-J is basically a "build your own community" sort of deal.  You want a place where new journals can be acknowledged?  Here's an idea:  Start a journal called "New Journal Links."  Invite people who have just started journals to post a comment there with a link to their journal and a brief description.  Ask folks (like Mr. Scalzi here, and some of the other "popular" journals who you know get read by a lot of people) to link to that journal to get the word out.  I expect that, in a fairly short amount of time, word will get out and as new people join the community, they'll add their links to your journal.  You can even "spotlight" new journals that you think are of particular interest.
  
  In short, rather than complaining that the current system isn't what you'd like to see, try offering up an alternative of what you WOULD like to see.
• #6 Comment from andreakingme 
  10/25/05 3:47 PM | Permalink

  What the hey.
  
  << these are SO beyond dumb, award for excellence??? pish!where is the standard for a journal??, where are the rules for formatting& writing??, call it what it freakin is a popularity contest!!! >>
  
  Okay! It is, it is, it IS. But I wouldn't call the awards a dumb idea, not when the ulterior motive is to introduce people to Journals they haven't yet seen. That's why Vivian came up with the idea in the first place ... back in 2003 when we were all scrounging around for new Journals to read.
  
  Things have sure changed, though. Now there are Journals bursting out the seams and who can keep up with them all? I just saw one today from FRANCE.
  
  Yours,
  One of the Tired Oldies
  ;-P
  
  http://journals.aol.com/andreakingme/Unhinged
  
• #5 Comment from elleme2 
  10/25/05 2:29 PM | Permalink

  Tantrums and hissing aside, I do think Julie has a good idea.  AOL does not make it easy to find any journal (possible, but not easy) unless you know the name of either the journal or the writer.  Nearly all of those I've found have been through links in existing journals and/or comments, so my exploration is limited to those connected in some way to journals I already know about.  The VIVI Award nominations have expanded that list but I'm sure there are many more I would find interesting if I knew of their existence.  
  
  I think the idea of posting an easily accessible list of new journals on a regular basis is an excellent one.