| CARVIEW |
The Weblog Awards
Fifth Annual Weblog Awards: The 2005 Bloggies
Where can you find the most interesting weblogs? Which blogs have made their mark this year? Who will do anything for a nomination? Those questions will be answered in the one and only...
The Bloggies™ are a set of 30 publicly-chosen awards given to weblog writers and those related to weblogs. This is the fifth ceremony, with previous winners listed on their respective sites: 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. Everyone's invited to take part in the awarding process, so read below to find out how you can nominate and vote for your favorite blogs!
Read the Rules
- A "weblog" is defined as a page with dated entries.
- The contest is open to any weblogs that existed for a period of time during the year 2004, so weblogs that were discontinued during 2004 are also eligible.
- Only one nomination form and one finalist voting form may be submitted per person.
- E-mail addresses are required to vote. You must use your own address.
- If you attempt to submit a second ballot, your first one will be erased.
- In the nomination phase:
- URLs are required (where applicable).
- The maximum number of weblogs you may nominate for a category is three (3) for most categories and four (4) for Weblog of the Year.
- At least three (3) different weblogs total must be nominated.
- You may nominate your own weblog, but the total nominations for your own weblog must be less than one third of your total (legitimate) nominations.
- There is no limit to the number of categories a weblog may be nominated for.
- Nominees have to fit the category they are placed in.
- The system alerts me of suspicious ballots, and I also may exclude ballots when I suspect the voter isn't following the rules. This means no bots.
These rules may change at any time, but they probably won't.
Learn About the Procedure
From Saturday, January 1, 2005 to Monday, January 10, anyone was able to nominate their favorite weblogs.
On Tuesday, January 18, three panels of 50 voters received an e-mail. It listed the weblogs that received the most nominations in ten categories. They had until 10:00 PM EST on Saturday, January 22 to privately submit their five favorites (six for Weblog of the Year) for each category. The five (or six for Weblog of the Year) receiving the most votes became finalists. I (Nikolai Nolan) only voted for the panel in the case of a tie for fifth place.
On Sunday, January 23, the finalists were announced and voting was open again to choose the winners.
Voting closed at 10:00 PM EST on Thursday, February 3. The winners were posted on Monday, March 14.
Come to the Ceremony
The Weblog Awards™ ceremony will be held at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival for the third time in Austin, Texas, USA on Monday, March 14 at 12:30 PM. Webloggers including previous Bloggie™ winners and prize contributors will present certificates and prizes to those present.
Those who aren't attending may join the excitement on IRC, in #BlogIRC on irc.turlyming.com. Winners will be announced live and a play-by-play of the ceremony will be given.
After the ceremony, the results will be posted on this page.
Admire the Prizes
Because of the large amount of categories, I won't personally give a award to every winner, but the Weblog of the Year owner(s) will receive 2,005 US cents (US$20.05).
Also, contributors can donate their own prizes to the category of their choice, and if the contributor has a site, it will be linked from this page. If the contributor is going to SXSW, he/she can also have the privilege of announcing/presenting the category sponsored at the ceremony. To donate one, the contributor can bring it to SXSW, mail it to the winner, or send an online gift certificate or cash to the winner. Prizes that are more creative than my $20 are encouraged.
Send me an e-mail to get your prize added. Sorry, "to be announced" prizes to reserve categories won't be accepted this year. I'll send out a list of winner's e-mails to the contributors after they're announced, but all other prize arrangements will be handled by their respective donators.
Since I intend for the Weblog Awards� to remain an independently-produced ceremony without corporate sponsorship, starting this year I'd like to restrict the contributor links to individuals, non-profit organizations, or companies that contribute to the blog universe in some way.
South by Southwest Interactive offers Bloggie™ finalists a special discount to attend the ceremony in March. The cost of Interactive registration for Bloggie™ finalists is $175.
The Webby Awards offers Bloggie™ finalists free entry in to the Webbys' Blog category.
Lulu will award each Bloggie™ winner a book made from their blog entries.
T-Shirt Humor will award each Bloggie™ winner a "Blog" t-shirt.
Be Current with the Categories
Most categories will remain as they've always been. But because of revision or removal, it's time to bid farewell to:
- Best Weblog Directory or Update Monitor
- Best Programming of a Weblog Site
- Best Weblog About Music
In exchange, these spiffy new categories take their place:
- Best Food Weblog
- Best Entertainment Weblog
- Best Writing of a Weblog
Best Meme
A replicating idea that spread about weblogs.
Prize
US$50 gift certificate to Amazon.com from Andy Wibbels
winner
Flickr
Podcasting
The Grey Album
Is My Blog Burning?
Photo Friday
Best Article or Essay About Weblogs
Prizes
US$20.05 from Hipster Cards
US$20.05 gift certificate to Amazon.com and an "I'm Blogging This" t-shirt from Rogers Cadenhead
Best Web Application for Weblogs
Something that helps you publish, make comments, anything that has to do with developing a weblog.
Prizes
US$20.05 gift certificate to Amazon.com from Playground Finder
Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog
Prize
AUS$20.05 from Ben Hosken
Best Asian Weblog
Weblogs from Asia, not including the Middle East.
Prizes
US$25 from Wacky Stuff
US$15 gift certificate to Amazon.com from The TypePad Users Ring
Best African or Middle Eastern Weblog
Best European Weblog
Weblogs from Europe, not including the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Prize
20.05 Euro, a shipment of gourmet coffee, and an invitation for sightseeing in Dresden from Martin Röll
Best British or Irish Weblog
Weblogs from the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Prizes
£10 and a four-finger Kit Kat from Richard Bloomfield
Schott's Original Miscellany from Sam Breach
Best Latin American Weblog
US$20 gift certificate to Amazon.com from eCuaderno
Best Canadian Weblog
Prizes
CAN$30 gift certificate to the iTunes Music Store from Digital Apoptosis
Souvenir of Canada and entries published into a hand-made book and submitted to the National Archives from Jason Shim
Best American Weblog
Weblogs from the United States.
Prizes
US$20.05 from The Blog Herald
US$20.05 from blahgKarma
US$24 gift certificate to I-Pets.com from Julie
Best Tagline of a Weblog
winner
Dooce: "Not your average clenched-cheek sprint to the bathroom"
Pesky'Apostrophe: "Always better than an unexpected period"
Scaryduck: "Not scary, not a duck"
The Gospel According to Rhys: "Chronologically inept since 2060"
Random Acts of Reality: "Trying to kill as few people as possible..."
Best Photography of a Weblog
Photoblogs and other weblogs that regularly feature photography.
Prizes
A copy of BlogJet from Dmitry Chestnykh
A Lomo LC-A from John Poetzel
US$21.12 from Ron Slattery
Best Non-Weblog Content of a Weblog Site
Many sites contain more that just a weblog. This is for those pages with something extra.
Prize
The Andy Warhol Diaries and The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellows from Johnny America
Best Food Weblog
Prizes
Toast by Nigel Slater from Lisa H.
A large olive oil gift set from Alejandro & Martin
US$15 gift card to the Pier 1 Imports from The TypePad Users Ring
Best Entertainment Weblog
Weblogs about music, movies, television, and/or theater.
Prizes
A package of DVDs and music/film promotional material from The Gate
US$20 gift certificate to the iTunes Music Store from eFanGuide.com
Best Weblog About Politics
Prizes
"History of the Political Parties" print from EchoDitto
US$25 gift card to Barnes & Noble from Wacky Stuff
Best Web Development Weblog
Weblogs completely about Web design and development.
Prizes
One year of Web hosting from xaXax
A free year's listing on Xemion from Bot a Blog
Best Computers or Technology Weblog
Weblogs about computers and/or technology, other than Web design.
Prizes
A copy of BlogJet from Dmitry Chestnykh
US$100 from Wacky Stuff
US$20 from UberGizmo
US$20.05 from Coupon Craze
An iPod Shuffle from dealnews
US$250 from Gadget Madness
US$20 from Bryan Carter
Best Topical Weblog
Weblogs with a definite topic other than the ones in the categories above.
Prize
US$20.05 from Timothy Latz
Best GLBT Weblog
Webloggers in the gay/lesbian/bisexual/ transgendered community.
Prize
Most Humorous Weblog
Prizes
US$20.05 gift certificate to Amazon.com and a PEZ dispenser (candy not included) from Brad Youtz
US$20.05, a copy of Aaron Wall's SEO Book e-book, and a t-shirt from Aaron Wall
US$25 gift card to Barnes & Noble from Wacky Stuff
Best Writing of a Weblog
Weblogs with great writing, from personal journaling to professional journalism.
Prizes
A copy of BlogJet from Dmitry Chestnykh
A hardcover book containing the winner's favorite weblog entries from Kevin Hale
US$150 gift certificate to Amazon.com from Ricky D
US$25 from Poplish
Best Group Weblog
Weblogs written by an exclusive group.
Prize
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, a US$5 gift certificate to McDonald's, and US$8 from Johnny America
Best Community Weblog
Weblogs where everyone is invited to post.
Prizes
US$20.05 from Delight
US$20 from UberGizmo
US$25 gift card to Barnes & Noble from Wacky Stuff
Best-Designed Weblog
Prizes
US$20.05 from Delight
US$50 from Wacky Stuff
For the first runner-up: US$25 gift card to Barnes & Noble from Wacky Stuff
Best-Kept-Secret Weblog
The best underrepresented weblogs.
Prize
US$20.05 from The Blog Herald
US$15 gift certificate to the iTunes Music Store from The TypePad Users Ring
Best New Weblog
Weblogs that began during the year 2004.
Prize
One month's advertising on The Blog Herald from The Blog Herald
US$20.05 from Coupon Craze
For the first runner-up: US$50 from Wacky Stuff
Lifetime Achievement
Webloggers who have been blogging at least since January 1, 2001. This award can only be won once, so Jeffrey Zeldman, Evan Williams, Jason Kottke, and Heather Champ are not eligible.
Prizes
Two registrations for the 2006 South by Southwest Interactive Festival from SXSW
US$50 gift card to Barnes & Noble from Wacky Stuff
Weblog of the Year
This is it: the category for the best weblog overall.
Prizes
US$20.05 from Nikolai Nolan
Two registrations for the 2006 South by Southwest Interactive Festival from SXSW
US$100 from Wacky Stuff
US$20 from Bryan Carter
Blogumentary DVD from Chuck Olsen
For each of the runners-up: US$10 from Coupon Craze