Proposed Changes to the Ninjamatics' Canadian Weblog Awards Category List

For this coming 2012 Ninjamatics' Canadian Weblog Awards season, I am planning on making a few changes to the the categories.

As these Awards grow up and the world of weblogs goes through its own shifts and changes, the categories need a little fine tuning. Some categories in the the 2011 season's categories have proven to be a poor fit for some weblogs, some categories will do better being incorporated into others, and some may or may not need to be in the list at all.

I have come up with a proposed 2012 category list that removes the Microblog category, as microblogging platforms such as Twitter are quite a different animal from weblogs, and they aren't a good fit here. I have combined Business & Career with Military, Arts & Culture with Music, and Gardening with Nature. A new category I am proposing as part of an answer to this question is Disability, although that specific title is tentative.

Here is the proposed Ninjamatics' 2012 Canadian Weblog Awards category list:

Art & Photography / Art et photographie
Arts & Culture / Arts et culture
Best Designed / Meilleur design
Best New Weblog / Meilleur nouveau blogue
Best Written / Meilleurs textes
Business & Career / Affaires et carrières
Comics / Bande dessinée
Crafting / Artisanat
Disability (or Special Needs, maybe?)
Ecology & Social Justice / Écologie et justice sociale
Education / Education
Ex-Pat / Expatriés
Family & Parenting / Famille et enfants
Fashion, Style & Design / Mode, style et design
Feminist / Féminisme
Food & Drink / Cuisine et breuvages
French Language / En français
Group Weblog / Blogue collectif
Health & Wellness / Santé et bien-être
Humour / Humour
LGBTQ / GLBTQ
Life / Mode de vie
Lifetime Achievement / Prix d'excellence pour l'ensemble de son œuvre
Media & Journalism / Médias et journalisme
Nature and Gardening / Nature et Jardinage
Placeblog / Placeblogue
Podcast & Vlog / Podcast et vlog
Political / Politique
Pop Culture & Entertainment / Pop culture et spectacles
Religion, Spirituality & Philosophy / Religion, spiritualité et philosophie
Science, Technology & the Internet / Science, technologie et Internet
Sports, Fitness & Recreation / Sports, condition physique et loisirs
Travel / Voyage
Writing & Literature / Écriture et littérature

What are your thoughts on this list? Are there categories that you think can be added, subtracted, or combined? Do you have any thoughts about the category titles? What should the title be for the Disability category?

A Discussion of the Health & Wellness Category and the Bias Against Disability

I received an interesting comment following our announcement of the Ninjamatics' 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees shortlist, and I think it deserves to be addressed in its own entry. Here is the comment in question:

I wasn't going to say anything but I wonder if there is a strong anti-disabled sentiment amongst the judges, none of the leading disabled bloggers, who were nominated, made it to the finals. Health and wellness, which is supposed to include those with physical disabilities - didn't. Ecology and social justice completely shut out disabled bloggers. They selected a blogger who hasn't blogged for months and excluded disabled bloggers who seriously try to make change every day. I see bias here. The disabled community is familiar with having our voices silenced. I guess maybe I shouldn't be surprised. I call bias.

     – Janet

When I created the Ninjamatics' Canadian Weblog Awards, I spent a lot of time crafting categories that would be inclusive rather than exclusive. I wanted to see both arts and business represented. I wanted to welcome newer bloggers into the fold. I insisted on both LGBT and Feminist categories to represent segments of the population that are often ignored, and when I created the Health & Wellness category, I made it clear that it was a section that welcomed not only blogs about health care work and healthy living but also by those with mental and/or physical disabilities.

The reason I made sure that was clear is because, although I myself am not differently abled, I have an older brother who is, and I've seen firsthand the social and political erasure that takes place. Over the two seasons during which the Awards have been active, there have been a large number of weblogs by disabled bloggers nominated, and that's something I've been really happy to see. Before these awards, I didn't know that there was such a strong community of disabled bloggers out there, and I have been so proud to host links to it that might help to garner it some attention.

Because of my personal interest in the category, I want to see weblogs by disabled bloggers rise to the top of the Health & Wellness category, too, and to further inclusiveness within the Awards, I specifically set up the jury process so that bias could not play out as a major factor in any category throughout the first round of judging. All 461 nominated weblogs were randomly distributed across 46 jurors arranged in approximately 15 groups comprised of three or four jurors each without mention of category distinction. Each weblog was read specifically for its ability to meet the ten criteria used, which includes a score based on usability and accessibility specifically to keep an eye to inclusiveness as a factor in quality.

The first round is contructed in this way — with a large number of jurors and no category distinctions given to further bias the jurors — so that the feminist, LGBTQ, political, disabled, etc. bloggers will have the greatest opportunity to be judged by the greatest number of judges ranging the greatest number of interests without emphasis being placed upon possibly bias-creating category distinctions. A good blog is a good blog when held up against the ten criteria, regardless of its category distinction. To further that cause, I also specifically instructed the jurors to score the weblogs based on the ten criteria alone and not on whether they themselves would be interested in reading the weblog again in the future.

I am definitely not saying that our jurors aren't prone to particular kinds of bias. I am saying that they are, because they're human, which is why the first round of judging is specifically designed as an attempt to remove the effect of that bias on the Awards results. Good weblogs can be lauded because they are good weblogs and not lose out because of an individual juror's bias.

I know that the disabled community is familiar with having their voices silenced, and I do all I can both to have disabled bloggers represented within the Ninjamatics' Canadian Weblog Awards and to keep bias against them out of the jury process.

Since receiving Janet's comment, though, I have spent more time thinking through the Awards' process and categories, as I'm sure you have while reading through this entry, and I am opening up the comments to your thoughts and suggestions. For instance, would it be better to have a category specific to disabilities outside Health & Wellness?

Thank you so much for bringing this up, Janet! I think this has the potential to be a really good discussion.

The Ninjamatics' 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards Nominees Shortlist

The Ninjamatics' 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards' forty-six jurors have completed their first of two rounds of judging!

Over the last two weeks, they poured over the 461 nominated weblogs, measuring the nominees against our ten criteria. They have selected the top five weblogs in each category that will move forward into the final round of the Ninjamatics' 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards. The winners will be picked from this shortlist over the next two weeks.

Without further ado, we are proud to announce the Ninjamatics' 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards Nominees Shortlist!

Best Weblog About Art & Photography
Art et photographie

Ali Does It Herself
Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea
Dream, Create
KellyNeil.com
Tracy Risinger Photography

Best Weblog About Arts & Culture
Arts et culture

Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea
Cocktails & Curtain Calls
East Coast By Choice
Reeder Reads
THE Blog

Best Designed Weblog
Meilleur design

Breathedreamgo
Everybody Likes Sandwiches
No Ordinary Rollercoaster
Tanveer Naseer
Vancity Bride

Best New Weblog (for weblogs created after July 31, 2010)
Meilleur nouveau blogue (blogues créés après le 31 juillet 2010)

The Best of This Life
Dream, Create
Images of Learning Project
Vancity Bride
Vanilla & Spice

Best Written Weblog
Meilleurs textes

The Backseat Stylers
Erica Glasier: Oversocialized!
The Marvelous in Nature
No Ordinary Rollercoaster
Tanveer Naseer

Best Weblog About Business & Career
Affaires et carrières

Danny Brown
Erica Glasier: Oversocialized!
Marcy Kennedy & Lisa Hall-Wilson
The Marketing Boutique
Tanveer Naseer

Best Comics Weblog
Bande dessinée

The Joy of Tech
Slice of Fate
A Softer World
Troops of Doom Comic
Weregeek

Best Weblog About Crafting
Artisanat

Ali Does It Herself
The English Muffin Blog
I Made It So
Lifeologia
Poppytalk

Best Weblog About Ecology & Social Justice
Écologie et justice sociale

Adventures In Local Food
Eco logic
Eco Mama
Eco Yogini
SEWNatural

Best Weblog About Education
Education

Association for Responsive Trusteeship in Calgary Schools
Doug – Off the Record
Images of Learning Project
Teaching By the Book
Terri's Teaching Treasures

Best Weblog by an Ex-Pat
Expatriés

365 Fashion Rehab
Finding Me in France
The Inspired African
montrealzen
Munchkin With Munchkin

Best Weblog About Family & Parenting
Famille et enfants

Coffee With Julie
Crazy Lesbian Mom
Curtains Are Open
Home to Heather
Under the High Chair

Best Weblog About Fashion, Style & Design
Mode, style et design

The Backseat Stylers
Dream, Create
Poppytalk
The Toque Girls
Vancity Bride

Best Feminist Weblog
Féminisme

Brilliant Woman
Gender Focus
Je suis féministe
Morning Quickie
The Spirit That Moves Me

Best Weblog About Food & Drink
Cuisine et breuvages

Ali Does It Herself
Cookin' Canuck
Crumb: A Food Blog
The Kitchen Magpie
Vanilla & Spice

Best French Language Weblog
En français

Le carnet d'Alexandre
Ce que j'ai dans le ventre
Comme la fois où j'ai eu un pogoball
Je suis féministe
Marie Noelle Marineau

Best Weblog About Gardening
Jardinage

Bloomingwriter
The Kitchen Magpie
Strattons Farm
Wall Flower Studio Seeds
You Grow Girl

Best Group Weblog
Blogue collectif

Adventures In Local Food
CornerBrooker.com
Covenant House Vancouver's On the House
Criticize This!
Je suis féministe

Best Weblog About Health & Wellness (includes physical and mental health and disabilities)
Santé et bien-être (incluant santé physique, mentale et handicaps)

Covenant House Vancouver's On the House
Crazy Lesbian Mom
Farewell, Stranger
HealthyBalanceBlog
Weighty Matters

Best Humour Weblog
Humour

Cheaper Than Therapy
creatinglittlemonsters
Embrace the Chaos
Ironic Mom
The Top 7

Best LGBTQ Weblog
GLBTQ

Alfred Lives Here
Crazy Lesbian Mom
Gender Focus
Screw Bronze!
Two Moms to Be

Best Life Weblog
Mode de vie

Casie Stewart: This Is My Life
Coffee With Julie
Curtains Are Open
The Kitchen Magpie
No Ordinary Rollercoaster

Lifetime Achievement Award (for weblogs created before January 1, 2005)
Prix d'excellence pour l'ensemble de son œuvre (blogues créés avant le 1er janvier 2005)

Cheaty Monkey
Coin-Operated Boy
HelloMelissa.net
Urban Daddy
Weighty Matters

Best Media & Journalism Weblog
Médias et journalisme

Criticize This!
iPhone In Canada
MediaBadger
The Movie Blog
Shogun Gamer

Best Microblog (Twitter, Tumblr, Identi.ca, Jaiku, Posterous, etc.)
Microblogue (Twitter, Tumblr, Identi.ca, Jaiku, Posterous, etc.)

@all_caps (twitter)
@hotelqueen (twitter)
@PMHarpersDiary (twitter)
Dear Photograph (tumblr)
ShopMyClothes.com (tumblr)

Best Military Weblog
Armée

Cops and Donuts
A Military Wife's Mayhem
This Is My Blog

Best Weblog About Music
Musique

All Ears
True Vine Productions
Unbrelievable
www.UxbridgeGuitar.com Blog
The WildWorks Station

Best Weblog About Nature
Nature

Le journal d'un pêcheur
The Marvelous in Nature
Memorizing Nature
Strattons Farm
terraculture

Best Placeblog (contains local political/social/arts/community articles about a place)
Placeblogue (contenant des articles sur la politique/vie sociale/arts/communauté dans une localité)

CornerBrooker.com
Covenant House Vancouver's On the House
East Coast By Choice
Hello Ottawa
I Spy Montréal

Best Podcast & Vlog
Podcast et vlog

Audio Smut
Questions and Cocktails

Best Political Weblog
Politique

BC Vote
On Procedure and Politics
Parliamentum
Prairie Dog Magazine's Dog Blog
Russ Campbell's Blog

Best Weblog About Pop Culture & Entertainment
Pop culture et spectacles

Couchtime
Criticize This!
The Movie Blog
Reeder Reads
Shogun Gamer

Best Weblog About Religion, Spirituality & Philosophy
Religion, spiritualité et philosophie

Canadian Atheist
EaglesNest — Adventures In Writing
Emerging Mummy
The Spirit That Moves Me
This Is My Blog

Best Weblog About Science, Technology & the Internet
Science, technologie et Internet

Canadian Reviewer
CMS Critic
Erica Glasier: Oversocialized!
Spydergrrl On the Web
Sync

Best Weblog About Sports, Fitness & Recreation
Sports, condition physique et loisirs

Calgary Playground Review
Faster-Further-Fitter
Long Track Long Shot
Some Good Adventure
The Top 7

Best Weblog About Travel
Voyage

Breathedreamgo
Gourmet Fury
Have Baby Will Travel
Travel With Kevin and Ruth
Where Is Journeywoman?

Best Weblog About Writing & Literature
Écriture et littérature

Calling Shotgun
Ill Seen, Ill Said
Interviews & Reviews
Marcy Kennedy & Lisa Hall-Wilson
THE Blog


Our jurors will be working hard over the next two weeks during the second and final round of judging, and we will announce the winners of the Ninjamatics' 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards on January 31st!

An Ever So Brief Update

The Canadian Weblog Awards have been given a new look!

Our 46 jurors are working away, and they are nearing the end of the first of two rounds of judging!

This kind of excitement calls for exclamation points!

A Revised 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards Schedule. Onward and Upward!

The 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards are still on!

Due to an unusually hectic fall this year at the Canadian Weblog Awards headquarters, there has been quite a delay in processing nominations and moving forward into the judging process, but we are nearly there. The new revised schedule for the awards is as follows:

All nominations will be processed by December 31, 2011.

The top five finalists in each category will be announced on January 15, 2012

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category will be announced on January 31st, 2012.

Thank you so much for your patience in the month delay. We'll see you in January!

We're Getting There, Inch By Inch

This is just a brief note to let everyone know that the 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards are moving along just fine, even if we are a tad behind schedule.

Not to worry, though! Nominations are still being entered, and the jury is being gathered. We're just going to be a little behind our originally planned timeline.

The top five finalists in each category will be announced on December 15th, tentatively. Depending on the jury's availability, the top three winners in each category will be announced either on January 1st or January 15th.

We are just as excited to find out the who's who of quality Canadian blogging as you are, and we can't wait to get this party started begin the jury process over the next couple of weeks. Thank you so much for your patience!

Nominations For The 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards Close At Midnight On October 31st

Nominations for the 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards close at midnight on October 31st! That means that there are about three days left to nominate your favourite Canadian weblogs.

Check out our FAQ and use our handy dandy nomination form to submit your nomination.

During the month of November, our panel of judges will adjudicate the nominated weblogs using our set of 10 criteria to determine the top five weblogs in each of our 37 categories, which will be announced on December 1st. Then, during the month of December, the top fives will be re-adjudicated, and the top first, second, and third places in each category will be announced on January 1, 2012.

So, show a blogger some love and submit your nomination!