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?

The Final Jury Round of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards Begins Today

It has been one week since the announcement of the top five finalists in each of the 37 categories in the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards, and I am here to tell you that the response has been tremendous. It's a thrill to see so many good weblogs receive at least some of the attention they deserve for the hard work their respective bloggers put into them.

I just finished dividing up the 37 categories and their five finalists each among 49 jurors across two languages, and, let me tell you, I feel like I have scaled K2 and come back to tell about it.

But, you know what this means, don't you? We are officially in the second and final round of jurying. Our jurors are hard at work reading, watching, analyzing, and tallying to work out the top three weblogs in each category so that we can announce the best of the best on January 1st. The top three in each category will be announced at the stroke of New Years' midnight EST.

Who is going to be out celebrating the New Year and the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards announcement? If you are, I would love it if you would keep me updated about the festivities. On the evening of December 31st/early morning of January 1st, send me photos, video, links, etc. for me to post here. That way, in lieu of a single location recognition of the awards, we can have a cross-Canada celebration from coast to coast.

What do you think? If you have any ideas about how to best go about this, shoot me an e-mail. Let's give Canadian blogging its due!

UPDATE: The People's Choice category, our sole category up for public vote, will have its poll open between December 21st and December 28th.

Help! We Need French Language Jurors!

Help!

Are you fluent in French? Yes? The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards and our 55 French weblogs need your help!

We are presently gathering a jury together first to choose our five finalists and then to rank our top three weblogs in each category between November 1st and December 21st, and, although we have a number of English language jurors, not a single French language or bilingual person has signed up.

If you are fluent in French and would like to make the French end of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards possible – yes, POSSIBLE – please fill out our handy dandy juror application form and help to make this inaugural Canadian Weblog Awards an event that encompasses both of Canada's official languages.

Thank you!

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards Call For Jurors

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards needs you!

I can hardly believe that nine-and-a-half months have already passed since I announced the creation of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards. There are now approximately 400 weblogs nominated across 37 categories, which is a phenomenal turnout, and with October 31st, the deadline for nominations, fast approaching, we need some discerning individuals to help us find the best of the best. This is where you come in.

Are you a blogger, or are you a blog reader? Are you Canadian, or are you from another country? Whether you blog or just love reading blogs, whether you are Canadian or not, the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards might have a spot saved just for you. We need people of all ages, genders, education levels, and professions, so if you are wondering if you have what we are looking for, don't worry. You do.

Please fill out the juror application form below and pass it along to anyone you know who might be interested by October 21st!

I feel like this baby's really getting up and walking. Aw. *sniff*

We Want Your Weblog Tool Reviews and How-Tos!

Hello! I took a short semi-vacation over this last week in order to concentrate more fully on certain projects, and I missed this place entirely too much. In fact, I had my fingers hovering over the keys here on Wednesday of last week, ready to dive in for a couple of hours, but I conjured up some self-discipline and stepped away from the laptop.

But now I'm back! And I have opportunity to offer you!

Aside from articles here at the Canadian Weblog Awards about site-specific business, interviews with nominees, and upcoming pieces about how to build a better weblog, I want you to share your knowledge about the blogging tools you use to create your weblogs.

Do you use Blogger, WordPress, Squarespace, or self-host your weblog? Where do you host your images? What photography tips do you have for the images you use in your weblog entries? What do you use to help you with the design elements of your weblog? What features do you like and which could use some changes? How do you use said tools in the service of your blogging?

Send all reviews and how-tos as an e-mail attachment to schmutzie [at] gmail [dot] com. All articles are subject to review and minimal grammatical/visual editing. If you are unsure of your idea or have any other questions, feel free to shoot me an e-mail so we can put our heads together.

These are our tools of the trade, so let's help each other get the most out of them. If you would like to write a 250 to 15000-word article about a weblog-related tool at the Canadian Weblog Awards, we would welcome your review and/or how-to. Have at it!

----------------------------------------

PS. The Canadian Weblog Awards has a new button!

<a href="http://www.canadianweblogawards.com" title="2010 Canadian Weblog Awards"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/schmutzie_pickles/buttons/2010cwa_wedoblogginggood.png" border="0" alt="2010 Canadian Weblog Awards" /></a>

Feel free to copy and paste the above code for use in your own weblog.

This button was originally created as an ad to promote the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards at Life As A Human:

Life As A Human is a lifezine that explores, celebrates and discusses the weird, wonderful, challenging, funny and poignant experience of being human. We feature a diversity of inspired writing that creatively probes the status quo – and the fascinating nooks and crannies of our human experience.

Life As A Human is a Canada-based supporter of life writing, including my own, so check them out!

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards Has A Twibbon!

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards has discovered the twibbon, and it has deemed the twibbon good.

What is a twibbon, you ask?

Twibbon is the easiest and most powerful way to promote awareness of your cause on Twitter. The service overlays a small icon onto supporters’ profile images to create a 'Twibbon', making an impactful online statement.

What this means for us is that we can affix a twibbon to our avatars to declare our affiliation as supporters and/or nominees of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

For example, here is my original Twitter avatar:

And here is my Twitter avatar with the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards twibbon:

See? It just adds a little logo in the bottom right corner of your avatar to show your support and/or awesomeness. If you are so moved, head on over, grab a twibbon, and keep spreading the CWA word!

There Is Now an iPhone App for the Canadian Weblog Awards

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards?

There's an app for that!

The 2010 CWA iPhone app is a very simple app that allows users to access the Canadian Weblog Awards weblog entries, Twitter stream, and Facebook page updates from one location. Also, it's free!

So, if you are an iPhone user, you can now access the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards here, there, and everywhere with ease. I do.