SJ Awards '11 Discussion

[RyoSoulreaper]

I like the idea.

It's sort of a way for me to find comics might enjoy but also a medium I use to motivate myself.

Spoiler! :

I will get Desktop nominated one year I swear to god.......

[tezzle]

Thank you for the kind words. Though it's not just the complaints that made me leave. I'll be damned if THAT'S gonna get to me that badly. No way. It just made me stop and think if all in all I was contributing enough to the awards to make it worth the headaches. And really, all I've done is come up with the awards themselves and lay down the first set of rules which will probably go through changes every year. It's the natural evolution of things. I feel like I've done my part.

I wouldn't be surprised if future Committee members also have temporary stays on the board. We all have great ideas and want to have fun with this, why the hell can't everyone take a spin at judging? Trust me fellow SJers, if I can put this kind of stuff together, any one of you could do it just as well. It just takes know-how and a whole lotta moxie, kiddos!

[nousherwan]

I know this is a little off discussion, but how can you be picked for the SJ awards team?

[tezzle]

I know this is a little off discussion, but how can you be picked for the SJ awards team?

Well, ideally the Committee would be made up of several different kinds of webomic artists who each have a proficiency in a specific aspect or genre of comics. Essentially if they're good at what they do, it's an indicator they've got a good eye for objective artistic judgement in one or more categories specifically. Also being a forum regular helps because the other Committee members will already know beforehand if that user's someone they can discuss stuff with and even debate opposing viewpoints with in a civil manner.

That's all I can think of for good qualifying traits. If anyone has any other ideas as to what would make a good member of the Committee, let it be heard.

[eishiya]

I decided back in April that this would be my only year judging. The complains just made me announce my not-return three weeks sooner. Tez and I aren't that soft, haha.

[Afrohawkman]

Heh, y'know, it took me a while to really realize this but "haters gonna hate" is probably the greatest statement I've ever really thought on.

I sat there for a while feeling a little down after the comments being placed on us and how awesome some of the members were for posting such kind words and then a realization caught up to me. Though some the words were indeed a little hurtful, though true in apparently a lot of people's minds, "Why do I care so much?" I asked myself that multiple times and never came up with an answer. True they're very legitimate complaints but why should I let that get to me? Why should I honestly be so upset about something someone I don't even know said? So what they some were insults, what's the big deal?

So I just stopped caring and then "haters gonna hate" came back in my mind and I just laughed. It made me realize something: we were the ones in charge. We were the ones who went through the process of setting this up, reading hundreds of comics, choosing the finalists and setting up the sites. We were the ones who took the advice of many a community member to spruce up our awards and make them great. And our final product? Looks pretty damn fantastic to me. Can't say for other people's opinions but I'm proud of it.

So y'know what? Whatever the result of the vote is I could care less. (I'm still going to honor whatever the decision of the vote is, if that didn't seem clear) The point is that we're the ones in charge of all of it. No matter what goes down in the end, we're the ones who start the show and we're going to be the ones to end it. We love to hear from the community about making it better, but in the end, we're still the ones creating it, not them. We'll keep it fair, of course, but we're not going to let someone push us around like we don't know what we're doing.

Tezzle, we'll be sure to keep the awards alive, though I'm going to need some volunteers to help me out haha. Thanks again everyone for the kind words, we'll try and create an even better awards show next year.

[mosama]

I honestly don't think this community is in the position to be making ANY complaints about something like this. This awards thing is bringing us all together annually, and this site is pretty divided so its nice to actually see everyone come together for this. I can understand if there were more things like this happening- and this was common, THEN random members would have the privilege of making complaints. Right now we don't get things like this- good stuff doesn't happen often here, BASICALLY NOTHING HAPPENS HERE LIKE EVER. AND IM SICK OF IT. so when nice things DO happen everyone needs to stfu, smile, and appreciate these nice things so we can have more nice things. i never go bold- thats how serial i am right now.

and in the end- even with a few haters, this will STILL BE A HUGE SUCCESS. hundreds of members have already voted, people are finding new comics, and tons of people are enjoying the whole thing in general. So you all have done a job well done- regardless of what a few people may have convinced themselves.

[xkrazydog]

*facepalm* i love how suggestions are making you all guys seem up and arms about the butt hurt. There's bumps in everything but really... stop being such drama queens. And they're just that, Suggestions. And some criticism and suggestions shouldn't mean you guys need to gather pity and praise.

[Afrohawkman]

Yeah we'll be quiet now.

Spoiler! :

For about an hour.

[Applekai13]

I for one Very much appreciate the Smackies! Not only does it introduce me to comics that I wouldn't have found otherwise, but it gives me (and many other webcomikers) something else as well.

A Goal.

Even though creating webcomics is fun, it's nice to have something to strive for. For me, it's actually getting to 30 pages, to be eligable! For others, making theirs entertaining enough to get in!

I think the Smackies help improve comics on this site overall, and bring us together like one big Artsy Family!!

Soapbox speech over. :3

[HalfAssedChaos]

Oh Oh! Can I be the gassy uncle who everyone secretly hopes doesn't show up to family events in our Artsy Family!

Pull my finger.

[eishiya]

A small suggestion: I think the category description should be given in the image with the nominees. It seems like a lot of people who go to vote don't actually know what the categories are about because they didn't see/read the earlier News posts, and only see the website.

[.arrow]

I don't really get the whole complaints thing...

I think the awards is a really great idea and a good way to establish and recognise the promising webcomics on here.

Hopefully this doesn't put people off doing it in the future. I for one am interested to see this years winners anyway~

[haganekitsune]

Hoo boy, lots of drama.

I liked the awards (for the most part), and it seemed to be a little better organized than last year's. Most of my thoughts on this whole thing have been said and reiterated by others; though I'd like to suggest that maybe next year, there could be categories for things like, "Best Newcomer" (comics under 1 year old), "Best Long-Running Comic" (over 500 pages?), and perhaps a general achievement award?
As far as general achievement, it might be nice to see someone getting recognition for... Being a bit help in the community, or maybe having done x-number of good comics (or having drawn x-pages)... Getting published... Something that's a big milestone for anyone in a webcomics community! It'd be nice to see some community love going around for something like that, though. :3 Nominations/awards for being awesome and/or helpful, y'know?

[AlkseeyaKC]

I just want to agree with the goal thing. I want to work on my comics template more to make it even cooler to see if I get mentioned next year. XD; I'm sure I can make something freaking amazing. The nominations totally make me want to improve on things in many ways. So thank you for that. =3