I realize this is short notice, but I wanted to get this in for the first awards and not just do it next time so we were changing things up right out of the gate.
When determining what the original categories should be I wanted to really focus on 'real life' impacts threads can have. I wanted to be sure to represent "this made me really think" or "this affected me in this real way", things that reached beyond the internet and just what the threads are on their own to what certain ones can be in the big picture.
While this is all important, and certainly a major part of why I wanted to create these awards in the first place, we cannot neglect certain value threads have in and of themselves within this virtual community. Therefore I am creating the following category:
Most Significant Thread
A thread that is important to this community historically or for the impact it has to The ToO.
In going over submissions I realized that the original categories didn't really have a place for this kind of thread, but it is an important aspect that definitely should be able to be recognized, so we had to introduce a new category for it.
Because I want to keep the number of categories manageable I didn't want to just add this on, so it will be replacing one of the others. I have chosen to do away with "Most Enlightening Thread" because that can more or less be combined with "Most Inspiring Thread" there is a subtle difference between the two, but not a significant enough one to really need two distinct categories.
Because of this change the 2014 Awards will be slightly delayed from what would have been their usual scheduling in order to make sure everyone has time to submit any new threads they think of, if this new category sparks some new recognition.
Feel more than free to use this extra time to continue suggesting threads for any of the other categories as well, everything is still open at this time.
I have to be honest, I'm a bit disappointed by the lackluster participation this has received thus far after the initial proposal had gotten such enthusiastic support. Is it that people think it would be a cool thing to abstractly 'have' but don't want to be a part of actually doing it? Because this isn't going to work if that's the case. I'm hoping people do want to participate and just need a little reminding or prodding, which this new category addition has provided an opportunity to supply. So please folks, get involved!
The *updated* categories threads may be suggested for:
We can't have too many suggestions, only too few. Do not over think or second guess this; if a thread catches your eye for any reason pm it to me!