Items of Note and Open Forum

There are a few items of note I wanted to mention, as well as addressing a couple concerns raised by a few folks about the awards. Also, please feel free to comment about what you like, dislike or would like to change about this awards process. It is indeed a process, and one that the entire Buddhist blogging community and their readers can most definitely help be a part of! We need to hear what you have to say.

There were a few vocal folks that have raised a concern that they thought these awards are about being the "Best Buddhist." I want to assure everyone, under no uncertain terms, that this is most definitely NOT the case! Just as in years past, these awards are about recognizing excellence in blogging about Buddhism, to introduce blogs that many may not know about to others and to help build a sense of community. Like many other online blogging genres that have their way of recognizing and fostering a better sense of community through recognition, so do us Buddhists. This is about blogging, and is only about Buddhism in so far as that is what flavors how we blog and what we write about. Here are some quotes from the founder of these awards, Tom Armstrong, from previous years' awards.

"The prime purpose of the awards is to introduce Buddhists -- and others with a nascent interest in Buddhism -- to some of the great many excellent, varied Buddhism blogs that are out there, as close as a click away. In the meantime, we bow to the winners, all the nominees, the excellence of Buddhism blogging and the work that buddhobloggers do to bring us information and joy."

"While our very expert blogger jurors have labored mightily and cogitated deeply and voted faithfully to determine "winners" in the midst of plenty, there is no claim that we have found absolute bests nor that there is such a thing as "absolute bests." But it is worthy -- and fun, just fun -- to seek excellence, honor it and encourage it. It is also beneficial, and the prime directive of these awards, to get out The Good News. No, not that Jesus died for your sins, but that there are excellent Buddhism blogs out there that people like you may read for pleasure and information."

• Thanks to a lot of good feedback, a public vote, for a multitude of reasons, on the final five nominees’ in each category probably is not the best route to go. Please feel free to have your say on what you think is the best way to gauge the nominee finalists.

• Just for clarification, while we greatly thank the larger online Buddhist magazine blogs and the like, for their support, promotion and encouragement, the awards themselves will be for smaller individual and group sites and blogs. Perhaps we can do something different for those sites separately to recognize them, but these main awards are to showcase all the wonderfully diverse and sometimes eclectic Buddhist blogs floating out there on this ever growing blog-o-sphere.

• We have already hit the 100 nominations mark, and there is still over three months left to go. We have also hit almost 70 Buddhist blogs/websites added to the new blog directory. So don't forget to put your nomination in for your favorite blogger as well as add any Buddhist related blog/website/journal etc. to the blog directory! (It only takes a few seconds!)

If someone would like to volunteer their time to be an administrator of these awards, please let us know. We could certainly use another person to lend whatever help they would be so kind as to offer. Remember, it is just two of us administrating these awards in our spare time, and is most certainly not run by some large office, corporation or any other such entity.

Thanks, and don't forget to let us know what you have to say!