Israellycool

The 2007 JIB Awards final votes have begun, and thanks to you, my readers, Israellycool has made it through in the following categories:
Best Jewish Humor Blog
Best Pro-Israel Advocacy Blog
Best Jewish Right-Wing Political Blog
Best Contribution / Jewish Blog that Made a Difference
Best Jewish Live Event Coverage Blog-Post

Since I achieved my objective of making it through to the finals, and increasing the exposure of this blog, I am not going to solicit for votes. I will ask you to check out the blogs on display, since you are bound to find a new worthwhile read.

As you probably already know, the 2007 Jewish and Israeli Blog awards are well under way. While there have been a number of hiccups, including the hacking of the JIBs website by a Turkish (Islamic?) group, and a hacking by someone obviously in need of a life, people generally seem to be getting in the right spirit of things.

If you haven’t done already, head on over to the JIBs website and check out the nominated blogs. You might just find a new regular read.

If you do intend on actually voting and you enjoy reading this blog, I encourage you to vote for this blog in the following categories:
Best Overall Blog
Best Humor Blog
Best Pro-Israel Advocacy Blog
Best Right Wing Political Blog
Best Contribution / Blog that Made a Difference

My goal is to have Israellycool make it through to the finals in all of these categories, which will give it more exposure. And for me, that is what these awards are about. So if you agree that it’s worth spreading a bit of Israellycool love, you know what you have to do.

I have been remiss not to point out that nominations for this year’s Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards are open.

Although I am no longer involved with running this competition, I encourage you to check out any nominated blogs that strike your fancy. After all, I conceived of the awards as a fun way to increase the exposure of pro-Israel and Jewish blogs, with the actual competition part a means to this end.

And if want to be more involved, you can always nominate your favorite blogs that qualify for any of the categories.

There are currently a number of posts and comments on a number of blogs accusing me of a number of things related to my past involvement with the Jewish and Israeli Blog (JIB) awards.

While I would love to ignore the comments and be the “bigger” person, the public nature of these comments is forcing me to respond, in order to clear my name.

1. Here is a past post detailing my reasons for starting these awards, as well as the reasons why I gave up my involvement.

I never started the awards for my own benefit, financial or otherwise. I truly saw the power of the internet, and its ability to do good. Being the idealistic fellow that I am, I was willing to volunteer much of my time towards this pursuit. Whether or not these awards achieved their stated purpose could be up for debate. But my motives are not.

I have never expected gratitude for doing this. Neither did I expect to be accused of - amongst other things - corruption, narcissism, lying, and posting on the Jewish Sabbath.

2. Here is a past post detailing why I asked Israel Forum to dissociate their awards from the JIBs. The decision had nothing to do with me “losing control” over the awards. I honestly do not want any control over these awards anymore. I am done with them. That is why I asked for volunteers to take over in the first place. Israel Forum was one such volunteer, but they morphed the awards into something which I felt did not serve the purposes for which they were created. Now there is a new group trying to organize the awards, and my involvement is solely restricted to rebutting the nasty allegations against me.

To those of you who feel the need to drag my name through the mud, pehaps you need reminding that this blog is not the work of some lifeless, unfeeling robot. Just like you, I am flesh and blood, with a life outside of this medium, and family and friends who read blogs and their comments. Your lies can do damage, and that is why I feel compelled to post on this.

If you do not know what I am talking about, I am glad…and sorry for boring the pants off you with this post.

If you do know what I am talking about, I’m sorry you’ve been exposed to the petty and malicious posts/comments on the subject…and sorry for boring the pants off you with this post.

The Third Annual Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards are on their way. The dedicated organizers have already put together a spanking new website, and seem to be progressing along nicely.

But of course, as Bagel Blogger explains, help would be nice.

We have managed to gain some good corporate Sponsors, more are needed.

Each day we sail forward solving navigation problems with our sextant, maintaining direction, resolving programing problems and trying to foresee other complexities before they arise.

We have the need of a creative and well versed writer for Press releases to the media.

There’s a cabin vacant for someone who is not scared of knocking on doors and asking questions, if you’ve got belief in your abilities and you’re looking for a challenge then climb aboard.

It’s only when you take on these responsibilities does the enormity of the situation and the work required become apparent. Akiva, Chaim and Aaron are putting together the graphics and website, there’s a need for a volunteer with possibly PHP experience.

The team could do with some motivated volunteers, if you’ve got a lot to offer including demands on your time, then jump aboard what is going to be the biggest promotional event of the Jewish Blogging World.

I can attest to the amount of work involved, which is a major reason why I decided to step aside for now. So please help if you have the time and inclination.

JBlog Central has already created a JIBs page, as well as a forum for making suggestions, and discussing the upcoming awards.

Please note that I am no longer involved with the JIBs. Which means:
1) Do not ask me any questions pertaining to this year’s awards
2) Feel free to nominate Israellycool when nominations open

In response to my JIB-related post from a few days ago, David of JBlog Central has kindly volunteered to host the awards this year.

He tells me that within the next few days, he will open up a special section of the site for the JIBs, through which anyone can submit suggestions. So Irina and company, here’s your chance.

This post from Lair reminded me that blog awards season is almost upon us. And as the founder of the JIB awards, you are probably possibly wondering what I have in store for this year. The answer is….nothing.

As you know, I handed over hosting duties to the Jerusalem Post last year, but still spent much time setting up the rules, helping gather the nominations, and playing a consulting role. And while it was satisfying to see the JIBs publicized in the print and online versions of one of Israel’s major newspapers, the meanspirited criticisms from blogs such as the inappropriately named Tikkun Olam, and the appropriately named Mentalblog, left a bad taste in my mouth.

Furthermore, you may recall the main purpose behind the JIBs.

The word JIB, besides being an acronym for Jewish and Israeli blog, also represents the small triangular sail of a sailboat, as compared to the main sails. The jib’s role is to direct the wind into the main sail, just like a role of Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel bloggers is to direct world opinion in favor of Israel. And to really stretch the metaphor, the object of these awards is to direct new readers towards Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel blogs. While weblog awards of this kind mean little in the grand scheme of things, they are a fun way to increase blog readership, and, in the case of the JIB Awards, promote Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel blogs.

The exponential growth in the J-Blogosphere has been accompanied by a large increase in the number of J-blogs that do not do much to promote Israel or Judaism. Some even do the opposite, either explicitly or by virtue of petty interblog arguments. And do I even need to mention the instances of bloggers taking the whole competition element too far, feeling the need to badmouth other participants?

All of this, plus the not inconsiderable fact that I hardly have time to sneeze these days, means I will not be associated with the JIBs this year. In fact, given that my Jerusalem Post contact has left the Post, the JIBs may have run their course.

While I would love to see the likes of JBlog Central or JRants resuscitate the JIBs, perhaps the time is ripe for a more Israel advocacy oriented blog awards.