Israellycool

The final JIB results are in.  

 

You will notice that votes have been deducted from some of the blogs, with the consequence that some of these results are different from those originally displayed on the JIB Awards voting page. This is due to voter fraud.

 

Even though mainly one blog has been affected, I want to stress that in no way do I suspect the bloggers themselves of perpetrating the fraud. In fact, given their general attitude, as well as their attitude throughout the contest, I have no doubt that it wasn’t them.

 

I also want to stress that I was loathe to deduct the votes, since it has the potential to cause controversy and ill feeling. However, fairness is a vital component of any awards contest. I simply cannot allow the cheats (i.e. fraudulent voters) to get away with it, especially to the detriment of those blogs who did not receive fraudulent votes.

 

Having said that, here are the final results:

 

 

1st   Little Green Footballs

2nd  Power Line

3rd  Winds of Change

 

 

1st   Meryl Yourish

2nd  Jewschool

3rd  Jewlicious

 

 

1st   Jewlicious

2nd  Treppenwitz

3rd  My Urban Kvetch

 

 

1st   Jewschool

All of the ‘finals polls’ are now closed. The provisional results can be viewed here.
 
I will now validate the results. This may take a couple of days.

 

The first, second, and third-place getters for each category will be announced later this week.

Note: This post will remain at the top of the page until the JIB Awards polls have closed 

 

I have already set up the ‘finals’ polls for the JIB Awards.

 

The polls for the final round of voting are now open.

 

All of the finalists can be viewed by clicking here.

 

Alternatively, you can view the finalists for each of the categories by clicking on the corresponding category link:

 

 

I will be opening the polls Polls will be open from Monday morning until Sunday morning (Israel time). Everyone can vote only once for the duration of the awards.

 

If you are a finalist, you can add this icon to your site, and link it to the JIB Awards main page or the voting main page.

 

 

Finally, if you are a potential voter, please have a look at all of the finalists by clicking on the link to their blog. You may just find a very interesting new read.

Up until today, I was pretty satisfied with how the JIB Awards were going.

 

Sure, there was occasional ribbing and a small dose of pettiness, but most of it seemed in good humor.

 

However, after I received an email from one of the most talented Jewish bloggers out there, asking that he be pulled from the contest, I knew things had gone too far.

 

You see, this blogger is going to win his category. By alot. Fair and simple.

 

However, one of his competitors has decided to badmouth his blog. Not only that, but he has cast aspersions on his being Jewish. Perhaps in earnest, or perhaps in jest. It doesn’t really matter, since this kind of thing only serves to cause the exact type of ill feelings that I requested we avoid to begin with.

 

This contest is not about who wins or loses. It is about everyone winning and having fun. It is about recognizing the plethora of Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel blogs out there. So let’s keep it nice. Let’s keep it fun. Let’s keep it real.

Meryl has suggested (well, actually implored) that I only allow everyone to vote only once in the finals voting round, rather than one vote per 24 hours. This suggestion has merits - for a start, it will be easier to identify any cheating.

 

I am torn. I understand where she is coming from, but one vote per 24 hours enables one person to vote for a few blogs in any one category (in case someone has more than one preference). Also, I thought that it may add to the excitement if you can vote a number of times.

 

I am opening up this thread to your comments and suggestions. What do you think is the better option, and why?

Note: This post will remain at the top of the page until the next JIB Awards update

 

The polls for the preliminary round of voting are now open.

 

Click on any link to vote in that poll.

 

 

You can view all polls on one page by clicking here.

 

 

5. You can vote only once in 24 hours.

 

6. Please no cheating. It goes against the spirit of these awards, and ruins the fun for everyone. If I discover any cheating (automatic voting bots or multiple voters in one poll within 24 hours), the voters IP address will be banned, and the number of votes accordingly adjusted.

 

7. I have been very generous in terms of the validity of nominees vis-a-vis their categories. I apologize to the few blogs that have been left out on account of not being an English language blog, or some other reason.

 

Good luck.

Note: This post will remain at the top of the page until the next JIB Awards update

 

I apologize that the polls are not yet up and running. I am just as anxious as you to get the voting started! I was expecting them to be ready this morning Israel time, but alas, there is a glitch. I am working on it, and hope it is sorted out soon.

 

 

Nominations for all categories are now closed.

 

I will now be checking through all the nominations, deciding on their validity for their nominated category(ies), and setting up the polls. This may take some time, but I will aim to have polls ready no later than a week from now.

 

 

A brief word about the voting: Because of the stated aim to publicize as many Jewish/Israeli/Pro-Israel blogs as possible, I will attempt to include as many as possible in the voting. Due to the large number of nominations, I will first put up polls for the preliminary round of voting (to last 5 days). This will only pertain to those categories with more than 12 valid nominations. The top x number of vote-getters for each category will proceed to the ‘finals’ (where x varies across categories, depending on the total number of valid nominations for the category).

 

In the case of the categories with 12 or less valid nominations, there will be no preliminary round of voting. The nominated blogs will progress straight to the ‘finals.’

 

The voting ‘finals’ will be posted after the preliminary voting round, and will last 10 days.

 

 

As you can imagine, I am trying to run a pretty tight ship when it comes to these JIB Awards (ship..jib..get it? - ed.). Since these are the inaugurual awards, I am, to a large extent, learning as I go along, while still trying to be as organized as possible. ‘Situations’ arise, and I attempt to deal with them as best as possible.

 

One potential ’situation’ has arisen, which I have had to deal with. The issue is as follows: the main purpose of these awards is to promote Jewish, Israel, and Israel advocacy blogs. As a result, we have a situation whereby ‘mega’ blogs have been nominated alongside many smaller blogs, in terms of readership and popularity. This may create a “one-horse race” in the voting. The main ‘mega’ blog, LGF, is not a Jewish nor Israeli blog, so some believe it should not be eligible for the Best Overall Blog category.

 

However, given the aim of these awards, Israel advocacy blogs are eligible. To exclude them just because they have a great chance of winning would be unfair, in my opinion. Especially considering the unbelievable job blogs like LGF are doing in spreading the truth about Israel and the Middle East conflict. At the same time, I see that most of you are taking the competition element of these awards very seriously, and want it to be exciting.

 

After much deliberation, and with some wise counsel from my wife, and David Bogner, amongst others, I have decided to do the following:

 

1. Split the Best Overall Blog category into the following two categories:

Best Overall Blog - receives less than 105,000 unique visitors a day

Best Overall ‘Mega’ Blog - receives 105,000 or more unique visits a day

These figures should be verifiable from the Truth Laid Bear traffic ranking, or other stats counters.

 

I know some of you will want to raise this limit, but I have given it much thought already.

 

2. For each category, award Gold (the winner), Silver, and Bronze placings.

 

I believe that this is a fair solution, and in the spirit of the aims of these awards.

 

So here is the new list of categories:

 

Best Overall Blog

Best Overall ‘Mega’ Blog
Best New Blog 2004
Best Group Blog
Best Humor Blog
Best Designed Blog
Best “Life in Israel” Blog
Best Israel Advocacy Blog
Best Politics, Current Affairs, and Academia Blog
Best Personal Blog
Best Jewish Religion Blog
Best Jewish Culture Blog
Best Post by a Jewish Blogger
Best “Series” by a Jewish Blogger

 

Nominations close Sunday 16th January, 9:00am Israel time.

 

 

A huge thank you to Zahava Bogner for designing the logos for the JIB Awards. This is just an example of her amazing graphical work.

 

Here is the logo to place on your site to promote the awards (white background and plain versions):

 

 

 

And here is the logo to place on your site if you have been nominated (white background and plain versions):

 

 

 

These logos have been embedded with the following link to the 2004 JIB Awards Main Page. I recommend that you also link to this page.

 

 

This is the master post for 2004 JIB Awards nominations. You should link to the URL of this post during the nominations phase.

 

To nominate a blog for a particular category, click on the required category link below. You will be taken to a post with instructions. In most cases, you will need to leave the blog name and hyperlinked URL in the comments to the relevant category post.

 

Here are the rules:

 

1. You can nominate a blog in more than one category.

 

However, I ask that you only nominate a blog in a category if it is appropriate. For example, please do not nominate a very new blog for Best Overall.

 

2. A blog should only be nominated once in a category. So before nominating a blog, conduct a quick “find” to determine whether or not it has already been nominated.

 

3. If I believe that a nominated blog does not truly belong in its nominated category, I retain the right to do one of the following:

Move it to a more appropriate category; or

If it does not belong in any of the categories, but does fit the criteria of a Jewish, Israeli or pro-Israel blog, then I will include it in a Best of the Rest category.

If it does not belong in the JIB Awards at all, then I will remove its nomination.

 

4. A blog is ineligible for being nominated if, although it is written by a Jewish blogger, the content of the blog is anti-Israel, or even anti-Semitic.

 

The above does not include blogs which contain earnest discussion about the merits of certain Israeli policies.

 

 

 

The response has been overwhelming, with in excess of 150 nominations so far!

 

- I will attempt to allow all nominees to move to the voting rounds, but it might be necessary to cull some of the lists if there are too many nominations. If I do this, then it will be based on lack of suitability with the category. For instance, someone nominated a blog in the Best Designed Blog category, which is nothing more than a blogger template. This nomination will not be counted. Similarly, there is no way a blog that was started only a few months ago will be allowed for Best Overall blog, unless it has clearly had a profound influence in the blogosphere (based on its traffic, as well as discussions in the blogosphere).

 

- Many people are nominating blogs for a second or third time. This is greatly increasing my workload. Please read the nomination rules above - before nominating a blog in a category, please check that it is not already nominated.

 

- Many people are also not providing hyperlinked URLs as requested. Some did not even provide URLs at all! This is also giving me headaches, so please ensure that you all follow the instructions.

 

- There has been very little bickering or snarkiness, but there has been some. The commenter involved was banned. Please keep these awards light and fun. I do not like banning people, or barking orders. But I will not tolerate any attempts to create ill feelings.

 

- If you disagree with any nominations, please keep it to yourself. I will handle the validity of nominations. I do not have time to discuss these with you. If you disagree with a nomination, let it be reflected in your voting (when the time comes)

 

 

I have been following some of the discussions about these awards. There is a general feeling of excitement and anticipation surrounding them, which is great. And I have not seen too much bickering, except in some of the comments to the nomination posts. But IP banning is a blessed tool, I tell you…

 

One blogger asks:

To answer the first question, the awards themselves do not mean much.

 

Yes, I did just say that.

 

Whatever the results, a blog’s true worth is not reflected by the results of this, or any other, awards. It is reflected by its worth to the people reading each day and the enjoyment it provides to them, as well as its utility in helping people, or otherwise affecting them in a positive way. It is also reflected by its effectiveness as an outlet for the blogger him/herself.

 

Of course, the official “winner” of each category may also be the blog with the most readers, or the blog which has the most profound effect on readers. But it might also be the blog owned by the blogger with the most friends willing to vote, or the blogger who has a bot program to automatically vote (although I am looking into ways to prevent this, and I will crack down hard on any such cheating if it does occur).

 

What I am getting at here is that you should all have alot of fun with these awards. Be competitive in a fun way. But don’t adopt a “win-at-all-costs” approach, which can only create ill feelings.

 

Of course, I do not mean to suggest that winning won’t be advantageous. We are currently designing winner’s logos, and the winning blogs will receive more notice. Not to mention the fact that the winners may also receive more traffic when the winner’s list is posted.

 

To answer the second question, I hope many more people will be reading all of your blogs. After all, this is a major aim of the awards. We are currently only in the nomination phase, but I am sure some of you have already experienced some increase in readership. Come the voting phase(s), and I hope this phenomenom will be even greater. You could all help by bringing these awards to the attention of more high traffic blogs (I have already tried Instapundit, but long-time readers will know that Glenn does not seem to read my emails). If any of you have “inside access” to a high traffic blog, here’s your chance to help!

 

Once again, thanks for getting “into the spirit.” I know I have personally learned about so many new blogs from the nominations, some of which I will likely visit regularly. So I consider myself to have already benefited from these awards.

 

 

Cheese and Crackers, the number 1 ranked blog in terms of traffic at the moment (with almost 500,000 unique visitors a day!) has linked to the JIB Awards!

 

Cheese and Crackers rose to the top of the traffic rankings after becoming the go-to blog for Tsunami footage. (You can read more about it here). I hope that we are able to ride its wave of popularity, and bring much attention to the nominated blogs. Hopefully, this will also lead to the truth about Israel reaching a larger audience.

 

By the way, I should mention that the owner/blogger of Cheese and Crackers, Jordan, specifically agreed to help publicize the JIB Awards since he considers himself pro-Israel, and would love to help out. He also has great recollections of visiting Israel as a child, including tasting some very good chicken shnitzel. See? Who says Israel is all about falafel and shwarma?

 

—-

 

Now Charles has linked. Thanks mate!

 

Welcome Lizardoids. Feel free to make your own nominations. Nominations close in 11 days, and the polls will be open some time after that (tbd).

 

Also feel free to have a look at the currently nominated blogs. You might just find an interesting new read.

Thanks to all for your valuable feedback. The categories have now been closed.

 

Here is the final categories list:

 

Best Overall Blog
Best New Blog 2004
Best Group Blog
Best Humor Blog
Best Designed Blog
Best Life in Israel Blog
Best Israel Advocacy Blog
Best Politics, Current Affairs, and Academia Blog
Best Personal Blog
Best Religion Blog
Best Jewish Culture Blog
Best Post by a Jewish Blogger
Best “Series” by a Jewish Blogger
Best of the Rest (for nominated blogs that do not really fit into their category)

 

I have dispensed with the “one nomination per blog” rule, since after sleeping on this issue, I decided that it would actually entail more work to enforce this rule. Consequently, one blog can be nominated in multiple categories, as long as they are appropriate.

 

On Sunday, G-d willing, I will post the nomination rules and begin the nominations process. Stay tuned.