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> > Well, I couldn't remember any others that weren't in the
> > database. Thus,
> > it's important to put them in the database.
>
> >Hmm, somehow I do not feel able to put
> my thoughts into the database
> (aside of the quotation memos).
> My thoughts are too long and too many
> of my opinions are aside of the mainstream ;-)
> I believe I would inundate the database with my suggestions.
>
> >If you really want my suggestions in the database
> please repeat your request
> (the one tree categorization scheme would be one
> of them though already nixed).
>
> Yes, I do want them in the database (boil them down to a statement)
>

Hi Ainaechoiriel,
I found some time to put some more suggestions into the database.
Some are only variations to a theme (banners).
One I commented as already a nixed (one-tree-categorisation)
as this one is dear to _my_ heart.
I added it to remember it is nixed.

Concerning banners, I know you prefer artistical variation,
but I am a person who prefers a stringent categorisation
as well as a standard design in which only the pictures vary ;-)
(I have scientifical mind, I studied physics. Moreover, I think
that artists can work also within standard designs.
I even would prefer the text not to obscure the picture.)
I am in favour of corporate design to permit
an instant recognition of MEFAwards.
Many banners reminded me of icons for websites.

Thus, I wrote into the database suggestions
that are important for me
but probably not for anybody else ;-)

Feel free to nix or delete what you want.

ordered alphabetically:

award banners should identify the respective subcategory and rank per
standard
- here I meant that subcategory and rank should be set with
normal-sized characters aside of or into the picture.
In contrast to what was done now, I personally would give
the LoTR-relevant names in smaller character size or not at all on the
banner.

banners: evenly coloured frames as background for text aside of the picture

- I prefer the text not to obscure the picture and to allow a more congruent
design
via the arrangement of frame (size and placing) and picture

copying to generate author comments allowed (though preferably with
alterations)
- this was already discussed but I did not find it in the database


each artist should provide one complete set of banners per subcategory

- again, I am all for an as congruent set of banners as possible ;-)

initialize beginnings for corporate design for MEFAwards banners
- see above

make the banners a bit more congruent (size, characters)
- the least possible restriction would be a standard size,
which is something you favoured if I remember rightly.
As you wanted flowery characters for romances and other styles
for other categories my suggestion is already too restrictive,
but I am really in favour of a standard character style.
I think one could find a style that could cover romance
as well as horror.

only one catergory tree branching out to all subcategories no
yes
- is already nixed (but dear to my heart)

spawn subcats to achieve an evenly distribution of fics (5-15?) per
subcategory
- here I mean that we should not have categories of 5 fics
and others of 20 fics as this weighs the ranked stories
quite differently (I would even support an upper limit of 10 stories)
I think one should be flexible: if another subcategory could become viable
then cut at 10 otherwise cut at 15. That means:
with 17 fics in a category one has to open another subcategory,
with 13 fics in a category one has to look
if one finds another existing subcategory where 1-3 of the fics could fit
in,
or one has to open another subcategory wherein at least 5 fics could be
fitted
leaving 8 fics in the original category,
or one leaves the situation as it is.

vote for one complete set of banners to avoid incongruities
- again my preference for categorization and corporate design ;-)
although the Award banners of the different ranks
will be shown at different web sites
I still would prefer that on the MEFA pages
one could identify one category by design.

OT:
I wanted to correct "catergory" but I am not allowed to edit.

Best wishes Elanor

-----Original Message-----
From: elanor of aquitania [mailto:elanor@codacode.net]
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 11:51 AM
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Subject: AW: [MEFAwards] Post Mortem recap: more omments in the database



Hi Ainaechoiriel,

>I found some time to put some more suggestions into the database.

Saw them.

>Some are only variations to a theme (banners).
>One I commented as already a nixed (one-tree-categorisation) as this one is

dear to _my_ heart.
I added it to remember it is nixed.

Okay.

>Concerning banners, I know you prefer artistical variation, but I am a

person who prefers a stringent categorisation as well as a standard design
in which only the pictures vary ;-) (I have scientifical mind, I studied
physics. Moreover, I think that artists can work also within standard
designs.
I even would prefer the text not to obscure the picture.) I am in favour of
corporate design to permit an instant recognition of MEFAwards.
Many banners reminded me of icons for websites.

Well, sorry but I just don't agree. I'm a left-brained creative person.
Which may sound like an oxymoron, but there you have it. Take a look at
some of the banners I submitted this year. Some had text on the pics, some
had text beside it. They had different fonts, different colors for text,
based on the pictures. Different sizes though most were similar rectangles.


More on this below.

>Thus, I wrote into the database suggestions that are important for me but

probably not for anybody else ;-)

Possibly. ;-) Or maybe not. But still it would take a vast majority (in the
litteral sense0 before I'd even think about changing my mind on that one.

>Feel free to nix or delete what you want.

Nix perhaps, but not delete. For memory purposes. I just can't be relied
upon to remember things.

ordered alphabetically:

>award banners should identify the respective subcategory and rank per

standard
- here I meant that subcategory and rank should be set with
normal-sized characters aside of or into the picture.
In contrast to what was done now, I personally would give the LoTR-relevant
names in smaller character size or not at all on the banner.

This one will take some discussion because SOME of it is workable but we
need to figure out how. For instance, the rank would be the same for every
banner of the same award. Fist is first is first. Main category would be
the same too. But I won't make everyone submit 15 copies of the same banner
with just the subtitle changing. At least not at the time of submission.

Discussion point #1: but would it look good? I actually liked the bars Viv
made for this year. If they only had the subcategory, and all the other
information was on the banner itself, would it look bad? Would the banner
look too cluttered with all those words up there?

Discussion point #2: About that last sentence two paragraphs up: At least
not at the time of submission. IF we chose to have the full information in
the banner (see discussion point #1), it might be possible to ask the
winning artists to add the subcategories to their winning banners. That
way, it would distribute the work, negate unecessary work for non-winning
banners, and insure uniform color and font for each banner.

Note, uniform color and font is for each banner separately, not for every
banner across the board.

>banners: evenly coloured frames as background for text aside of the picture

>- I prefer the text not to obscure the picture and to allow a more

congruent design via the arrangement of frame (size and placing) and picture

Some banner look great with the words on the banner. Some look better with
the words not obscuring the picture. It's a creativity point. Also it's a
size point. If you have a rectangular picture that is already banner-sized
and you don't put the words on the picture, you have to add extra space
somewhere.

As for evenly colored frames, again no. The picture the artist choose may
clash terribly with that color. I say the artist uses a color that stands
out well against the picture, but that complements well with the picture.
And that, of course, depends on the picture used, and so we can't set a
standard.

>copying to generate author comments allowed (though preferably with

alterations)
- this was already discussed but I did not find it in the database

Thanks. That was my own suggestion for how we might make Author comments
easier and thus encourage more of them.

>each artist should provide one complete set of banners per subcategory

>- again, I am all for an as congruent set of banners as possible ;-)

And, again. I'm not. ;-) The more WORK we make it, the less likely someone
is going to submit anything.

>initialize beginnings for corporate design for MEFAwards banners
>- see above

Above doesn't help me. I don't understand this one.

>make the banners a bit more congruent (size, characters)

- the least possible restriction would be a standard size, which is
something you favoured if I remember rightly.

Yeah, I was good with this one. The size anyway.

>As you wanted flowery characters for romances and other styles for other

categories my suggestion is already too restrictive,
but I am really in favour of a standard character style.

I want them to go with the picture. Eowyn was a good example. When we had
Eowyn banners, some were pictures of her that showed her soft side, the
princess. Others showed her in armor, about to slay the Witch King.
Eowyn, the warrior. I wouldn't want flowery text for Eowyn, the warrior.
But I'd want pretty text for Eowyn the princess. Some category, different
pictures.
I think one could find a style that could cover romance as well as horror.

>only one catergory tree branching out to all subcategories no

yes
- is already nixed (but dear to my heart)

Yep, already nixed.

>spawn subcats to achieve an evenly distribution of fics (5-15?) per

subcategory
- here I mean that we should not have categories of 5 fics and others of 20
fics as this weighs the ranked stories quite differently (I would even
support an upper limit of 10 stories) I think one should be flexible: if
another subcategory could become viable then cut at 10 otherwise cut at 15.
That means:
with 17 fics in a category one has to open another subcategory, with 13 fics
in a category one has to look if one finds another existing subcategory
where 1-3 of the fics could fit in, or one has to open another subcategory
wherein at least 5 fics could be fitted leaving 8 fics in the original
category, or one leaves the situation as it is.

This could get dangerous. Remember there is a delicate balance between
having a too few awards and too many. We don't want to completely dilute
the awards so they mean nothing by having every 3 out of five stories be a
winner. Also, we can't constrain the nominators. You don't know which
stories I'm going to nominate and I don't know which stories you are going
to nominate. So we can't predict whetehr we'll have 17 in one category or
7. And I don't believe you were one of the categorizers this year. It's
hard enough. We don't need to make it harder.

Remember that the person who knows the story best will assign it 3 choices
of categories: the author. The author will also suggest some subcategories.
We will need to determine our upper limit: at which point do we declare a
new main category? Men/Gondor, for example, had 27 stories. This year,
main categories were locked by the time Nomination Season began. I propose
that next year we be more flexible, adding main categories as needed during
Nomination Season. But it has to be standardized. We need a protocol we
can follow. This won't be done on a whim. So, how many stories in the same
subcategory means a new main category? (And this also wouldn't work for
every subcategory: Men/Drabble could not become Drabble as a main category.
It just wouldn't work. Neither would Men/Romance. Romance is already a
main category. See? It's complicated.)

>vote for one complete set of banners to avoid incongruities

- again my preference for categorization and corporate design ;-) although
the Award banners of the different ranks will be shown at different web
sites I still would prefer that on the MEFA pages one could identify one
category by design.

No, because any particular artist may make only one banner in the set.
There's nothing saying that if they're inspired to create a Minas Morgul
banner, they also have to make a Barad'dur and Orthanc one. There's no
guarantee we have sets.

>OT:

I wanted to correct "catergory" but I am not allowed to edit.

Yep. I'm not worried about typos in there.

There is one other suggestion I didn't understand. I don't know if you
added it or someone else:

add comments after contest marked "written after contest in (year of
addition)"

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Ainaechoiriel [mailto:mefaadmin@earthlink.net]
Sent: Monday, December 13, 2004 7:18 PM
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [MEFAwards] Post Mortem: More discussion on suggestions

>I don't agree. Whatever is nominated is nominated. If that means 50 Elves

fics and only 5 Hobbits fics (just a random example) then so be it. If more
Elves General stories are nominated than Elves/Romance well, fine. Or vice
versa. What's nominated is nominated and the only rules for nominated are:

>Story must not have been nominated before (unless it was a WIP and is now

complete)
Story must be archived on a public website (except Tolkien Online)
Author must approve of the nomination.

P.S. Not an NC-17


--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com

--- Ainaechoiriel <mefaadmin@earthlink.net>
wrote:
---------------------------------

-----Original Message-----
From: elanor of aquitania
[mailto:elanor@codacode.net]
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 11:51 AM
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Subject: AW: [MEFAwards] Post Mortem recap: more
omments in the database

> > Concerning banners, I know you prefer
> > artistical variation, but I am a person who
> > prefers a stringent categorisation as well as

> > a standard design in which only the pictures
> > vary ;-) (I have scientifical mind, I studied
> > physics. Moreover, I think that artists can
> > work also within standard designs. I even
> > would prefer the text not to obscure the
> > picture.) I am in favour of corporate design
> > to permit an instant recognition of

MEFAwards.

> > Many banners reminded me of icons for
> > websites.
>
> Well, sorry but I just don't agree. I'm a

left-> brained creative person. Which may sound
like > an oxymoron, but there you have it. Take
a

> look at some of the banners I submitted this
> year. Some had text on the pics, some had text
> beside it. They had different fonts, different
> colors for text, based on the pictures.
> Different sizes though most were similar
> rectangles.

I must agree with Ainae here. I too am a
creative person too - hence why I write. This is
a fanfic contest - it is all about creativity and
imagination. It is a very left-brained thing
indeed. So I don't see why we shouldn't have
some very artistic banners as well! I'd be much
prouder displaying something arty on my website
than something more "corporate". I like the fact
that all the banners are different - all the
awards are for different things, different
genres, different styles of writing etc. So why
should all the banners look the same?

Resha.

=====
~To forgive calls upon our love, to forget calls upon our strength~

AIM: Naresha21 MSN: candyman_gypsy@hotmail.com
ICQ: 142117881 Yahoo: fruitcake5m1
Personal LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/nareshaninya/
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My Website! Slash Me Happy
http://www.websamba.com/SlashMeHappy

http://quiz.ravenblack.net/blood.pl?biter=Resha

Find local movie times and trailers on Yahoo! Movies.
http://au.movies.yahoo.com

Naresha wrote:

> I must agree with Ainae here. I too am a
> creative person too - hence why I write. This is
> a fanfic contest - it is all about creativity and
> imagination. It is a very left-brained thing
> indeed. So I don't see why we shouldn't have
> some very artistic banners as well! I'd be much
> prouder displaying something arty on my website
> than something more "corporate". I like the fact
> that all the banners are different - all the
> awards are for different things, different
> genres, different styles of writing etc. So why
> should all the banners look the same?
>
> Resha.

Hi Resha,
you see I collect for instance LoTR music videos.
There I often instantly see
which award was awarded for what.
It is simply easier and looks better IMO.

Examples
http://www.geocities.com/hp_lotrmusicvids/awardlenna.html
http://www.geocities.com/hp_lotrmusicvids/awarddi.html
http://www.geocities.com/hp_lotrmusicvids/awardothers.html

in the first and second page you see below the banners
which make a good advertisement
those banners
which are not so easily distinguishable.
Do you see how the vid artists prefer the
easily recognizable awards?

The same in the third example.
Only one banner is easily recognizable.
You will see those arbitrary banners
again in my forth example.
Personal view ;-)

Those banners which look very different for each award
and variable, for me they clog the page.

Example:
http://www.stykera.com/hm/karl/musicvids/index3.htm

Here two banners are always recognizable,
I know they make good recommendations
"Blade's choice" and "Music Video Award".
When I see those I know I should look at these vids.

[I agree, that there is not enough variance in those,
but I would go for something in the middle
more like the "Lord of the Rings Music Video Awards"
of the first three examples.
Some Standard surrounding and artistry in a picture.]

Then there are large variety of banners
which give me no more of information
than that this vid got a banner.
This is better than no information, for sure,
I will look at the precis and then perhaps at the vid.

But don't you have the feeling that all these banners
look more like the icon for a vid?
Or like the entry point for a website?
Often you cannot identify who made the award.
That for me is really bad politics, bad advertisement.

Let me say I painted in my youth and I wanted
to study painting, I was not enduring enough in this wish
and I wanted to earn money to provide for a family.
Thus, my "artistry" now has shrunk to try to write
LoTR-fics :-)

So I understand your feelings about beautiful banners.
But I think more about what to achieve with a banner
for MEFAwards.

I really see no advertising effect for MEFAs
in such a variety of banners with texts
often obscured by the picture.

For me the banner should also lure people to
the MEFA web site, not only decorate the web page
of the author. If there are so different banners
as for "show your quality"
this simply looks unprofessional IMO.

This is not bad in itself, we ARE amateurs.
But I think one could improve the look and feel
of the MEFA banners.

But you are the artists, so if you feel that a standard format
impedes your creativity (I feel no such impediment,
I just feel not lured to sacrifice the time needed to create a banner,
[though I created my own wallpapers for my PC]
I would ere like to try to create a music vid ;-)
but who knows maybe next time I will perhaps participate)
then you for sure should create them in the same form
next time.

Nevertheless, I saw quite a row of banners
created already this time
which for me would transport a MEFA corporate identity
and would provide advertising effects:
I cannot show them to you now
because the website gabrielle.sytes.net seems to be down.

Best wishes Elanor

P.S. With respect to the time needed to create a banner,
I think you would ere get more participants if you give them
a standard to work with. Again, my personal feeling.

--- elanor of aquitania <elanor@codacode.net>
wrote:

---------------------------------
Naresha wrote:

> I must agree with Ainae here. I too am a
> creative person too - hence why I write. This

is

> a fanfic contest - it is all about creativity

and

> imagination. It is a very left-brained thing
> indeed. So I don't see why we shouldn't have
> some very artistic banners as well! I'd be

much

> prouder displaying something arty on my website
> than something more "corporate". I like the

fact

> that all the banners are different - all the
> awards are for different things, different
> genres, different styles of writing etc. So

why

> should all the banners look the same?
>
> Resha.

> Hi Resha,
> you see I collect for instance LoTR music
> videos. There I often instantly see which award
> was awarded for what. It is simply easier and
> looks better IMO.

> Examples

http://www.geocities.com/hp_lotrmusicvids/awardlenna.html
http://www.geocities.com/hp_lotrmusicvids/awarddi.html
http://www.geocities.com/hp_lotrmusicvids/awardothers.html

>
> in the first and second page you see below the
> banners which make a good advertisement
> those banners which are not so easily
> distinguishable. Do you see how the vid artists
> prefer the easily recognizable awards?

> The same in the third example. Only one banner
> is easily recognizable. You will see those
> arbitrary banners again in my forth example.
> Personal view ;-)

Okay - cant get onto the first and second pages
atm (blinking bandwidth!!!) But I looked at the
third. I can see what you mean, but I personally
like what the MEFAs have as well. For me, it
does have simplicity! i has the little bar
across the bottom. And I have an awards page
which I explain all my awards and where they're
from and I know a lot of others that do the same!

> Those banners which look very different for
> each award and variable, for me they clog the
> page.

> Example:

http://www.stykera.com/hm/karl/musicvids/index3.htm

I must agree - I don't like these! They don't
even look like banners. They look more like
buttons.

> Here two banners are always recognizable,
> I know they make good recommendations
> "Blade's choice" and "Music Video Award".
> When I see those I know I should look at these
> vids.

For me, I don't go on reccommendations. I choose
what I want to read/view. I might go look closer
at them, but I don't always go with it. Just
because others think they're award worthy doesnt
mean I necessarily do.

[I agree, that there is not enough variance in
those, but I would go for something in the middle

more like the "Lord of the Rings Music Video
Awards" of the first three examples.
Some Standard surrounding and artistry in a
picture.]

Then there are large variety of banners
which give me no more of information
than that this vid got a banner.
This is better than no information, for sure,
I will look at the precis and then perhaps at the
vid.

But don't you have the feeling that all these
banners
look more like the icon for a vid?
Or like the entry point for a website?
Often you cannot identify who made the award.
That for me is really bad politics, bad
advertisement.


So I understand your feelings about beautiful
banners. But I think more about what to achieve
with a banner for MEFAwards.

I really see no advertising effect for MEFAs
in such a variety of banners with texts often
obscured by the picture.

> For me the banner should also lure people to
> the MEFA web site, not only decorate the web
> page of the author. If there are so different
> banners as for "show your quality" this simply
> looks unprofessional IMO.

Personally, I think if we want to lure ppl to the
MEFA site we create advertising buttons/banners.
The awards banners are awards for the creativity
of the authors. They first function ISNT for
advertising. It is an award! Yes, it does have
some advertising appeal, but IMO, it's primary
function it to honour the writing of the author.

Anyway... There's my two cents again!

Resha

=====
~To forgive calls upon our love, to forget calls upon our strength~

AIM: Naresha21 MSN: candyman_gypsy@hotmail.com
ICQ: 142117881 Yahoo: fruitcake5m1
Personal LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/nareshaninya/
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My Website! Slash Me Happy
http://www.websamba.com/SlashMeHappy

http://quiz.ravenblack.net/blood.pl?biter=Resha

Find local movie times and trailers on Yahoo! Movies.
http://au.movies.yahoo.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Naresha [mailto:north_shore_fruitcake@yahoo.com.au]
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 8:37 AM
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: AW: [MEFAwards] Post Mortem: More discussion on suggestions
(Naresha's post about banners)

>Personally, I think if we want to lure ppl to the MEFA site we create

advertising buttons/banners.
The awards banners are awards for the creativity of the authors. They first
function ISNT for advertising. It is an award! Yes, it does have some
advertising appeal, but IMO, it's primary function it to honour the writing
of the author.

You beat me to it, Resha. I was just thinking that. Yes, we have
advertising banners and buttons. And Nomination buttons. No contest
involved. The first (advertising banners and buttons) are pretty standard.
There are only a few:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ainae/mefa/buttons.html

The second (noninee buttons) have more variety. They do a bit of both.
They are a kudo to the nominees, but also a bit of advertisement.

http://home.earthlink.net/~ainae/mefa/nombuttons.html

The Award Banners were that: Awards! And a contest in themselves. I'd
actually like to have a full-on FanArt contest, though that might be hard to
host (archive-wise). The present compromise is the banner contest. And it
actually opens up that "art" contest to those of us who didn't think we
could be fanartists. I can draw now and then, but not at the level of
Gonzai, especially when we're talking about people. But I could make screen
caps and make a banner. Thus I was suddenly able to enter an "art" contest.
Wow!

So these are meant to be creative first and foremost. They are an award to
the fanfiction winners. And they are the creative entries and winners of
the banner contests. They may lead others to the MEFAs (which is why we
want people who use them on their web sites to link back to us) but that is
a secondary feature. It's not just ad add for us. It's an award to be
proud of for the winners.

If we wanted it "corporate", I'd just make some standard ones across the
board. Take a look at my ASC award banners:

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/trek/stories/os1.html

The ASC one is the middle one. The other two are standard as well. No
contest needed to create them. I am proud to have those awards, but I like
this banner better as a prize:

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/lotr/stories/lure.html

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com

--- Ainaechoiriel <mefaadmin@earthlink.net>
wrote:
---------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Naresha

<snip>

> The Award Banners were that: Awards! And a
> contest in themselves. I'd actually like to
> have a full-on FanArt contest, though that
> might be hard to host (archive-wise). The
> present compromise is the banner contest. And
> it actually opens up that "art" contest to
> those of us who didn't think we could be
> fanartists. I can draw now and then, but not
> at the level of Gonzai, especially when we're
> talking about people. But I could make screen
> caps and make a banner. Thus I was suddenly
> able to enter an "art" contest. Wow!

Yup... That's about what I can do too! Cept
without the occasional drawing ability! I tend
to jut mutilate the paper!


--Ainaechoiriel



=====
~To forgive calls upon our love, to forget calls upon our strength~

AIM: Naresha21 MSN: candyman_gypsy@hotmail.com
ICQ: 142117881 Yahoo: fruitcake5m1
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Ainae,

A while ago I mentioned in passing an idea I had for a new category:
movieverse, in the same genre as _The Hobbit_, _LotR_, and _The
Silmarillion_. The idea is, some fics make particularly good use of
movieverse. Shadow975's Boromir-and-Lurtz piece (the name escapes me)
and Suzene Campos's "A Different Kind of Sacrifice" are examples from
this years' awards. I think it would be very neat to have a category
where they could participate together. (I suggested Legolas, Haldir,
and Figwit as the respective categories, as the three characters whose
popularity at least I associate most with the movies - not to say that
the first two don't have significant roles in the books.)

Did you respond to this suggestion? If so, I think I must have missed
it, and I wanted to make sure it didn't slip past your radar (I made
the suggestion in the context of a much longer email on categories).

Also, I was talking with one of this years' awards a while ago and
pointed out that theawards were over, and she had received a few
comments. She was thrilled - but she didn't know it was finished, let
alone that comments were available at the website. Would it be a good
idea to send out a mass email after the awards close next year,
something like:

*****

Hello [Author],

Thank you for your participation in the Middle-earth Fanfiction
Awards. As you may or may not know, the contest results have been
announced. One or more of your pieces have received feedback; if you
like, you can view it at [url].

If you won an award, banners are also available at [url].

Regardless, thank you for your contribution to the fandom. We look
forward to seeing more of your work in the future - hopefully in the
context of next year's MEFAs.

Sincerely,
The MEFA Admins
*****

Alternately (or perhaps in addition to such an email), we could set up
an announcements Yahoo group and/or LJ community?

Marta

-----Original Message-----
From: Marta [mailto:MartaL0712@netscape.net]
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 12:52 AM
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MEFAwards] PM: Movieverse category, emails to winners

>A while ago I mentioned in passing an idea I had for a new category:

movieverse, in the same genre as _The Hobbit_, _LotR_, and _The
Silmarillion_. The idea is, some fics make particularly good use of
movieverse.

I think I did respond to it once, though I think I still have a post of
yours marked for followup.

> Shadow975's Boromir-and-Lurtz piece (the name escapes me) and Suzene

Campos's "A Different Kind of Sacrifice" are examples from this years'
awards. I think it would be very neat to have a category where they could
participate together. (I suggested Legolas, Haldir, and Figwit as the
respective categories, as the three characters whose popularity at least I
associate most with the movies - not to say that the first two don't have
significant roles in the books.)

The problem I see with it is that it could have as many subcategories as we
have main categories and subcategories of other categories combined. What I
mean is there are movieverse stories that fit these categories: Men, Elves,
Hobbits, Rohan, Gondor, Humor, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Crossover, Horror,
Mystery, and of course LOTR. There are also Drabbles, Vignettes, particular
romance/pairings, etc.

If we look at it from another view, it could be possible to have movie-verse
as a subcategory to the other categories so long as it was viable.

And then there's the question of the splices. Splices? Both movie and
book. Take my Myth and Memory. Certainly some of the scenes came from the
movie (the warg battle, Elves at Helm's Deep), but much of how I
characterized Legolas was from the book. I spliced Movie!Legolas and
Book!Legolas together. I know others have done the same, combining both
mediums.

>Did you respond to this suggestion? If so, I think I must have missed it,

and I wanted to make sure it didn't slip past your radar (I made the
suggestion in the context of a much longer email on categories).

Do put it in the database. My memory is not reliable and my inbox gets very
full.

>Also, I was talking with one of this years' awards a while ago and pointed

out that theawards were over, and she had received a few comments. She was
thrilled - but she didn't know it was finished, let alone that comments were
available at the website. Would it be a good idea to send out a mass email
after the awards close next year, something like:

(Snipped the letter)

Yes, it would be good. And I'd actually like to contact the winners
personally. It just seemed like such a big task and, to be honest, I was
tired.

If Icome up with a form letter (just fill in the award and the story that
won it, etc.), can I get some volunteers to help me send notices to winners?
If not, I might get a mail merge together.

I can probably do an all-authors e-mail just to let them know the awards are
finished. Mind if I plagiarize your letter below?

>Alternately (or perhaps in addition to such an email), we could set up an

announcements Yahoo group and/or LJ community?

That would be great, but I'd need volunteers again, such as our PR Reps.
There is a database of links, some of which are sites, some of which are
YahooGroups. I posted to HA (which catches a lot of people, but I know it
doesn't catch everyone). Especially if you are a member of a related
fanfiction group, please do pass the word along.

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com

Hi Ainae,

> >A while ago I mentioned in passing an idea I had for a new

category:

> movieverse, in the same genre as _The Hobbit_, _LotR_, and _The
> Silmarillion_. The idea is, some fics make particularly good use of
> movieverse.
>
> I think I did respond to it once, though I think I still have a post

of

> yours marked for followup.
>

That's entirely possible. Much of this post-mort was during the tail
end of my semester, so I was busy with RL stuff. So it could be that
you replied and I didn't catch it. Or that I meant to reply later and
completely forgot about it in all the rush.

> > Shadow975's Boromir-and-Lurtz piece (the name escapes me) and

Suzene

> Campos's "A Different Kind of Sacrifice" are examples from this

years'

> awards. I think it would be very neat to have a category where they

could

> participate together. (I suggested Legolas, Haldir, and Figwit as

the

> respective categories, as the three characters whose popularity at

least I

> associate most with the movies - not to say that the first two don't

have

> significant roles in the books.)
>
> The problem I see with it is that it could have as many

subcategories as we

> have main categories and subcategories of other categories combined.

What I

> mean is there are movieverse stories that fit these categories: Men,

Elves,

> Hobbits, Rohan, Gondor, Humor, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Crossover,

Horror,

> Mystery, and of course LOTR. There are also Drabbles, Vignettes,

particular

> romance/pairings, etc.
>

Yes, that's certainly true - but I also think there's that potential
in any of the other channels. Drama has Hobbits, Men, Elves,
Silmarillion, LotR, etc. Ditto for any other category. If there are
enough stories to make a subcategory, that's all for the good. But I
think you only need to have the mandatory subcategories (drabble,
poetry, WIP, etc.) be mandatory - anything above and beyond that is
great, but only needs to happen if we have enough stories.

> If we look at it from another view, it could be possible to have

movie-verse

> as a subcategory to the other categories so long as it was viable.
>

I don't think you'd have very many of those. And I'm not talking about
stories that just happen to be set in the movieverse - I'm talking
about stories that are written in such a way to make good use of the
movieverse. Stories like those written for the HASA Movie Challenge.
These are stories that are defined, not by being drama or about
hobbits or whatever, but by engaging the source material - only in
this case it's the movies instead of one of the books.

> And then there's the question of the splices. Splices? Both movie

and

> book. Take my Myth and Memory. Certainly some of the scenes came

from the

> movie (the warg battle, Elves at Helm's Deep), but much of how I
> characterized Legolas was from the book. I spliced Movie!Legolas

and

> Book!Legolas together. I know others have done the same, combining

both

> mediums.
>

Sure. If they feel it's more one or the other, they're surely free to
put them either in movieverse or LotR (or whatever other book they fit
in). Or maybe it fits better in one of the other categories - drama,
or Rohan, or whatever. Pure movieverse stories, or splice stories for
that matter, don't *just* have to go in movieverse - no more than
stories set in _The Silmarillion_ have to go in the Silm category.

> >Did you respond to this suggestion? If so, I think I must have

missed it,

> and I wanted to make sure it didn't slip past your radar (I made the
> suggestion in the context of a much longer email on categories).
>
> Do put it in the database. My memory is not reliable and my inbox

gets very

> full.
>

I understand. And I've been awful about putting things in the database
- I don't think I've put anything in the database. But I'll get all my
suggestions in there.

> >Also, I was talking with one of this years' awards a while ago and

pointed

> out that theawards were over, and she had received a few comments.

She was

> thrilled - but she didn't know it was finished, let alone that

comments were

> available at the website. Would it be a good idea to send out a mass

email

> after the awards close next year, something like:
>
> (Snipped the letter)
>
> Yes, it would be good. And I'd actually like to contact the winners
> personally. It just seemed like such a big task and, to be honest,

I was

> tired.
>

Oh, I can understand that. You've done so much, I really feel bad
about suggesting more work for you, which is what this felt like, but
I thought it might be a good idea.

> If Icome up with a form letter (just fill in the award and the story

that

> won it, etc.), can I get some volunteers to help me send notices to

winners?

> If not, I might get a mail merge together.
>

I'm hesitant to volunteer for this kind of thing, especially before
the holidays. I could maybe do this after the new year, especially if
one or two other people were willing to split it with me.

> I can probably do an all-authors e-mail just to let them know the

awards are

> finished. Mind if I plagiarize your letter below?
>

Not at all. I wrote that in about three minutes, so feel free to take
whatever you like, tweak wherever you feel the need.

> >Alternately (or perhaps in addition to such an email), we could set

up an

> announcements Yahoo group and/or LJ community?
>
> That would be great, but I'd need volunteers again, such as our PR

Reps.

I'm familiar with Yahoo groups, and it wouldn't be that hard to do.
Just make a quick post, when a new season opens, or maybe a warning
post when a season is about to close. You could even set it up so that
only moderators could post, so that you'd only have to keep up with
discussion at one list. I don't know as much about LJs but I think it
could probably be set up the same way.

I'm not volunteering to handle it right now. Let's see how I'm doing
when we get to nominating season for next year. I don't like
volunteering this far in advance, as I'm never sure what I'll be
capable of several months from now. But I might be interested in
helping out this way.

Marta