Yahoo Forum Archive

Thank you so much to everyone for you thank you's. I am perhaps the most
visible member of the volunteer team but far from the only member, and I am
very grateful for thanks in a public place like this. And of course it is
always nice to feel appreciated, on a personal level, so thank you's are
*always* nice. :-)

Some people brought up specific points that I'm going to reply to here. If I
don't reply to you specifically, that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate your
message. I did. I just don't want to overload the list with a reply to each
individual email.

Nienor Niniel (Eva) said:

<<Last year, I had seen the awards mentioned here and there, but I never had
a clear idea of what was going on, and it seemed that this was just an
insider thing. This year, I was very surprised to be nominated, and
completely stunned by the way things worked, how fast requests for help are
answered (even if I pressed the wrong button when reviewing etc.) and how
friendly people were. I'm also surprised that one doesn't have to be a
well-known writer with loads of fics to have a chance in the awards.>>

I am very gratified to hear that, Niniel. These awards depend on the people
who review and what they are willing to read, so I can see how it might seem
like an insider thing at first glance. But the antidote to that is to have
more people from across the fandom participate.

I think it's a testament to some *very* dedicated reviewers from across the
fandom, who have made the MEFA's a priority in their fandom activities. I
won't single people out because I'm sure I'd forget someone, there's that
many.

I am also glad that you found the awards worthwhile as a lesser-known
writer. I was not very well known when I first participated and had the same
feeling. Encouraging authors who show promise but aren't "established" is a
good thing, something I'm glad you think the MEFA's do well.

Pearl Took said:

<<I was amazed at how quickly we have been given the results.>>

Two words: "team effort". I thanked Inkling, Rhapsody, Elliska, and Anthony
in my announcement of the awards, because they all put in a lot of work very
quickly to get out those results in a matter of days.

Waiting for results can be nerve-racking, so I'm glad we were able to get
out those results quickly.

Laire said:

<< This was my first time in something like this, and while I mostly lurked,
I did enjoy seeing the unveiling. Excellent, excellent!>>

Lurkers are welcome. Of course as an organizer I love to get people
involved, but I'm glad you enjoyed the MEFA's however you interacted with
them. So thank you for speaking up.

And Dreamflower said:

<<I really think this year they went better than ever!>>

Good! Small steps forward, small steps... Hopefully next year we'll be able
to move forward even more. But I am certainly glad you thought this year
went well.

I hope to begin discussing where people see room for further improvement
this weekend. This will happen over at the mefa-discussion Yahoo group, and
I'll make a special announcement here when I'm ready to begin that
discussion. I have a RL commitment (read: one last paper to write before the
semester's over) that I want to finish up before I start the post-mortem.

This is not to suggest that this year's awards weren't good. However, there
are always little ways in which they could be even better. Like I said, I'll
let you guys know when I'm ready to begin the discussion over there.

So thank you for your thank you's. In the words of Thorin & Co....

At your service and your family's,
Marta