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Hey guys,

I recently very nearly made a MEFA faux pas - not in my role as
administrator, but as an excited author and reviewer. I've been
reading a lot of really first-rate stories, and there have been some
things that I was so thrilled about I wanted all of my friends to read
them.

Someone recently pointed out to me that there is a rule against doing
this. Specifically, the rule says that MEFA reviewers shouldn't
publicly encourage other people to vote for specific stories. This is
a very natural thing to want to do, but there are reasons not to as
well. For one, it's very easy for people to get left out. It also
means one reviewer's opinion is having more of an affect on the
results than another's.

It's perfectly fine to encourage people to join up and vote. And I
won't even complain if you rave about a story you read that you really
liked. It's when the two activities happen at the same time that
there's a problem. Please try hard not to target specific stories and
tell people to go read them.

Thanks!

Marta
(MEFA Admin)

I'm laughing:

the rule says that MEFA reviewers shouldn't
publicly encourage other people to vote for specific stories


How public is public? Private email to more than two people, friend-locked lj entry? Of course, the reviews themself are public and if?my review?raves and says your story is the best fanfic I've ever read, that is rather public? Not trying to be argumentative. Just wondering how that works.


-----Original Message-----
From: aure_enteluva <melayton@gmail.com>
To: mefawards@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 5:00 pm
Subject: [MEFAwards] Recruiting Reviewers for the MEFAs






Hey guys,

I recently very nearly made a MEFA faux pas - not in my role as
administrator, but as an excited author and reviewer. I've been
reading a lot of really first-rate stories, and there have been some
things that I was so thrilled about I wanted all of my friends to read
them.

Someone recently pointed out to me that there is a rule against doing
this. Specifically, the rule says that MEFA reviewers shouldn't
publicly encourage other people to vote for specific stories. This is
a very natural thing to want to do, but there are reasons not to as
well. For one, it's very easy for people to get left out. It also
means one reviewer's opinion is having more of an affect on the
results than another's.

It's perfectly fine to encourage people to join up and vote. And I
won't even complain if you rave about a story you read that you really
liked. It's when the two activities happen at the same time that
there's a problem. Please try hard not to target specific stories and
tell people to go read them.

Thanks!

Marta
(MEFA Admin)





________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

-----Original Message-----
From: aure_enteluva <melayton@gmail.com>
To: mefawards@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 4:00 pm
Subject: [MEFAwards] Recruiting Reviewers for the MEFAs










Hey guys,

I recently very nearly made a MEFA faux pas - not in my role as
administrator, but as an excited author and reviewer. I've been
reading a lot of really first-rate stories, and there have been some
things that I was so thrilled about I wanted all of my friends to read
them.

Someone recently pointed out to me that there is a rule against doing
this. Specifically, the rule says that MEFA reviewers shouldn't
publicly encourage other people to vote for specific stories. This is
a very natural thing to want to do, but there are reasons not to as
well. For one, it's very easy for people to get left out. It also
means one reviewer's opinion is having more of an affect on the
results than another's.

It's perfectly fine to encourage people to join up and vote. And I
won't even complain if you rave about a story you read that you really
liked. It's when the two activities happen at the same time that
there's a problem. Please try hard not to target specific stories and
tell people to go read them.

Thanks!

Marta
(MEFA Admin)



Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2007/
Yahoo! Groups Links



Hey, Marta,

I'm not involved this year but I thought I'd throw my two cents in anyway.
You say you almost made a faux pas not in your role as admin but as a reviewer .
Just as an outside observer, it seems to me your role as admin, which is public and well-known, would have greatly exacerbated the offense of promoting
specific stories while the awards are still ongoing. One thing for an ordinary participant to rec specific stories, but for an admin to use her position to influence the outcome of the awards is something else. I'm not saying that's what you intended, but
those in a position of authority are always held to a higher standard.
meckinock






________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

It seems like to me that it's a matter of personal integrity.

Campaigning, canvassing or trolling for votes = bad. That's pretty simple.

I don't have a problem saying privately that I've found a 'hidden jewel'.
Since it is a competition I'm careful to say (at most) "read this, I think
you'll like it" rather than "you should vote for this one". I don't have a
problem privately pointing other people to stories that I've enjoyed. If
they choose to read them, if they like them, they'll decided on their own to
review(vote for them) or not. If I understand, the rules say only that
this needs to be done privately, and I agree.

Anyone that wants to read the letter of the law and find ways to skirt it
will do so. Casual conversation and/or an overly excited chatty lapse into
forgetfulness is one thing. Deliberately slipping through a loophole is
something else and doesn't change the intent or the outcome, or the morality
and ethics of the 'slipper'.

I applaud Marta for stepping forward with a public apology and an
announcement and reminder to all of us. I think that many people would have
tried to sweep away the *faux pas* and hope that people didn't notice. But
Marta took the opportunity as a reminder and I respect that. I think it's
indicative of the MEFAs overall, that she/it/they(the admin(s) and the
program overall) strives to be fair, fun and above-board overall. We're all
human and prone to human failings and it's really nice to be around people
who have the heart to try to rise above it in what ways we can.

Sulriel


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

heartofoshun@aol.com wrote:

>
>
> I'm laughing:
>
> the rule says that MEFA reviewers shouldn't
> publicly encourage other people to vote for specific stories
>
> How public is public? Private email to more than two people,
> friend-locked lj entry? Of course, the reviews themself are public and
> if?my review?raves and says your story is the best fanfic I've ever
> read, that is rather public? Not trying to be argumentative. Just
> wondering how that works.
>

Hi Oshun,

I don't know that I have hard and fast rules for what's too public. And
I don't want to get legalistic here.

I'd say if your flist is small enough, a friends-locked LJ becomes is
more like an email. But if you have a big flist (like I do - 117 and
counting), obviously just flocking it wouldn't be restricting it to a
very small number.

I'd say just use your best judgement. If you ever want to do something
but are not sure it's appropriate, send me an email at
mefasupport@gmail.com, and I'll tell you what I think.

As for reviews - well, they're *obviously* okay. :-) The rule against
trying to get people to vote for specific stories is really to keep one
person from having an unfair influence on who wins. (That's one of the
reasons, at least.) So since everyone can rave as much as they like in a
MEFA review and the people who read those reviews are mostly already
MEFA members, I think it's fine to be as lavish as you want with your
praise.

Marta

No problem. I hadn't done it anyway (although I had unknowingly considered
putting a list on my lj of my favorite fics but had not done so). I was
surprised simply because the reviews are so public (kind of like if you want to
recommend something without violating the guidelines, review early and often!).
Anyway, nevermind, I'm being silly. I'm a big reviewer throughout the whole
year of stories that I particularly like. I use the MEFAs as an opportunity to
write slightly more thoughtful and somewhat longer reviews.



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Meckinock,

You're absolutely right. I do try my best to be above reproach in
anything that might comment on or affect the MEFAs, for precisely that
reason. Of course I'm human (we all are). I fully admit that I'm not
perfect and just try to work around the mistakes I make (or in this
case, almost make).

When I said that I almost made a mis-step as a reviewer rather than as
an admin, what I meant was that I hadn't done anything official that
award participants needed to be worried about. (Or even almost made that
mis-step.) The faux pas I nearly made would have been a post to my
private blog, and that would have been quite bad enough. I'm glad I
caught myself in time.

Thanks for reminding me that I represent the awards. I try to keep that
in mind, but it's always good to be reminded to be more careful.

Marta

> Hey, Marta,
>
> I'm not involved this year but I thought I'd throw my two cents in anyway.
> You say you almost made a faux pas not in your role as admin but as a
> reviewer .
> Just as an outside observer, it seems to me your role as admin, which is
> public and well-known, would have greatly exacerbated the offense of
> promoting
> specific stories while the awards are still ongoing. One thing for an
> ordinary participant to rec specific stories, but for an admin to use
> her position to influence the outcome of the awards is something else.
> I'm not saying that's what you intended, but
> those in a position of authority are always held to a higher standard.
> meckinock
>

Hi Sulriel,

> I don't have a problem saying privately that I've found a 'hidden jewel'.
> Since it is a competition I'm careful to say (at most) "read this, I think
> you'll like it" rather than "you should vote for this one". I don't have a
> problem privately pointing other people to stories that I've enjoyed. If
> they choose to read them, if they like them, they'll decided on their own to
> review(vote for them) or not. If I understand, the rules say only that
> this needs to be done privately, and I agree.
>

That sounds okay to me. Especially since you aren't telling people to go
vote for specific stories. You're just sharing a good read that you
found, and what they do with that is their own decision.

> I applaud Marta for stepping forward with a public apology and an
> announcement and reminder to all of us. I think that many people would have
> tried to sweep away the *faux pas* and hope that people didn't notice. But
> Marta took the opportunity as a reminder and I respect that. I think it's
> indicative of the MEFAs overall, that she/it/they(the admin(s) and the
> program overall) strives to be fair, fun and above-board overall. We're all
> human and prone to human failings and it's really nice to be around people
> who have the heart to try to rise above it in what ways we can.
>

Thanks. :-) I think it is important to be honest about slips or even
near-slips (like in this case), so that they can be corrected with the
least harm. I appreciate being around a group that lets me do that.

Marta