Yahoo Forum Archive

The following MEFAwards poll is now closed. Here are the
final results:


POLL QUESTION: How many pieces should each member be allowed to nominate?

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- 25, 4 votes, 19.05%
- 20, 17 votes, 80.95%



For more information about this group, please visit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEFAwards

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http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/

Hey guys,

It's Thursday morning (US time) and I have looked at the two polls.
Between Yahoo and LJ, 35 people voted: 10 for increasing the
nomination limit, 25 for leaving it as-is. So that settles that one!
With that wide a margin I'm happy leaving the nomination limit at twenty.

And this year's post-mortem is officially over. I'll post what we
decided on in a separate email.

Marta

Hey guys,

The post-mortem for the 2006 Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards is now
over. I'd like to tell you about some important changes.

-------
1. THE SIZE OF SUB-CATEGORIES.

No subcategory will have more than thirteen pieces or less than five,
and we will be aiming for 7-12 stories per subcategory. Last year
subcategories could have up to fifteen pieces. Also, each subcategory
will have at least three authors. That's an increase from the two
authors we required in 2006.

2. WITHDRAWING A STORY.

We didn't have any clear policy on this last year, but it came up
enough that we wanted to discuss it. It was decided that authors can
withdraw a story at any time by contacting
mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com. However, if an author withdraws a story
after categorization starts the nomination "counts" for purposes of
eligibility. That means that the story can't be nominated again in a
later year (or, if the story is a WIP, it can't be nominated until
complete).

If an author takes a story off the web but would like it to compete we
will change the story URL to a link at our website that explains the
story is taken off the web. If you leave an archive but the story's
still available somewhere else we can change the link for you, you
just have to ask. But that's not a change: we've *always* done this.

3. FAN ART AND BANNERS.

This is a pretty big change. In 2006 there was an award name for each
place in each main category. So if you placed second in main category
Hobbits, sub-category Fixed-Length Ficlet Series, you would get an
award called the "Master of Buckland Award" and a banner that said you
won that award in Hobbits: Fixed-Length Ficlet series.

This year we won't have different names for the awards for different
places. Instead, artists will design banners featuring different
characters, races, time periods, and settings that aren't tied to a
specific category or place. Authors who win first, second, or third
prize will be able to request a certain banner be customized for their
story. (Depending on the number of volunteers, the MEFAs will either
customize the banner for the author or provide instructions for how
the author can do this themselves.)

4. RATINGS AND NC17 STORIES

We developed a set of ratings different from what any other archive
uses. This is because different archives often use the same rating to
mean different things. The ratings we'll be using are set out at
http://www.mefawards.net/ratings_guide.htm .

Stories rated General, Teen, or Mature are eligible; Adult stories are
not.

5. REVIEWER AWARDS

Reviewers will be able to specify in advance how many reviews they
hope to write. If they meet this goal they'll be recognized for this fact.

6. AUTHOR REVIEWS

We will not be having author reviews in 2007.

7. NEGATIVE REVIEWS

Flames can be removed at the authors' request. The administrator will
have to agree that the review is a flame, and the author will lose any
points that would have resulted from this review. Other members beside
the author may report a flame to mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com, at
which point the administrator will look at the review and (if he or
she thinks the review is a flame) contact the author and ask whether
they would like the review removed.

Constructive criticism is allowed, but the positive should outweigh
the negative.

8. COUNTING FLF WORD LENGTHS

Volunteers are busy people ;^) so they will not count how many words a
fixed-length ficlet has. Authors will verify that a fixed-length
ficlet really has exactly 100, 150, 200, 300, or 400 words by checking
a box on the nomination form. Authors can count the length of their
stories either by running the word counter of their word processor or
by counting by hand.

9. NOMINATION LIMITS

Nomination limits will stay the same. Any member of the MEFAwards
group can nominate up to twenty pieces.
-------

And that's it for major changes. There will also be a few changes to
how things appear on our site, but that's hard to explain in advance.
Besides there should be *some* surprises for next year. ;^)

As for when the 2007 awards will get started, that depends on how easy
it is to make some of these changes work at our website – and how
quickly I manage to get my stuff done. I'm collecting the rules, FAQs,
a list of important date, a run-down of different types of MEFA
volunteers, and other help-type documents into a section of the webpage.

I'm not going to rush into anything, since I want to do this right.
Watch this space for more announcements in the coming weeks.

Marta

Hi Marta!

This looks good! My congratulations to the MEFA volunteers for such a good
year -- the process gets better each time! -- and for the thoughtful
post-mortem.

I do have some feedback on the following item:

<i>8. COUNTING FLF WORD LENGTHS

Volunteers are busy people ;^) so they will not count how many words a
fixed-length ficlet has. Authors will verify that a fixed-length
ficlet really has exactly 100, 150, 200, 300, or 400 words by checking
a box on the nomination form. Authors can count the length of their
stories either by running the word counter of their word processor or
by counting by hand.</i>

First, did you leave out half-drabbles (50 words) on purpose? I remember a
delightful half-drabble series last year (or maybe the year before?) that
surely would belong in a category for FLF series...

Second, I agree that it is completely appropriate that the authors should be
the ones who verify the word count, not the volunteers. However, I'm very
concerned that you seem to encourage authors to rely on the counts provided
by word-processing programs, which are notoriously inaccurate.
Unfortunately, the only accurate counts are done by hand. My results with MS
Word (two different versions) indicate that the count is correct maybe half
the time, and off by 1-3% the rest of the time, even if I remove standalone
punctuation (e.g. dashes), which confuses MS Word.

I'd like to suggest that the rules and the FAQs mention that counts by
word-processing programs may be inaccurate, and a manual count is the only
kind that can be relied upon. That would alert FLF authors to the problem,
and allow them to decide whether it is an issue that they choose to address
or not.

- Barbara


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

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Elena Tiriel" <ElenaTiriel@...> wrote:

>
> Hi Marta!
> Hi Barbara,

> This looks good! My congratulations to the MEFA volunteers for such

a good

> year -- the process gets better each time! -- and for the thoughtful
> post-mortem.
>

Thanks! :-)

> First, did you leave out half-drabbles (50 words) on purpose? I

remember a

> delightful half-drabble series last year (or maybe the year before?)

that

> surely would belong in a category for FLF series...
>

I honestly didn't think about it. I do remember that series, but
half-drabbles seem rarer which is why we probably didn't think to
include that length.

But I've become quite Entish in my approach to change ;-) and so I
want to check with the group that did the post-mortem. I've asked them
for their thoughts on this, and will post back once we've talked it over.

> Second, I agree that it is completely appropriate that the authors

should be

> the ones who verify the word count, not the volunteers. However, I'm

very

> concerned that you seem to encourage authors to rely on the counts

provided

> by word-processing programs, which are notoriously inaccurate.
> Unfortunately, the only accurate counts are done by hand. My results

with MS

> Word (two different versions) indicate that the count is correct

maybe half

> the time, and off by 1-3% the rest of the time, even if I remove

standalone

> punctuation (e.g. dashes), which confuses MS Word.
>

I wasn't trying to encourage authors one way or the other. I share
your penchant for accuracy here, and I personally count my drabbles by
hand (*though I've noticed my hand-(mis)counts can often be 1-3% off
at least half the time as well...*). So why accept automated counts at
all? Because authors aren't writing for the MEFAs, and it seems unfair
to ask authors to rewrite for these awards. An awful lot of the
drabble-writers - at least those participating in the discussion -
have always relied on automated word counts. And while I wouldn't do
that for my own drabbles, I don't want to exclude so many people.

There is the added consideration that what makes good FLFs special is
that they don't feel too rushed or like an extra word's been added to
them - the "every word counts" phenomena. If I write a drabble and use
an automated word counter which says what I've written has 99 words,
then I know I need to add one. So I find that perfect place and do
just that. If my word count is off and I originally had 98 words when
it said I had 99, I still met the challenge of seeing where I could
add a word without it feeling superfluous. So while it may not have
exactly 100 words, it still seems appropriate to let this compete with
the FLFs because it has more in common with a true drabble than it
does with other types of writing.

All that said, I understand where you're coming from and I do want to
be as accurate as possible in our descriptions. I just think that
forcing all those authors to count their FLFs by hand and make the
necessary changes so long after they wrote the FLF is going to be more
trouble than it's worth. But you make a good suggestion when you say:

> I'd like to suggest that the rules and the FAQs mention that counts by
> word-processing programs may be inaccurate, and a manual count is

the only

> kind that can be relied upon. That would alert FLF authors to the

problem,

> and allow them to decide whether it is an issue that they choose to

address

> or not.
>

The rules are the wrong place for this sort of thing. I'm trying to
keep them clear of suggestions so an author or whomever can clearly
see "this is what I can do, and this is what I cannot do". But an FAQ
on this issue is a really good idea.

Would you like to write one up? If so, I'd be glad to include it. If
you'd rather not I'll try to write something myself - I just can't
promise it will happen, my own time being limited.

Marta

Hey guys,

I really and truly hate spammers. They make it hard for people to
participate in what they want to do, drowning out legitimate posts, and are
just *rude*. Not to mention a few of them are suggestive enough to make me
uncomfortable for the sake of our teenage participants. If a post advertises
a product unrelated to the awards, is full of links, or something like that
then it is my policy to delete the post and ban the IP address of the
poster.

Some of you probably know we have our FAQ and rules as a series of posts at
http://www.mefawards.net/faq/ . Lately we have been hit by spammers. Hard. I
am deleting the messages as soon as I can get to them. However, I don't
check those boards every day and so there may be a few days between when a
post is made and when I see it to delete it.

If you see spam on our boards, please bear with me. Also, it's very
possible I haven't seen it yet, so please tell me. To do this send an email
to mefasupport@gmail.com. Keep it short, something along the lines "There's
spam on the FAQ boards - can you delete it?". And you will most likely get a
2-3 word reply from me; don't be offended, it's just that I'm busy so I may
only type "Thanks, spam removed".

If you do have a longer question please include it in a separate email.

Oh, and I hope to have the FAQs and rules in an easier-to-use format for
next year, so we won't have this problem. But for the meantime, if you see
spam, that's the situation.

That is all. Thanks for your patience. :-)

Marta

Hey guys,

I was looking at my calendar this morning and it hit me how close we
are to the beginning of March. That may seem like a no-brainer to a
lot of people (and it is), but with an awards that last as long to run
as the Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards, it's not too early to start
thinking about the 2007 MEFAs. So where are we, and what can you do to
help move us further along?

We've made pretty good progress toward getting the 2007 awards
started. We've finished the post mortem for the 2006 awards and
decided on some changes that I outlined here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEFAwards/message/7802. As part of that
postmortem we decided on several technical changes, some of which have
already been made.

That brings me to the first way one (or some) of you can help. The
awards need someone to help with the website. There are some technical
changes that still need to be made for 2007. Also, the person (or
people) who help with this would do general website upkeep throughout
the year and would help solve any technical problems members might
have. If more than one person is interested this job could maybe be
split up so there's less to do.

If you're interested in helping with the website you'd need to be
fairly good with computers, but it's really not as hard as you might
think. Most of what the website involves is very learnable. I'm far
from a technical guru and I've been told I could do this if I had the
time. I'm just too busy with other parts of the awards to give the
website the attention it needs, so I'm hoping someone will step up and
help with this. You'd be working with me pretty closely, and it's a
neat way to give something back to the fandom as well as develop your
technical skills.

We'll also need all of the usual "insufficiently reluctant" folks to
help out. The most common ways to help out are as a promoter or an
author liaison. These people do pretty much what their titles suggest.
Promoters promote the awards at groups they're a member of. I'll
occasionally send you an official announcement that I'd like made at
your groups, and you can pass on any posts I make here that you think
your group might be interested in. You'd also pass along any questions
people have so I or someone else who works with the awards can answer
it. This isn't very time-intensive but it does require that you be
available pretty much until the end of the awards.

Liaisons work with the authors who have been nominated. You make sure
stories are eligible to compete, work with the author to get the
necessary information and okays from them, and generally answer any
questions. You'd need to be pretty regularly available from when
nominations open through the week after they close. I don't have exact
dates yet, but nominations will last six weeks, hopefully beginning
sometime in April.

Does any of this seem like something you'd like to do? If so, email me
at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com or post here. There are loads of other
ways you can help out, so if you just want to help I can always find a
special project I'd like done. Drop me a line and we'll work something
out.

Cheers,
Marta

Hi Marta,

I might be able to help out with the technical stuff on the site. Could you send me an e-mail
with the details of what is needed?

:-)
Aranel Took

Marta,
I would like to participate again as an author liaison and a promoter.
Cathleen

aure_enteluva <melayton@gmail.com> wrote:
Hey guys,

I was looking at my calendar this morning and it hit me how close we
are to the beginning of March. That may seem like a no-brainer to a
lot of people (and it is), but with an awards that last as long to run
as the Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards, it's not too early to start
thinking about the 2007 MEFAs. So where are we, and what can you do to
help move us further along?

We've made pretty good progress toward getting the 2007 awards
started. We've finished the post mortem for the 2006 awards and
decided on some changes that I outlined here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEFAwards/message/7802. As part of that
postmortem we decided on several technical changes, some of which have
already been made.

That brings me to the first way one (or some) of you can help. The
awards need someone to help with the website. There are some technical
changes that still need to be made for 2007. Also, the person (or
people) who help with this would do general website upkeep throughout
the year and would help solve any technical problems members might
have. If more than one person is interested this job could maybe be
split up so there's less to do.

If you're interested in helping with the website you'd need to be
fairly good with computers, but it's really not as hard as you might
think. Most of what the website involves is very learnable. I'm far
from a technical guru and I've been told I could do this if I had the
time. I'm just too busy with other parts of the awards to give the
website the attention it needs, so I'm hoping someone will step up and
help with this. You'd be working with me pretty closely, and it's a
neat way to give something back to the fandom as well as develop your
technical skills.

We'll also need all of the usual "insufficiently reluctant" folks to
help out. The most common ways to help out are as a promoter or an
author liaison. These people do pretty much what their titles suggest.
Promoters promote the awards at groups they're a member of. I'll
occasionally send you an official announcement that I'd like made at
your groups, and you can pass on any posts I make here that you think
your group might be interested in. You'd also pass along any questions
people have so I or someone else who works with the awards can answer
it. This isn't very time-intensive but it does require that you be
available pretty much until the end of the awards.

Liaisons work with the authors who have been nominated. You make sure
stories are eligible to compete, work with the author to get the
necessary information and okays from them, and generally answer any
questions. You'd need to be pretty regularly available from when
nominations open through the week after they close. I don't have exact
dates yet, but nominations will last six weeks, hopefully beginning
sometime in April.

Does any of this seem like something you'd like to do? If so, email me
at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com or post here. There are loads of other
ways you can help out, so if you just want to help I can always find a
special project I'd like done. Drop me a line and we'll work something
out.

Cheers,
Marta






---------------------------------
Bored stiff? Loosen up...
Download and play hundreds of games for free on Yahoo! Games.

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

Right now would be a perfect time for me to do something like this, but it wont last. I've worked on websites in Frontpage and Homestead (respectively) and have one I'm trying to learn on 50megs.com. I'd love the extra experience, but my Real Life is pretty unpredictable.
Sign me up as a backup, maybe?

nautika

aure_enteluva <melayton@gmail.com> wrote:
Hey guys,

I was looking at my calendar this morning and it hit me how close we
are to the beginning of March. That may seem like a no-brainer to a
lot of people (and it is), but with an awards that last as long to run
as the Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards, it's not too early to start
thinking about the 2007 MEFAs. So where are we, and what can you do to
help move us further along?

We've made pretty good progress toward getting the 2007 awards
started. We've finished the post mortem for the 2006 awards and
decided on some changes that I outlined here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEFAwards/message/7802. As part of that
postmortem we decided on several technical changes, some of which have
already been made.

That brings me to the first way one (or some) of you can help. The
awards need someone to help with the website. There are some technical
changes that still need to be made for 2007. Also, the person (or
people) who help with this would do general website upkeep throughout
the year and would help solve any technical problems members might
have. If more than one person is interested this job could maybe be
split up so there's less to do.

If you're interested in helping with the website you'd need to be
fairly good with computers, but it's really not as hard as you might
think. Most of what the website involves is very learnable. I'm far
from a technical guru and I've been told I could do this if I had the
time. I'm just too busy with other parts of the awards to give the
website the attention it needs, so I'm hoping someone will step up and
help with this. You'd be working with me pretty closely, and it's a
neat way to give something back to the fandom as well as develop your
technical skills.

We'll also need all of the usual "insufficiently reluctant" folks to
help out. The most common ways to help out are as a promoter or an
author liaison. These people do pretty much what their titles suggest.
Promoters promote the awards at groups they're a member of. I'll
occasionally send you an official announcement that I'd like made at
your groups, and you can pass on any posts I make here that you think
your group might be interested in. You'd also pass along any questions
people have so I or someone else who works with the awards can answer
it. This isn't very time-intensive but it does require that you be
available pretty much until the end of the awards.

Liaisons work with the authors who have been nominated. You make sure
stories are eligible to compete, work with the author to get the
necessary information and okays from them, and generally answer any
questions. You'd need to be pretty regularly available from when
nominations open through the week after they close. I don't have exact
dates yet, but nominations will last six weeks, hopefully beginning
sometime in April.

Does any of this seem like something you'd like to do? If so, email me
at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com or post here. There are loads of other
ways you can help out, so if you just want to help I can always find a
special project I'd like done. Drop me a line and we'll work something
out.

Cheers,
Marta






nautika, Keeper of Aragorn's Youth and Boromir's Calm Acceptance of Cave Trolls
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/lotrprompts
Owner, LOTR Prompt Fics group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mc_Finished_Fic
Co-Moderator, MC Finished Fics Group





---------------------------------
Cheap Talk? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates.

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

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Cathleen Anderson
> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 1:44 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Calling Volunteers
>
> Marta,
> I would like to participate again as an author liaison and a promoter.
> Cathleen
>

Hi Cathleen,

Great. I'm glad you still want to help. Do you want to promote the MEFAs at
any certain groups?

Marta

Hi Nautika,

Thanks for volunteering. Someone volunteered before you did but I will
certainly keep you in mind. Sometimes we have special projects that you
might find interesting/challenging - if those come up I may drop you a line
to see if you have the time.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of nau tika
> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 2:16 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Calling Volunteers
>
> Right now would be a perfect time for me to do something like
> this, but it wont last. I've worked on websites in Frontpage
> and Homestead (respectively) and have one I'm trying to learn
> on 50megs.com. I'd love the extra experience, but my Real
> Life is pretty unpredictable.
> Sign me up as a backup, maybe?
>
> nautika
>

Hi Aranel,

Thank you for volunteering - if we can work it out I'd really appreciate
your help.

Will email you more details privately.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of araneltook
> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 11:52 AM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Calling Volunteers
>
> Hi Marta,
>
> I might be able to help out with the technical stuff on the
> site. Could you send me an e-mail with the details of what is needed?
>
> :-)
> Aranel Took
>
>

That time again already??!!

Count me in as an Author Liaison again. I enjoyed it.

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "aure_enteluva" <melayton@...>
wrote:

>
> Hey guys,
>
> I was looking at my calendar this morning and it hit me how close we
> are to the beginning of March. That may seem like a no-brainer to a
> lot of people (and it is), but with an awards that last as long to

run

> as the Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards, it's not too early to start
> thinking about the 2007 MEFAs. So where are we, and what can you do

to

> help move us further along?
>
> We've made pretty good progress toward getting the 2007 awards
> started. We've finished the post mortem for the 2006 awards and
> decided on some changes that I outlined here:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEFAwards/message/7802. As part of

that

> postmortem we decided on several technical changes, some of which

have

> already been made.
>
> That brings me to the first way one (or some) of you can help. The
> awards need someone to help with the website. There are some

technical

> changes that still need to be made for 2007. Also, the person (or
> people) who help with this would do general website upkeep

throughout

> the year and would help solve any technical problems members might
> have. If more than one person is interested this job could maybe be
> split up so there's less to do.
>
> If you're interested in helping with the website you'd need to be
> fairly good with computers, but it's really not as hard as you might
> think. Most of what the website involves is very learnable. I'm far
> from a technical guru and I've been told I could do this if I had

the

> time. I'm just too busy with other parts of the awards to give the
> website the attention it needs, so I'm hoping someone will step up

and

> help with this. You'd be working with me pretty closely, and it's a
> neat way to give something back to the fandom as well as develop

your

> technical skills.
>
> We'll also need all of the usual "insufficiently reluctant" folks to
> help out. The most common ways to help out are as a promoter or an
> author liaison. These people do pretty much what their titles

suggest.

> Promoters promote the awards at groups they're a member of. I'll
> occasionally send you an official announcement that I'd like made at
> your groups, and you can pass on any posts I make here that you

think

> your group might be interested in. You'd also pass along any

questions

> people have so I or someone else who works with the awards can

answer

> it. This isn't very time-intensive but it does require that you be
> available pretty much until the end of the awards.
>
> Liaisons work with the authors who have been nominated. You make

sure

> stories are eligible to compete, work with the author to get the
> necessary information and okays from them, and generally answer any
> questions. You'd need to be pretty regularly available from when
> nominations open through the week after they close. I don't have

exact

> dates yet, but nominations will last six weeks, hopefully beginning
> sometime in April.
>
> Does any of this seem like something you'd like to do? If so, email

me

> at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com or post here. There are loads of

other

> ways you can help out, so if you just want to help I can always

find a

> special project I'd like done. Drop me a line and we'll work

something

> out.
>
> Cheers,
> Marta
>

Hi Marta,

I'll promote the Awards again this year of course, on my Recs Page and my LJ and perhaps a couple of Yahoo Groups too, if needed.

I would also like to get more involved this time around and be an author liasion.

Cheers,

Mari



Marigold's Red Book
http://marigold.tolkienshire.com

Marigold's Recommendations Page
http://www.geocities.com/marigoldsrecommendations/

Marigold's Live Journal
http://www.livejournal.com/users/marigoldg/

There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach.

Sam, in Mordor, RoTK






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

Hi Marta,

I can be a liaison and promote at Stories of Arda again.

Kathy/Inkling

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "aure_enteluva" <melayton@...> wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> I was looking at my calendar this morning and it hit me how close we
> are to the beginning of March. That may seem like a no-brainer to a
> lot of people (and it is), but with an awards that last as long to run
> as the Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards, it's not too early to start
> thinking about the 2007 MEFAs. So where are we, and what can you do to
> help move us further along?
>
> We've made pretty good progress toward getting the 2007 awards
> started. We've finished the post mortem for the 2006 awards and
> decided on some changes that I outlined here:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEFAwards/message/7802. As part of that
> postmortem we decided on several technical changes, some of which have
> already been made.
>
> That brings me to the first way one (or some) of you can help. The
> awards need someone to help with the website. There are some technical
> changes that still need to be made for 2007. Also, the person (or
> people) who help with this would do general website upkeep throughout
> the year and would help solve any technical problems members might
> have. If more than one person is interested this job could maybe be
> split up so there's less to do.
>
> If you're interested in helping with the website you'd need to be
> fairly good with computers, but it's really not as hard as you might
> think. Most of what the website involves is very learnable. I'm far
> from a technical guru and I've been told I could do this if I had the
> time. I'm just too busy with other parts of the awards to give the
> website the attention it needs, so I'm hoping someone will step up and
> help with this. You'd be working with me pretty closely, and it's a
> neat way to give something back to the fandom as well as develop your
> technical skills.
>
> We'll also need all of the usual "insufficiently reluctant" folks to
> help out. The most common ways to help out are as a promoter or an
> author liaison. These people do pretty much what their titles suggest.
> Promoters promote the awards at groups they're a member of. I'll
> occasionally send you an official announcement that I'd like made at
> your groups, and you can pass on any posts I make here that you think
> your group might be interested in. You'd also pass along any questions
> people have so I or someone else who works with the awards can answer
> it. This isn't very time-intensive but it does require that you be
> available pretty much until the end of the awards.
>
> Liaisons work with the authors who have been nominated. You make sure
> stories are eligible to compete, work with the author to get the
> necessary information and okays from them, and generally answer any
> questions. You'd need to be pretty regularly available from when
> nominations open through the week after they close. I don't have exact
> dates yet, but nominations will last six weeks, hopefully beginning
> sometime in April.
>
> Does any of this seem like something you'd like to do? If so, email me
> at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com or post here. There are loads of other
> ways you can help out, so if you just want to help I can always find a
> special project I'd like done. Drop me a line and we'll work something
> out.
>
> Cheers,
> Marta
>

In a message dated 27/02/2007 16:19:42 GMT Standard Time, melayton@gmail.com
writes:

Does any of this seem like something you'd like to do? If so, email me
at mefasupport(at meat mefasupport(<WBR>at)gmail(<WBR>dot)com or p
ways you can help out, so if you just want to help I can always find a
special project I'd like done. Drop me a line and we'll work something
out.



I'm happy to help in any capacity. Just ask.

Liza (Llinos)



******************************************************************
http://www.livejournal.com/users/knittedmerry/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/llinos/
*****************************************************************
"Which reminds me: what's become of my ring, Frodo, that you took away?"
"I have lost it, Bilbo dear," said Frodo "I got rid of it, you know."
******************************************************************



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

Hi Nancy,

> That time again already??!!
>

I know! It seems too soon. And we're not quite there, but it's not too early
to be thinking about it.

> Count me in as an Author Liaison again. I enjoyed it.
>

Will do. I'll get in touch when we're actually ready to open for
nominations.

Marta

Hi Marta,

I can be a promoter again for the Aragornangst group.

Chris

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "aure_enteluva" <melayton@...> wrote:

>
> Hey guys,
>
> I was looking at my calendar this morning and it hit me how close we
> are to the beginning of March. That may seem like a no-brainer to a
> lot of people (and it is), but with an awards that last as long to run
> as the Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards, it's not too early to start
> thinking about the 2007 MEFAs. So where are we, and what can you do to
> help move us further along?
>

I'd be happy to be your promoter at TFF and at the lj workshop "There
and Back Again".

Cheers,
Juno

I can promote at HASA and HA.

Dwim

Hi Juno,

> I'd be happy to be your promoter at TFF and at the lj
> workshop "There and Back Again".
>

Excellent. I've marked you down, and you'll be hearing from me when I have
announcements that need to be made.

Marta

Hi Dwim,

> I can promote at HASA and HA.
>

Thanks, you're recorded as such. I'll email you when I need an announcement
made.

Marta

Hi Liza,

> Does any of this seem like something you'd like to do? If so,
> email me at mefasupport(at meat
> mefasupport(<WBR>at)gmail(<WBR>dot)com or p ways you can help
> out, so if you just want to help I can always find a special
> project I'd like done. Drop me a line and we'll work something out.
>
> I'm happy to help in any capacity. Just ask.
>

Thanks for being so willing to help. I appreciate it, and your patience as I
reply to this and other emails. I know I'm being a little slow about that.

I think we have the technical stuff under control - for the moment! - but we
may need more help in the future. I'll certainly keep you in mind. Also,
I've marked you down as a liaison. I'll get in touch with you a week or so
before we open up nominations with more details about that.

I'd also love to have your help as a promoter. The way that works is people
agree to make MEFA announcements at specific groups they're apart of. I'd
send you an announcement I wanted made and you'd post it. You could also
make other announcements if you think your group would benefit from them.

Is there a specific group you'd like to make announcements at?

Thanks,
Marta

Hi Mari,

Thanks for volunteering. I would love to have you announce for the awards at
your recs page and LJ because I know quite a lot of authors and readers read
there. And I'm all for announcing at the Yahoo groups, too. Can you tell me
which ones? That way I can make sure two people don't make announcements
there.

And I think you would be a very good liaison, and would love your help there
as well.

I am making a list of all the people interested in helping, and you are now
on it. I will email all the promoters when I have my first announcement, and
also I will email all the liaisons a week or so before we open nominations.

Thanks,
Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of MarigoldCotton@aol.com
> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 4:55 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Calling Volunteers
>
> Hi Marta,
>
> I'll promote the Awards again this year of course, on my Recs
> Page and my LJ and perhaps a couple of Yahoo Groups too, if needed.
>
> I would also like to get more involved this time around and
> be an author liasion.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Mari
>
>