Terrouge E-zine Archives

  For the Redwall Awards '99, I will pass the job of host along to someone else, someone who attended last year. I chose David/Bobtail, because as I talk to him more than anyone else who attended, it will be easiest for me to 'train' him. Also this year another category is being added. It is the Horizon Award, for a new site that is most likely to succeed. The other categories are:

1.Best Graphics
2.Best Club, Best Homepage
3.Best Site

  The Best Site award is for the best site nominated for any of the categories. David's job as host will be to select extra committee members, invite them and the permanent committee members, select and prepare chat times and locations, count nominations and votes, and inform the winners. Overall, the whole process takes about a month. A site is currently being prepared for the Redwall Awards. Hopefully this will make it more stable. Here's a list of the '98 winners:

Best Club - Camp Willow
Best Graphics - Salamandastron
Best Homepage - ROTW
Best Site - Redwall Encyclopedia

  This is the end of our series on the Redwall Awards. You may have noticed That each month we ran an article and an interview on every site that won. This month we're ending with this article, an interview on the whole project, and information on the Redwall Encyclopedia. We hope you enjoyed it!!!!

Terrouge:
When did you come up with the idea for the Redwall Awards?

Bobbo:
I think it was in June of '98

What was your purpose behind it?

To create a group of awards that were only for the very best sites, and that were only given out annually, something like the award programs for music.

I see. How did you select the winners?

I pulled together a committee of the most influential people on the Redwall Internet community. We nominated sites then voted for the best in each category.

So it was like a panel of judges, correct? How did you choose who should be a part of the committee?

I selected the people I thought were the most popular, committed, and successful people in the Redwall Internet Community. The people who had the most right to be judges.

What were the categories for the different awards?

Hrm...The ones for '98, the first year, were Graphics, Homepage, Club, and Site. Site was for the best page nominated for any award. That went to the Redwall Encyclopedia.

Wow, that'd be an honor to be chosen as the first "Best Site."

Bobbo:
All the same, except we're adding a 'horizon award'...for the site most likely to become really popular.

That sounds neat! Do sites sign up somewhere, and if so, where?

No...the only way that they can be nominated is to be advertised enough for committee members to already know about them.

So its kinda like the sites will be visited during the judging period, and not when they would normally be submitted?

Yes.

Will the websites know that they are nominated? And will they know when you visit their sites, or will it be sort of a surprise thing?

No, it is totally without the knowledge of the owner. I can imagine Katie was a little shocked when a letter showed up in her mailbox saying that she had won the Redwall Awards '98, when she didn't even know she was nominated :-)

Lol. How long does the whole award-distributing take?

About a month...we leave about two weeks between meetings for nominated sites to be checked out, and of course, I hafta get the invitations to the meetings out about two weeks early.

What happens if a committee member doesn't show up?

Then they're not included in the meeting, and we continue on without them. Although sometimes they give their votes to other committee members.

So they still have a chance to vote, even if they can't make it to the meetings?

Right.

Bobbo:
Last year, they were made by the Redwall Design Centre, and this year I made them.

How do winners pick-up/receive their awards?

I send the awards to them via e-mail.

When will the awards be held this year?

Probably within a month or so...this years host has been selected, so the time will be up to him.

Who is the host this year?

It's David of the ROTW and Terrouge.

Does the host choose where the voting occur?

Yes. Last year it was in Redwall Central, and this year it hasn't been decided upon.

I see. How far in the future do you see the Redwall Awards progressing?

As far as it possibly can!!! I personally hope that it will continue long after I leave the Internet for college, but it's not really that likely. I'm creating a website for it, which should help make it a little mroe stable.

Alright. Do you have any extra comments for Redwallers making their own websites? Like tips to help them out in the Awards, or whatever?

Well, for one thing, in the area of graphics, the winning site, Salamandastron, had very few actual graphics... those that were there were used in a very professional manner. The site looked very 'neat and tidy', easy to read, and not a lot of worthless images that have nothing to do with his site. So basically, I guess, just don't clutter up your site. The main thing that won the Best Club award for Camp Willow was the amount of activities they have. So if you run a club, make sure there's always something to do.

Ok, thanks a lot for talking to us!

Sure thing!! It was fun to get to answer questions for once instead of having to ask them!