Winning without the trappings
AS MUCH AS I like the award-winning Kelly McErlean and in deference to a high-quality list of judges, I have to wonder how the Golden Spiders can accept nominations for "blog of the year" when many on the short list are noteworthy for their absence from blogrolls, Irish blog aggregations, RSS feeds, or community cross-talk. Winning a Golden Spider for best Irish blog without the major architectural elements of a weblog is like a company winning a best e-commerce award without a secure payment system in place.
As predicted by several industry observers, the Golden Spiders team have eroded the quality of the new media awards system in Ireland. Commentators should note this fact and the organisers should be publicly identified for their publicity-happy tactics. If left unchallenged, they could bring the industry into disrepute.
The 2005 rendition of the Golden Spiders was a Business & Finance event.
An alternative industry structure: IIA Net Visionaries.
The blog/personal website shortlist is a joke.
not a single weblog among the lot. (the winner's website is currently down so maybe that's one).
the judges are listed here...
http://www.goldenspiders.ie/judges.html
Posted by: walter | December 08, 2005 at 02:26 PM
Anyone else spot the coincidence?
Best blog: Kelly McErlean
Currently studying for a PhD in NCAD.
And look at her lobbyist among the judges:
Jim Devine: Director of the Institute of Art, Design & Technology Dun Laoghaire
How can a "personal website/blog" include mountainview.ie? From the website itself:
Over 250 members have built this site as a place for everyone to learn and talk about walking in the mountains.
That doesn't sound very personal to me!
My eyes, my eyes, probably one of the least well designed websites I have ever seen:
www.kilrowanartsfestival.com
Not personal either!
Are they just inventing categories for giving awards to their buddies/people they have vested interests in?
Posted by: laura | December 08, 2005 at 07:56 PM
Why come to conclusion that Jim Devine of IADT has lobbied for NCAD student?
I agree that shortlist is pretty weak in comparison to what's online at national level.
Fred
IADT employee
Posted by: Fred Herrera | December 09, 2005 at 01:35 PM