2009 For Argyll Awards: get ready

This is advance warning on the award categories, timetable and procedure for this celebration of the real wealth of achievements in Argyll this year.

They’re nearly upon you – and us. They’re the high-speed, high adrenaline For Argyll Awards, decided by public nomination and online voting – and the race is to those who stay on watch over the holiday period.

This is about how you saw what happened in Argyll from 1st January 2009, what you felt about it and what you’re determined to see recognised.

Since this time last year, For Argyll’s audience has grown by over 325%, making these awards an even greater showcase for Argyll.

This also makes even more valuable the 12 months free promotion winners receive through a linked icon in the left hand margin of the For Argyll website. In the past 12 months, our 2008 winners have had steady daily traffic to their websites from this promotion.

Winners and, this year, finalists too, receive respective buttons to display on their websites and on any print materials they wish. And they receive certificates with detailed citations to display, recording their achievements which Argyll has recognised.

We publish the list of citations on the website and, throughout the past year, this was not only heavily read at the time but has been regularly sought in our archives, attracting consistent traffic.

Last year, in our enthusiasm to launch the 2008 For Argyll Awards to help lift the gloom of the banking collapse and the recession – and none of us knew the half of it at that stage – we cut a rod for ourselves by running no fewer than 24 award categories.

This year we’ve adopted a modicum of sense and are running 12 awards. Some of them are familiar and some of them are new. Our plan is to ring these changes every year so that we can progressively recognise achievement in Argyll across a wide spectrum of activity.

This year we’re also introducing two awards we’ll make ourselves – one of which, the 2009 Star For Argyll Award, will celebrate something or someone we believe should be singled out in this way. The second award will be the other side of the coin – the 2009 Not For Argyll Award, identifying what we see as the most negative impact on Argyll during the year.

The 2009 For Argyll Awards

Start thinking about your nominations. When they open – on a special webpage announced and linked from 9.00am on Friday 18th December – you’ll find a note on the criteria for candidates in each category. (The full timetable and procedure is below.)

• Best Achievement for Argyll
• Best Tourism Initiative
• Best Environmental Initiative
• Best Community Initiative
• Best Homecoming Event
• Best Major Event
• Best Community Event
• Best Arts Event Programme
• Best Activity Website
• Best Wildlife Website
• Best Community Website
• Best Local Newspaper

The Timetable

• Nominations and the link to the Nominations webpage open at 9.00am on Friday 18th December and close at Midnight on 23rd December.
• Finalists in each category will be announced on 24th December.
• Online Voting and the link to the Voting webpage opens at 9.00am on Christmas Morning, 25th December and closes at Midnight on Hogmanay, 31st December.
• Winners in each category and the recipients of the two special ForArgyll Awards will be announced on New Year’s Day, 1st January 2010 – and not early. (Have a heart.)

Procedure

Nominations

• You may nominate one candidate in any one category only once. The system identifies duplicates and removes them all – which leaves not even one in place.
• You may nominate one candidate to more than one appropriate category. (Inappropriate nominations will not be accepted.)
• You may make as many different nominations in each category as you wish.
• You may make nominations in as many categories as you wish.
• The list of candidates nominated will be published and updated each evening – up to and including 22nd December.
• All candidates nominated will be listed with links to their websites – generating interested traffic as a promotional bonus of nomination.
• There will be non-specific position summaries updated each evening during the nomination period – giving the overall picture of nominating activity in each category during the day.
• The three candidates in each category with the highest number of nominations will go into the final online voting stage.

Voting

• You may vote only once for any one candidate in each category. Blitzing is not permitted, will be picked up and the system automatically ejects all duplicates, meaning that not even a single vote is recorded.
• You may vote for more than one candidate in any category – the reasons being that if you cannot choose between two good candidates, your vote will not be lost should a forced decision select a losing finalist.
• You may vote in as many categories as you wish.
• All finalists for the online voting period will be listed with links to their websites to provide information for voters and to generate interested traffic as a promotional bonus for reaching the final stage.
• There will be non-specific position summaries updated each evening during the voting period, giving an overall picture of voting activity in each category.
• The winner in each category will be the finalist with the highest number of votes.
• In the event of a tie in any category, there will be joint winners. (This actually happened last year – and in one of the highest scoring categories.)

There’s a great deal to celebrate in Argyll and right across this vast complex of mainland and island territories. Its going to be fun for all of us to see the nominations and to see the way the votes go.

And Argyll’s already the big winner – because of what Argyll folk make happen.