From 2009 GenCon EN World RPG Awards (“the ENnies”) judge Jeramy Ware’s blog, May 26:
Our only real worry at this point is the Website category, which is sorely lacking.
So, if you know anyone that has a site or blog that you’d like to see considered, please ask them to enter. It’s easy for people to see all the great books and services that publishers put out, but forget the contributions of the community. I’d hate to see that happen. It’s the community, not the companies, that make our hobby thrive.
We couldn’t agree more with Jeramy’s take on the role community-created web content plays in the larger gaming community.
As of this posting, only six websites are listed as having entered the ENnies. We want to see a huge list of website entrants for 2009 — and we welcome the competition.
The gnomes encourage you to:
- Enter your own RPG blog or website. Not sure you should do it? Don’t sell yourself short. There are lots of RPG sites out there not getting the recognition they deserve.
- Pester your favorite site to enter. Know of an RPG site that deserves an ENnie? Tell them.
It’s ridiculously easy to enter, and per Jeramy’s blog “Everything that is to be considered for this year needs to be in the mail and on it’s way by June 1, just six days away.” That’s right around the corner.
How to Enter
The ENnies website has full instructions, but in a nutshell you just need to print out one form, fill it out with your site’s details, and mail six copies to the provided addresses. It’s free except for postage.
Be very clear that you are submitting a website, not a physical product — and include a letter of introduction to the judges. Be careful to follow the ENnies rules with that letter, and if you have doubts do what we did: send it to the ENnies coordinator, and ask if it’s OK to submit to the judges.
Entering costs you nothing, and could lead to something awesome.
From all of us on the Stew to all of you writing, reading, and using RPG websites, if you haven’t already entered the 2009 ENnies — do it!
Thanks for posting this, Martin. I took up the call earlier, and now I’m posting like crazy to get more entries.
How did you find out how many sites have entered, by the way? That would be useful to track for me so I know whose butt to kick.
Also, I believe for websites, you don’t have to print out and send 6 copies of the entry form. The “how to enter” site says the entry form can be emailed, and we don’t have anything to ship as far as physical product goes.
We didn’t realize that folks needed any prodding until we saw Jeramy’s list of Website category entrants — I expected many more than the handful that are listed so far.
There will be more as the deadline approaches, but we still want to see a nice full category. Represent!
Jeramy’s previous post lists all entrants as of 5/15, and is supposed to be updated again shortly.
Per the comments on the post I linked in this article, D&D Insider won’t be in the Websites category; it’s a Supplement.
I have always found the ENnies instructions confusing. I saw nothing that indicated website entries could be emailed, so Gnome Stew sent them all via snail mail. Plus there are two different due dates listed, depending on where you look. 😉
I submitted Obsidian Portal this year, and found the process very confusing. The entire application form is geared toward either a physical product or a podcast. It seemed odd to me that “website” or “application” was seemingly nowhere to be found. It felt strange checking “other” for pretty much every question.
To compound matters, our first application simply disappeared. I found this out when I decided to confirm our submission. The short reply was, “Nope, nothing in our spreadsheet.”
So, if you do apply, don’t assume anything! Send a follow up email and get written confirmation that your application has been received.
@Micah – It was the same way in 2007, when I entered Treasure Tables — and like your entry this year, mine wasn’t received by everyone. It got sorted out in the end, but it almost didn’t go well.
Sending a follow-up email is an excellent idea. I found the coordinator to be very responsive, and it was nice to know that the judges had received our envelopes.
Thanks for posting this, since yesterday we’ve clearly received enough entries to make the website category viable.
In case anyone is interested, I updated the list finally. It should have everything that I’ve received through today.
http://enniejudge.blogspot.com/
@motg – You’re most welcome — thanks for the suggestion!
I assumed the 5/15 list just wasn’t up to date, and was really surprised when you mentioned that the five websites (plus Insider) on it were it for the category.
When the ENnies started out, there were a LOT fewer RPG sites than there are now. These days, there are dozens and dozens — and as one of them, we want to see this category as strong as possible.