The House & other Arctic musings

And The Nunie goes to...

Well that certainly was exciting.

First of all congratulations to all the bloggers of Nunavut. You are a great bunch and I sincerely hope that everyone got to discover more of you, and that you got to find blogs that you might not have found otherwise. That, after all, is the point of these awards. To expose the blogs of Nunavut to a wider audience and to give you all the recognition that you so richly deserve.

So, on to some of that recognition.

Best Blog.

All of the blogs nominated are great reads. This year the voting was exceptionally balanced. In fact up until the last day only a handful of votes separated first and last place. The nominated blogs: The Blog Bog of the Tundra; The M of Cape Dorset; Babies and Bulldogs; The Arctic Post and Townie Bastard pretty much kept pace with each other.  The Arctic Post led the voting for most of the time the polls were open up until yesterday afternoon when the eventual winning blog rallied and overtook them. I essentially accomplished nothing at work between 4 pm and 5 pm yesterday as I reloaded the polls again and again watching the final moments unfold. Well done to all of you.

And the blog that pulled off the winning rally? The incomparable Townie Bastard.  Congratulations for winning a second year. Townie Bastard is truly a gem of a blog, and is the second longest running blog up here. Craig takes home bragging rights for the year, the nifty badge for his sidebar, an Ookpik made in Arctic Bay and an unyet named prize donated by Jen of Jentography. Congratulations once again.

Best New Blog.

It is great to see such wonderfully written blogs taking up the mantle of Nunavut Blogging. Although some of blogging has waned in the face of other social media, such as Facebook, it is still alive and well. That is evidenced in the crop of new bloggers that are poised to take over here in Nunavut. I note with pride that the runner up in Best Blog, The Arctic Post, won this category last year and has obviously garnered a legion of fans, including myself. This was again a very tight race with the votes, for the most part, fairly evenly spread out. The nominees: 52 words for snow; Daily Muise; The Spirited Educators; A Slice of Deep Fried Awesome; and M&T in Nunavut are well written and worth your visit.  It was again a race that was led by one blog for much of the voting, only to be overtaken by the eventual winner.  That winner is M&T in Nunavut!

They also get bragging rights for the year, a shiny badge they can post on their sidebar announcing to the world that they are the Best New Blog in Nunavut, and an Ookpik handcrafted in Arctic Bay.  Congratulations!

Best Post.

While I would have like to have seen more nominees this is a year where quality definitely outshone quantity.  Both posts, No Fixed Address's - Extreme Skypeing and Babies and Bulldogs' To My Dad were well crafted gems.  To My Dad took an early lead in the voting and never looked back, taking top honours in Best Post this year.  Once again they claim bragging rights, an Arctic Bay Oopik, and a nifty tiara, er no, badge for their sidebar.

I'm not sure what the future is for The Nunies. I'd like to see it continue next year but interest, at least in the nomination round, seems to have waned.  The voting round saw a revival however and perhaps it is worth carrying on next year. Perhaps a change in hosts might just breathe more life into it.

Once again congratulations to all of you, you've proven once again that Nunavut, for our size, has one of the most vibrant blogging communities out there.

 

Last chance

UPDATE:  THIS POST IS IN ERROR.  POLLS CLOSE TOMORROW AT 5PM, THE 25TH OF JANUARY 2011, AS PER THE ORIGINAL POST.  SORRY IF THIS CAUSED ANY INCONVENIENCE.

 

The voting for The Nunies, the Nunavut Blogging Awards, ends at 5 pm Eastern tonight.  The races are close and the ends results still are not certain. So if you have a particular favourite that you'd like to see win, and you haven't voted yet, this is your last chance.

The poll is a couple of posts below, so you can scroll down to get to it. Or you can vote at Nunavut Blogs!

And while I'm on the topic, if you haven't already done so you can cast a vote for me in Quark's Blog Your Way to the North Pole contest. My entry is here.  I'm quite far out of contention right now, but who knows what a last push will do.  Cast a vote, and tell your friends to do the same.  You can vote for each valid email address you have. Send me even further north.

Good luck to all the candidates up for Best Blog, Best New Blog and Best Post. 

Voting Round - The 2010 Nunies

The people have spoken and the nominations are in for the 2010 version of the Nunies.  So without further ado here are the nominees, in no certain order.

for Best Blog

The Blog Bog of the Tundra

Townie Bastard

The M of Cape Dorset

Babies and Bulldogs

The Arctic Post

You can cast your vote in the poll below.  The poll limits voting to one vote by computer (cookie) and IP address.  So I encourage you to have a read of the blogs, and make your decision.  Good luck to all of these worthy candidates.

for Best New Blog

A Slice of Deep Fried Awesome

M&T In Nunavut

52 words for snow

The Spirited Educators

Daily Muise

Again, cast your vote below.  All of these are blogs that you should be checking out. Good luck to all, and welcome to your first Nunavut Blogging awards.

for Best Blog Post

Extreme Skypeing - No Fixed Address

To My Dad - Babies and Bulldogs

The poll is once again below.

And those were the only two nominations for this year, so it is up to them to duke it out for the high honours. Get your votes in.  You have until 5:00 pm Eastern on the 25th of January 2011 to vote.  After that the polls close and the winners will be crowned.  Make sure that you check out all of these blogs, and the many other worthy blogs from Nunavut.  You'll find it is a very vibrant community.

The Nunies - not so gentle reminder

You have a little under 7 hours to get your nominations in for The Nunies.  Categories are Best Blog, Best New Blog, and Best Post.

Nominate up to five blogs for Best Blog and Best New Blog by email to nunavutblogs AT yahoo DOT ca . Nominations for Best Post can be made to the same email address but only one post can be nominated and it must be by the post's author.

So far there haven't been any other prizes donated so right now, the three winners will receive an Oopik (baby owl craft) from me (not made by me), a nifty badge to put up on their blog and of course the glory.

As interest seems to be down this year there is opportunity for those blogs that YOU think are deserving. 

Gentle reminder

The nominations for The Nunies, the annual Nunavut Blogging Awards ends on Monday at 5 pm Eastern.  So far there have not been very many nominations, there might not even be five entrants to vote on in each category, and the best Blog Post may be named by acclamation.

So, don't forget to make your nominations for Best Blog and Best New Blog. And Nunavut bloggers, don't forget to submit your post for Best Blog Post.

Time's a wastin'.

The 2010 Nunies begin!

Well it is once again time for The Nunies. This is the fourth annual incarnation of the Nunavut Blogging Awards, and things are operating much as they did last year.  The next week, from now until 5pm ET on Monday the 17th of January will be the nomination phase.

Nominations will be in three categories, Best Blog, Best New Blog, and Best Blog Post.  Now, here it is how it works.  You can nominate up five blogs in each of the first two categories, Best Blog and Best New Blog. Blogs considered must be either a blog from Nunavut, or one that primarily concerns itself with Nunavut. For Best New Blog there is an additional qualification. Namely any blog considered for Best New Blog must have started in 2010. The five blogs with the most nominations in each category will go on to the voting round.

Nominations for Best Blog Post are a little different. For this category the author of the blog may nominate one of their own posts. You are in a position to know your work the best, and it saves there being mulitple nominations from one blog. All posts nominated will go on to the voting round.

To make your nominations, send an email to Nunavutblogs AT yahoo DOT ca.  Replace the AT and DOT with the proper symbol/punctuation mark. Once again, The House and other Arctic musings is ineligible for nominations, so don't waste your nominations. I'll not nominate any blogs but will cast the deciding vote in case of a tie.

So that's it, visit the many great Nunavut blogs, make your decisions, and get your nominations in. Spread the word and if you know of any Nunavut blogs that are not on the Nunavut Blogs! blogroll, let me know. Voting round will begin in the week following the 17th of January. 

Prizes have yet to be determined, and if you'd like to donate a prize to any or all of the categories, send me an email and let me know. 

Good luck to all.

The horizon

Just a bit of a heads up, that the annual Nunavut Blogging Awards, or the Nunies will be coming up in about a month's time.  I'll let you know when nominations open, but it doesn't hurt to start thinking about who you'd like to see nominated this year. 

Unless there is some great hue and cry, the categories and rules will essentially remain unchanged from last year.  Those categories will be:

Best Blog; Best New Blog; and Best Post.

There will be a week of nominations followed shortly after by a voting round.  For Best Blog and Best New Blog nominations will be by email, with the top five nominees going on to the voting round.  You can nominate up to five blogs in each category.  New Blogs are blogs that started in 2010.

Best Posts are to be nominated by the blog author that wrote them, one per blog.  All of these will go onto the final round.

And as far as eligibility goes, it is the same as for joining Nunavut Blogs! and that is, if you blog from Nunavut or primarily about Nunavut you are eligible.  The House and other Arctic musings and all of their employees and immediate family are, of course, ineligible. 

And one other thing, if you know of any Nunavut blogs that haven't come to my attention yet, or haven't been added to Nunavut Blogs! let me know. 

We'll talk again in January.

Envelope please...

The Nunies are over for another year, and the winners have been chosen.  One of the most interesting things (to my mind anyway) of The Nunies this year was the enthusiasm of the new blogs and their fans. Best New Blog was by far the most voted on category, and the closest race.  It is refreshing to see that even though the Territory has lost some great bloggers there are a whole new crop of great bloggers to step in and fill any void.  And so, on to the winners.

Best Post

The winner in the Best Post Category is Newbie in the North for her photo essay on a boating excursion through the waters off Pangnirtung, First Boating Trip.

Best New Blog

It was a close contest, but one blog led throughout the voting, and emerged as the winner in this Category.  And that winner is a couple blogging out of Chesterfield Inlet, The Arctic Post.

Best Blog

And the top honours this year, Best Blog, go to Townie Bastard. Well deserved honours indeed.

I'll email all the winners jpegs of the appropriate Nunie Badge that they can post on their blog if they wish.  All three category winning blogs will receive their choice of a book of Black and White photos of Arctic Bay or an Arctic Bay knit cap. In addition there is an inuksuk carving donated by Indigo for the Best New Blog, and a personalized mug donated by Jen of Nunavut for the Best New Post.

Congratulations to the winners, the nominees, and to all the blogging community in Nunavut.  It is a diverse group of blogs that make up that community, as are the people behind them.  All of them are well worth your time to check out and read, you'll no doubt find some favourites amongst them. You'll find all the Nunavut Blogs (that I'm aware of) at Nunavut Blogs!

Last Gasp

    The voting for the Nunies is winding down, and there is less than 24 hours left.  That means a couple of things. One, if you haven't voted you need to do so quickly. Two, if you're a nominated blog you don't have much time to do more lobbying amongst your readers.

Raising the poll

Just bring the poll for the 2009 Nunies back up to the top of the page to make it easier to find.  If you haven't taken the time to check out these blogs and vote, do so now.  The poll closes on Thursday.

In alphabetical order

Best Blog:

Babies and Bulldogs
Cindy, Matt & Our Furry Friends
Niedzielski Family Blog
Townie Bastard
Way Way Up

Best New Blog:

Advocatus Diaboli
The Arctic Post
Babies and Bulldogs
Newbie in the North
Pangnirtung Bound

Best Post: (in no particular order)

Drink from the tap... -- Pangnirtung Bound
In memorium -- Townie Bastard
Country food... -- Bonnie Up North
Reporter/Mid-wife -- Kent of the North
Babies and Giraffes, watching the Blue Jays game -- Jen of Nunavut
Goldilocks and the Three Bears? -- Way Way Up
Standing on the tail of a whale -- Babies and Bulldogs
First Boating Trip: -- Newbie in the North

Please take a few moments and check out these great blogs and posts (and the other great Nunavut blogs that missed the final cut). Then Vote.  Winners should be announced on Friday the 22nd of January.