Bloggies! and Reflection

Today I'm finally back in class again. (We had a week-long sabbatical from actually coming-in to class as Brenda was out of town.) And today, we're voting on Bloggies.  Bloggies are awards for the best blogs in specific areas--but we're choosing blogs from the Living Writer's Blogroll.

Here's my ballot: (HEY! I THOUGHT BALLOTS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ANONYMOUS!)

• Best Personal Blog: Chelsea
• Best Design/Visual Blog: Charity
• Best Hobby/Specific Interest Blog: Will
• Most Improved Blog: Tommy
• Most Interactive Blog: Natalie
• Most Likely to Succeed: Kacie

And...now that I've turned in my paper ballot, these votes are final.

Here's a secret: I wanted no more than to vote for multiple people under certain categories.  It really just wasn't fair.


Best Personal Blog: Chelsea
I thought Chelsea and Natalie and Charity were really tied for best personal blog.  In the end, I ultimately chose Chelsea's "When I grow up" because hers is purely personal, and I wouldn't have voted for her in another category if I didn't vote for her in this one.  The reason I like her blog is because her posts are short.  Not only that, but pretty much each line in each post is short--which makes it a quick blog to keep up with in a world full of much longer, much more informative blogs.  She makes it easy to catch up if I've fallen behind as a result of finals, crashing computers, and an overwhelming amount of group projects. =/  And her illustrations make me laugh.  =) I also have no qualms about commenting on her page, and I love that she always comments back. 

Best Design/Visual Blog: Charity

Though I've heard her complain multiple times about how restrictive wordpress is when it comes to editing her blog layout, I think she's done a really good job working with it. "Six and a Writer" has a homepage that's really clean to come to as a first page.  It's very Web 2.0.  =)  The colors match nicely, and I think the minimalistic focus on white space really does her blog a favor--it goes with her vintage theme.
I also think that she does an excellent job choosing the visuals she decides to put into her blog--and I know she's a photographer, so it's no wonder she's good at that kind of thing.  Overall, I just think that there's a very "Charity-esque" feel to the entire blog, and it really ties each page together.

Best Hobby/Specific Interest Blog: Will

I admit that I haven't read this blog very often, but I have to say--he's all over the map when it comes to writing about the Mariners.  I think I went to his blog the other day and ended up watching an entire video clip of a concert of an artist I didn't know, didn't care to know, but thought was funny at the time.  It was part of his "unrelated video of the day" segments.  With those videos as the exception, he manages to relate the rest of his posts to the Mariners--which is laudable.  So, great job, Will, for allowing the Mariners to permeate your life so much that you can hardly write without tying whatever is going on in society to something Mariner's related.  =)  I think they call that obsession.

Most Improved Blog: Tommy

To be honest, this blog wasn't much at the beginning of the quarter.  Black text, white background...basic fonts and layout, maybe one post a week. "Why Write"never really told me "why I needed to write.
Now, I think he's got at least one post up where he actually posted a short story (which is what I've been waiting for!), and a completely renovated template.  Now he has white words on a gray background, with accents of orange springing up across the page.  He even added "Top Ten Tuesday" to his editorial calendar. (Tom, we still haven't seen Blazing Saddles.  That post was weeks ago.)  He also had a post that talks about his writing process, and adds little anecdotes about what it's like in the life of writer Tommy.  So, he managed to make the blog look better, in addition to including helpful content, as well as content that gives us a window into the person behind the blog.  Somehow I think blogs exist to remind us that there are other people on the internet with us, and it's important for that person's voice and life to come through the other side.

Most Interactive Blog: Natalie

Natalie could easily with Best personal Blog as well for "My Cat thinks I'm Funny", because she's entertaining, and bases all of her posts off of her own experience.  I also think she's has the most followers (and posts that get to be as long as mine sometimes!)
But I think her greatest strength is in her voice and how she manages to tell stories that encourage people to participate.  I notice that a ton of people comment on her blog--it's one of the ones I frequent regularly, and comment when I have the patience to deal with Captcha.  But it's interactive in the subject matter, really.  She picks topics that are common to most of us, and writes it in a way that doesn't step on toes (not too hard, anyway), and always invites people to comment below.  If she links to something, she doesn't do it often, so I almost always click on the links/videos/etc.


Blog Most Likely To Succeed: Kacie

In blogs, there's really a wide spectrum of ways to succeed, but I think my favorite is how long the blog stays afloat.  Personally, I don't know if many of my classmates will continue to post as often once their once-a-week requirement is removed at the end of the quarter.  I hope I continue to post, but I have to admit that with the last couple weeks, I've begun to lose steam.  Kacie, in "Kacie's Kinship", though she's not a regular post-er, always has new content, and her family is important to her.  When she mentioned wanting to make Kinships more widely known, with even a website to come to for more information, I sensed that she'd keep up with the blog in order to keep people who want to learn about kinships informed.  Once the travelbug in her settles down a bit, I can almost see her creating that website, and a non-profit organization behind it to inform, support, and coordinate kinships locally, if not nationally. 
But I also know that Kacie's life can be hectic, so even though she may set this blog aside for a little while, I do think it'll end up being a part of/ or the inspiration for something much bigger in the future.



What I think makes a good blog:
So, based on the blurbs above, good blogs can be a whole range of things, but I think they need to incorporate parts of each of the bloggies above: interactiveness, good design, interesting content, a unique voice, and a driving purpose.

I've already begun to use my blog as a professional springboard.  A potential employer wanted me to teach a blogging class at a summer camp, and I gave him my url so he could see the work I had done.  I'm blogging about TED so that maybe someday, I can really blog for TED. (I'm applying to TEDxVancouver this week to see if they will give me an internship for Nicole Brown's internship next quarter.  Imagine how working for TED could improve my networking!)

But what I've gained from blogging three times a week, every week, is the knowledge that the words will always come, and I just have to give myself the time to get them out.
I also learned that editing is terribly important, and it's something that I should spend more time doing.  =)

I think reading blogs that you're interested in can spawn creativity, or even connect you with people you never thought you'd be able to connect with.

I can't say that I think the blog community is a very strong one--but I often don't have the time to participate and be as active of a member in a blog community as I ought to be.  Participating in TEDconversations is nice, though--especially when I get an email telling me that some intelligent person liked my comment or decided to respond to it.