Near as I can tell, the nominations process was meaningless in addition to having suffered from multiple delays...blogs with high numbers of nominations weren't selected for reasons unknown while blogs that weren't nominated at all got the nod.

Not sure if these blogs got ACORNed or Diebolded, but we certainly got screwed...

This is where direction reading was important. The rules clearly state the number of nominations is irrelavant. One nomination is enough. In at least three categories that I remember I added nominations (internal to the judges panel) for a site that won the category the previous year. Several were reselected as finalists, one wasn't.

You can go read the FAQ's at the site, they explain the process. With 5,000 nominations and ~500 finalists there's always going to be disappointed blogs.

Your one comment belies the overwhelming number of messages and links of suprised folks who were nominated and selected.

So, what you are saying is that it is a personal poularity contest amongst some clique and not at all a legitimate operation...

One might think that a top-nominated blog might actually have some support to be included...

Thanks for clearing all of this up...I'll never care about this "award" ever again...

So, what you are saying is that it is a personal poularity contest amongst some clique and not at all a legitimate operation...

No that's what you are saying. I explained the process and pointed out answers to your question. The finalist selection process is a cutdown process to leave use with a slate of 10 excellent finalists in every category. The manner of the selection is fairly well documented. That you misunderstand the rules is not our fault.

One might think that a top-nominated blog might actually have some support to be included...

Again, the rules are clearly stated - only one nomination is requested. All 5,000 (or so) nominated sites had "support to be included," so just because some sent readers to nominate their site multiple times, why is that more deserving than a site that didn't even know about the awards that was nominated? That's a rhetorical question, no answer required...

The FAQ indicated that we could use the number of nominations in the selection process, but when it came to we evaluating blogs we treated ones with one nomination in the same manner as we did ones with 50 nominations.

Thanks for clearing all of this up...I'll never care about this "award" ever again...

OK

I'm busy, we're done...