Congratulations to all those who’ve made it to the short-list…. well done you!
I haven’t, but no matter. I was in the ‘personal’ category this year…. which I thought strange, but I guess it is how ‘you’ out there read my blog and categorise it…. it is not my opinion that matters. And, of course, thank you to whoever you are that nominated me!
photo courtesy of Blog Awards Ireland
I volunteered to help with the judging this year, as I have done for the past three years. And, yes, didn’t I write a blog post about learning to say ‘no’ to volunteering…. I am still learning!!!!!
Obviously, I didn’t get involved in judging in the category that we were nominated in, but I did do a few others, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.
Firstly, I think every blogger should volunteer to judge. It is good for you. You learn a lot. You will see what amazing talent is out there, and appreciate the competition! You will be blown away by the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes… mostly on a voluntary basis.
Through judging I have found blogs (and people) from around the world, that I would perhaps never have found, and now I communicate with them on a regular basis… they’ve become virtual friends.
I’ve had people say to me that they would not know enough about some of the topics to be competent to judge them. To that I say ‘stuff and nonsense’. It is up to the blogger to bring you into their world, and enthral you with their passion. You will learn from that. I couldn’t write a ‘humorous’ post…. but I do know when a post makes me laugh or giggle.
So to all of you I say, give a little time. Don’t say you are ‘too busy’ – we all are! The call for volunteers usually goes out in June or so… be ready next year.
My second point today is to all those new bloggers (there were over 200 of them this year). I know as that was one of the categories I judged. Or if you are thinking about starting a blog…. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make sure to put in an ‘About’ section. So many of the ‘new’ blogs didn’t have an ‘about’ section…. it is very difficult for the reader to establish where you are based, what is the purpose of your blog, why are you writing.
Just a little detail about who you are, why you are blogging, even explain the name of your blog. Just anything to make you a real person.
To all you finalists, fingers and toes are crossed for you on Saturday night. Of course, I have already chosen who my winners would be…. let’s see if I’m right 🙂
A Year In Redwood 