NJ Social Media 2009 Hall of Fame

Update: 1/14/10 Our apologies–have been working out technical+copyright issues. Will be updating very shortly… Thanks for your patience! ~Eva

Updated 12/7/09: We’re pleased to announce our Top 10 Finalists!

(Here are all 10 Finalists, in alphabetical order)

Congratulations to our Finalists! We’ll be posting their photos and profiles shortly, plus feature exclusive interviews with each Finalist. They will advance to Phase 2 of our Public Voting Process , along with Judge’s Choice Finalists (to be announced). We’ll ask for your help to determine who will be voted in as Inductees to the NJ Social Media 2009 Hall of Fame!

Thank you to all of our Nominees, Finalists, Judges, Advisory Panel, Voters, Friends and Supporters for your participation in the first round. We look forward to your participation in Phase 2, which will be announced shortly.

Updated 12/5/09:
All Top 10 Finalists have now been contacted via Twitter Direct Message or Email. We will announce their names after we receive their Acceptance. They will advance to Phase 2 of the Public Voting Process for consideration as Inductees into the NJ Social Media Hall of Fame! Congratulations to our Top 10 Finalists and thanks to all of our Nominees and voters for participating!

Updated 12/2/09: Finalists have been chosen! We will contact them individually before we release their names publicly.
Finalists will have the opportunity to move on to the next phase, which will take place by public vote, to determine who will be Inducted into #NJSM09 Hall of Fame. Every vote counts! More details to be announced shortly….

NOMINATIONS are now closed for NJ Social Media 2009 Hall of Fame!
#NJSM09 Hall of Fame

Updated: 11/29/09
The NJ Social Media 2009 Hall of Fame was created to recognize the influence and contributions of NJ-based individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations in their exemplary use of Social Media.

Added 11/30/09:
Ten Finalists will be selected by our Panel of Judges from the list of eligible Nominees, based on the following Criteria:

Quality of Nomination Tweets
Social Media Presence
Quality of Online Postings and Social Media Conversations
Use of Social Media to Represent a Unique Personality or Brand

Announcing our Panel of Judges:

Eva Abreu
Deirdre Breakenridge
Brian Donohue (added 12/2/09)
Chris Kieff

Advisory Panel:

Liz Pullen

I invited a diverse group of individuals from different backgrounds, career and life experiences to participate as members of the Panel of Judges or Advisory Panel, who I felt were fair, objective and had a strong understanding of Social Media who could share their expert opinions. In addition to the list of Judges above, also invited were Gary Vaynerchuk and Mayor Cory Booker, but they were unable to participate due to their schedules. ~EA

Nomination Period:
Starts at 01:00 am EST on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009.
Ends at 11:59 pm EST on Monday, Nov. 30, 2009

Quick Rules: (see Full Rules below for details)

Vote via Twitter-only
Use hashtag #NJSM09
Explain in your tweet WHY this user should be included in NJSM Hall of Fame.
Limit one vote per day
Anyone can vote
Nominees (winners) must be NJ-based
Do NOT nominate: @NJSocialMedia or @Eva_Abreu @dbreakenridge @ckieff @nwjerseyliz (they are Administrators/Judges and not eligible)

Full Rules: (updated 11/24/09 at 9:30am EST)

1. You can nominate yourself or any individual, business, or non-profit organization based in New Jersey. Anyone can nominate; but all Nominees must be NJ-based (currently living or working in NJ or located in NJ for at least 30 consecutive days during 2009).

2. Nominees must be on Twitter and have a Twitter user_name.

3. Nominations accepted only via Twitter, posted as a public Twitter post (i.e. Tweet), in 140 characters or less, and must include hashtag #NJSM09 at the beginning of the Tweet.
–#Note about hashtag: Make sure to enter “09″ as numbers, as in the numbers zero-nine; don’t enter the letter “O” because if you do, your Nomination Tweet won’t show up in the #hashtag search)

4. Nomination Tweets should be in this format: (do not include quotation marks)
“ #NJSM09 @user_name because he/she/they are { __fill in the blank why you nominate this user___} ”

5. URLs, including shortened URLs, may be permitted in the Nomination Tweet, just as long as it links to something related to the Nominee and why they should be included in the #NJSM09 Hall of Fame. Examples of acceptable links include original blog posts talking about the virtues of the Nominee, or original videos, audio podcasts, pictures, or articles on the same subject. If the URL has nothing to do with that specific Nominee or the #NJSM09 Hall of Fame Awards, or could be considered spam, then that specific Nomination Tweet will become void and will be disqualified. *Note: Negative campaigning and flame wars will not be tolerated: any Nomination Tweet that is derogatory or defames another Nominee will be void and disqualified. Play nicely please.

6. Ten (10) Finalists will be chosen from all the Nominees and will be announced on Wed. Dec. 2, 2009.

7. Every Nomination Tweet will be reviewed, just as long as it contains the hashtag #NJSM09 at the beginning of the Tweet. Finalists will be chosen based on quality of Nomination Tweets received (emphasis on QUALITY, not quantity). In other words, this is not going to be a popularity contest. The total number of Nomination Tweets received for a user will NOT be the deciding factor on who gets chosen as a Finalist. What we’re looking for in quality Nomination Tweets are thoughtful, well-worded Tweets about why you think this Twitter user deserves to be included in the NJ Social Media Hall of Fame. What this means is that a Twitter user who receives just 1 meaningful Nomination Tweet may have a better chance of becoming a Finalist, as compared to the user who receives 10,000 Nomination Tweets that all say, “pick me!” or “because they deserve it”. Sure, maybe they DO deserve it, but explain to us in your Tweet exactly WHY they deserve it.

8. Only one (1) Nomination Tweet per day will be accepted from one Twitter account. In other words, you can only vote once per day. If more than 1 Nomination Tweet is submitted by the same Twitter account on the same day, we’ll only count the first one of the day. The Nominee can receive unlimited Nomination Tweets in one day, just as long as each Nomination Vote is an original, single vote of the day from a specific individual Twitter account. Updated 11/29/09: Hint — Originality counts! Judges may choose not to include a Nomination Tweet if it contains the same exact wording repeated in a previous Nomination Tweet. In other words, tell us something new and different about the Nominee in each Nominee Tweet and why we should consider this user.

9. Re-tweets (RTs) will NOT be counted. All Nomination Tweets must begin with #NJSM09 and must be an originally written Tweet.

10. The following Twitter users will NOT be eligible for Nomination: @NJSocialMedia @Eva_Abreu @dbreakenridge @ckieff @nwjerseyliz (additional names may be added). These individuals cannot be included in the Nomination for NJ Social Media Hall of Fame, due to their direct affiliation.

11. Finalists will have their name, photo, contact information and bio/description posted on the NJ Social Media website and also included in written promotional materials and publications related to the “NJ Social Media 2009 Hall of Fame”, and will receive a “NJ Social Media 2009 Hall of Fame” certificate. Additional prizes may be announced. Sponsorship inquiries are welcome.

For additional Questions or Sponsorship Opportunities:
Send a Tweet or DM to @NJSocialMedia or leave a comment below, or email: editor {at} njsocialmedia {dot} com.

Best wishes and have fun nominating!

Regards,
Eva Abreu, Publisher
NJ Social Media

Photo credit: bpende

Added 11/30/09:
Background:
I created the NJ Social Media 2009 Hall of Fame concept, loosely based on a variety of different awards, contests and ceremonies that I’ve observed in the past (both web-based and offline too), such as:

140conf/NOW Awards (Jeff Pulver): http://140conf.com/blog

Mashable’s Open Web Awards: http://mashable.com/owa/pages/rules

PRSarahEvans Top 50 Tweeple: http://prsarahevans.com/2009/08/the-top-50-tweeples-to-follow-2009-edition/

Shorty Awards: http://shortyawards.com/about/

Webby Awards: http://www.webbyawards.com/about/

NJ Hall of Fame: http://www.njhalloffame.org/factsheet.htm

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/induction-process/

I’ve also worked behind the scenes on large scale awards ceremonies such as Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, MTV Music Awards, etc. and wanted to bring a little bit of that excitement to this process and to NJ as well. So, that’s my motivation : ) ~EA