The Charmies...

[Esmeralda]

This is another idea that has been used at other sites and that I've been considering bringing here to ALTERNATE CHARMED and am interested in seeing what other members think.

The Charmies are Charmed's version of the Oscars, awards for best fanfic/RPG in various categories. At the same time, they also act as reviews for those fanfics/RPG, giving you a chance to say what you liked or didn't like about various fics/RPGs, helping other members decide if they want to or don't want to read said fic or join said RPG.

Although we never actually did the Charmies at my Es' Library of Charmed or Charmed & Complete sites, here's what we had in mind for them. See what you think:

1) NOMINATE CATEGORIES

We would set up a Category Thread where you and any other member would be welcomed to nominate a category for either fanfics or RPGs. If you wished to name the category, that's even better!

EXAMPLES (from my other sites)

The Future Boy Award--Best Chris Fic
The Billie Award--Best Parody
The Source of All Evil Award--Best Original Villain
The Tissue Award--Saddest Fanfic
The Smooch Award--Most Romantic Fanfic
The Essie Award--Best Overall Fanfic (hey, they were my sites! )

Even if another member nominated a category, if you could think of a better title, you'd be welcomed to nominate that name! You'd also be welcomed to nominate as many categories as you wish!

After a month, that thread would be closed and we'd start a NEW nomination thread, where anyone could nominate a new category for the next round!

2) MAKE NOMINATIONS

Members could nominate any fic or any RPG posted at AC for any category EXCEPT for their own. A special nomination form would be posted. You'd just fill out the form (including a review for the fic) and PM it to ALTERNATE CHARMED and we'd post the nomination. That way we'd be sure that no one nominates their own *and* no one (except the admins) would know who posted the nominations. (If authors wanted to know who nominated their fics, we could let them know once the contest was over.)

Once a nomination is made, that fanfic would not be able to be nominated again in that category.

Once five fics were nominated for a category, that category would be closed.

Nominations would stay open for two months or until all categories are filled. At that point, those nomination threads would be closed and the new ones for the next batch would be set up. Any fanfic in the older nomination threads would not be able to be nominated in the next round.

3) VOTING FOR AWARDS:

A special voting form would be set up. Members would fill out the form and PM it to AC. This would ensure that members only voted once and didn't vote for their own fic/RPG. Voting would be open for a week.

4) THE LIVE AWARD SHOW!!

We would set up a chat box just for that day so that everyone can watch the announcements of the awards, and hopefully be able to hear from the winners!! We'd have to decide what the award would be...any suggestions??

So, what do you guys think?? Any suggestions on making this better are more than welcomed!

[Melissa]

I totally love this idea Es. You always have great ideas. As in awards for winning, I dunno right now. But hopefully somebody has an idea.

[StoryGirl83]

Don't have time to comment on the whole thing, but I really like the idea. I was wondering. If a story get's nominated and doesn't win, is it never aloud to be renominated or for a certain amount of time, like six months or a year or two years or something like that. It would be annoying for a new member to the site a couple years from now to have to check through all the nominations to make sure this particular story they like was never nominated. If it is forever, then maybe you could put something on each story, saying that it was nominated but didn't win an award. Or is it only stories that have been put on the site within a certain amount of time. Got to go, so bye for now.

[Esmeralda]

Sorry, Marlena I didn't make that very clear. Maybe this will help out.

I'd like to make the rounds seasonal...Round One for summer, Round Two for autumn, Round Three for winter and Round Four for spring. THEN have a grand contest where the four fics would battle it out for the annual award. Doing it this way ensures that the contest keeps going and that different fanfics/RPGs would win.

Once a fanfic/RPG wins a Seasonal Charmy, it would no longer be eligible for nomination in that category. Since Round Two would get going before we know who the Round One winners are (since the Round Two nominations would be going on at the same time as the Round One voting), none of the Round One nominations would be eligible for Round Two nomination in that category. Now if a member thinks that fic/RPG fits a category for which it wasn't nominated during Round One, they could nominate it for that new category.

For Round Three, any fanfic/RPG that was nominated during Round One but didn't win would be eligible for that category in Round Three.

Did that make it more clear or did I now make it as clear as mud???

[Amber]

This is an absolute brilliant idea. I think it would be a great addition to the site.

[StoryGirl83]

Es, that answered my questions. It's clear now.

[Esmeralda]

Having seen how well our first contest has gone, what would you guys now think about doing a contest like this one?

[StoryGirl83]

That would be a fun no pressure contest to have, since it doesn't require any new fics to be written. I say go for it.

I have an idea for two catagories:
Favorite Bad Boy Award - This is for fics focused on the not quite good guys that people likes, Cole (nuff said), Bane (he was on the opposite side of the law), Drake (good demon), and anyone else that might fit. Richard might fit, though I admit to never have seen a fic focused on him.
They Aren't Charmed Award - Favorite fic that either doesn't have the Charmed Ones in it or has them only a small amount. This would include . . . well anyone, but things like my "Leo's Choice" and "Dying Day" and marienomad's "A Surprising Lunch". I'm not sure how common stories like this are, so this may not work. I think your "Friendship . . . and the Seer" would fit, too. As all four of these are one shots, I imagine that would be the case most of the time.

[marienomad]

It sounds like fun.

Let's see for categories...

Sisterly Love fic: The best fic that involves the Halliwell Sisters being sisters. You know, a family kind of fic.

I Could Do Better: The best rewrite of any Charmed Episode. Not part of the Alternate Charmed Storyline.

[jediya]

You know I love the Charmies idea Es. Told ya before So, much like the Mag 7 fanfic awards that happen (when I used to be part of that fandom.)

I'd even like to help out if I can.

Just one thing, what about instead of a 'chat' you do it like an RPG? This way people who aren't on at the time can read the posts afterwards as if they were there.

[Esmeralda]

Oh, JEDS! I wish you were on NOW so you could explain how you do it as an RPG! We could do that for the WitchWRITER announcement today!

To me it sounds like we already have the contest going, since you guys are already coming up with categories! And I LOVE the categories!

Once we're done with WitchWRITER, we'll definitely get this set up!

[jediya]

I happen to always be here Es Or at least online all day so pop back every so often.

Well, with the other fandom awards, that was how they were done. A set time and day for the awards but in RPG style. So for instance you could have a pre-award show bit where people can chat and stuff (in the Mag 7 one they actually play it out as if they are a character... you know: 'Es bounced around trying to kerb her enthusiasm at finding out who the Witchwriter/s would be.' - 'Jeds rolled her eyes at Es, contemplating telling her to stop it but couldn't be bothered.' etc..

And then you have your 'in charge' playing the role of 'host' ... But as I said, it's a silly thing that the Mag 7 lot did...fun but I could never take part due to timezones. I was always there for the 'pre-show' and 'after-show' parties

Just a suggestion..... and it's silly and fun

[Primrose Empath]

Silly and fun are always a good combination to me. I could totally go with this style for the "awards show".

But back on topic...

This should definitely be next on "ye olde contest to-do list" -- the categories are a complete trip.