It's summer, that special time of year when a fan's mind turns to romance...
Okay, let's be honest: when *doesn't* a fan's mind turn to romance? Or at
least certain fans--you know who you are, you're the 'shippers of the world,
and that's who we're talking to. More specifically, to the unconventional
and lesser-known conventional het 'shippers of Stargate SG-1 fandom.
In other words: if you're a Stargate fan who 'ships Daniel/Janet,
Sam/Daniel, Daniel/Sha're, Jack/Janet, Sam/Teal'c, Jack/Sara,
Teal'c/Drey'auc, Teal'c/Ishta, Sam/Jonas...pretty much any het couple *other* than
Sam/Jack, we want you!
So who are "we," you ask?
We are Meg, Azar and Noelle, coordinators of the brand-new Isis Awards for
Stargate Secondary 'Ships. As many of you may have noticed, the 'ship
categories in the 2004 Stargate SG-1 Fan Awards were predominantly focused
on Jack/Sam. And while there's a logic to that since it is the dominant
'ship in the fandom, it has the unfortunate side effect of marginalizing any
authors, artists, webmasters, etc. who happen to 'ship someone else. The
goal of the Isis Awards is to give other 'ships and the people who support
them a chance to be equally recognized for their hard work and creativity.
With this aim in mind, the awards are organized into several 'ship-based
categories, with subcategories for length and genre. We have several
categories already in mind (too many to list here), but the gist of it is
this: if a particular 'ship receives three nominations, it will get its own
category. Anything with only one or two noms will go in the Jack/other,
Sam/other, Daniel/other, etc. categories. There will also be separate
categories for each character paired with an original character, since OC
fic tends to be the most marginalized het genre out there.
*No* slash fic or pairings are eligible, even if a het pairing is also
involved, partly because the coordinators are predominantly het readers and
partly to keep the award from getting any more complicated than it already
is. :-) However, if someone wanted to create a similar award for secondary
slash pairings in the fandom, we would certainly not object.
So why the "Isis Awards"? For three reasons: 1) Isis was Osiris' queen and
since Osiris wasn't female before Sarah, that means she was involved in a
het 'ship, 2) we never saw her alive, so we can pretend that she wouldn't
have been mean and cruel and villainous like Hathor, and 3) we never saw her
alive, so how much more secondary can you get?
Now for the important part: where do you come in?
We NEED help! None of us has ever run an award before, first of all, so we
need an experienced support network to help keep us from falling flat on our
faces. Second, even though we've never run an award before, we do know
enough about them to know that it would be suicidal to try to do so with
only three people!
We need volunteers, to help with checking eligibility of nominated stories,
counting votes, creating graphics for nominees and winners, etc.
Readers should be fans of the 'ship they're volunteering to read for, since
their duties will basically involve reading every nominated fic in their
assigned category or categories and determining if it meets the eligibility
requirements. What those requirements are, we're still working out, but
we'll let you know before you have to start.
Vote counters should be willing to work in a category or categories that
they *don't* support or write in; this is intended to avoid even the
appearance of bias while still allowing everyone involved to have their fic
eligible for the awards. So basically, if you're a huge fan or writer of
Daniel/Sam, you'll be assigned to count votes for Daniel/Janet or
Sam/Teal'c, and vice versa.
Graphic designers should display a certain level of skill in digital
art/manipulation, so the winners in the Daniel/Sam category won't feel
slighted because their awards aren't as pretty as the Daniel/Janet winners.
If the only graphics program you have is Paint, or if you're just starting
to learn PSP or Photoshop, please don't apply for this position, because we
really don't want to have to tell you no.
There are other positions as well, we just haven't figured out what all of
them are yet, so if you want to be involved *please* contact us and we'll
find a place for you! :-)
Readers and vote counters should contact Meg at meg @ sholvah.org; graphic
artists should e-mail Noelle at noelle @ sholvah.org, and if you don't see
yourself in any of those jobs but still want to do something, contact Azar
at azar @ sholvah.org and we'll see what we can do! (Remember to take the
spaces out of those e-mail addresses before trying to contact us.)
If everything goes well, hopefully the Isis Awards will be around for years
to come. Next year we might even include Atlantis, once the show has been
around long enough to figure out what the dominant and secondary 'ships are.
:-D But in order for that to happen, we need to make this year a success and
that all depends on YOU!
Hope to hear from a lot of you soon!
Sincerely,
Azar, Meg and Noelle
Isis Awards coordinators
Please pass this letter on to any groups you think may be interested. Thanks!
Okay, let's be honest: when *doesn't* a fan's mind turn to romance? Or at
least certain fans--you know who you are, you're the 'shippers of the world,
and that's who we're talking to. More specifically, to the unconventional
and lesser-known conventional het 'shippers of Stargate SG-1 fandom.
In other words: if you're a Stargate fan who 'ships Daniel/Janet,
Sam/Daniel, Daniel/Sha're, Jack/Janet, Sam/Teal'c, Jack/Sara,
Teal'c/Drey'auc, Teal'c/Ishta, Sam/Jonas...pretty much any het couple *other* than
Sam/Jack, we want you!
So who are "we," you ask?
We are Meg, Azar and Noelle, coordinators of the brand-new Isis Awards for
Stargate Secondary 'Ships. As many of you may have noticed, the 'ship
categories in the 2004 Stargate SG-1 Fan Awards were predominantly focused
on Jack/Sam. And while there's a logic to that since it is the dominant
'ship in the fandom, it has the unfortunate side effect of marginalizing any
authors, artists, webmasters, etc. who happen to 'ship someone else. The
goal of the Isis Awards is to give other 'ships and the people who support
them a chance to be equally recognized for their hard work and creativity.
With this aim in mind, the awards are organized into several 'ship-based
categories, with subcategories for length and genre. We have several
categories already in mind (too many to list here), but the gist of it is
this: if a particular 'ship receives three nominations, it will get its own
category. Anything with only one or two noms will go in the Jack/other,
Sam/other, Daniel/other, etc. categories. There will also be separate
categories for each character paired with an original character, since OC
fic tends to be the most marginalized het genre out there.
*No* slash fic or pairings are eligible, even if a het pairing is also
involved, partly because the coordinators are predominantly het readers and
partly to keep the award from getting any more complicated than it already
is. :-) However, if someone wanted to create a similar award for secondary
slash pairings in the fandom, we would certainly not object.
So why the "Isis Awards"? For three reasons: 1) Isis was Osiris' queen and
since Osiris wasn't female before Sarah, that means she was involved in a
het 'ship, 2) we never saw her alive, so we can pretend that she wouldn't
have been mean and cruel and villainous like Hathor, and 3) we never saw her
alive, so how much more secondary can you get?
Now for the important part: where do you come in?
We NEED help! None of us has ever run an award before, first of all, so we
need an experienced support network to help keep us from falling flat on our
faces. Second, even though we've never run an award before, we do know
enough about them to know that it would be suicidal to try to do so with
only three people!
We need volunteers, to help with checking eligibility of nominated stories,
counting votes, creating graphics for nominees and winners, etc.
Readers should be fans of the 'ship they're volunteering to read for, since
their duties will basically involve reading every nominated fic in their
assigned category or categories and determining if it meets the eligibility
requirements. What those requirements are, we're still working out, but
we'll let you know before you have to start.
Vote counters should be willing to work in a category or categories that
they *don't* support or write in; this is intended to avoid even the
appearance of bias while still allowing everyone involved to have their fic
eligible for the awards. So basically, if you're a huge fan or writer of
Daniel/Sam, you'll be assigned to count votes for Daniel/Janet or
Sam/Teal'c, and vice versa.
Graphic designers should display a certain level of skill in digital
art/manipulation, so the winners in the Daniel/Sam category won't feel
slighted because their awards aren't as pretty as the Daniel/Janet winners.
If the only graphics program you have is Paint, or if you're just starting
to learn PSP or Photoshop, please don't apply for this position, because we
really don't want to have to tell you no.
There are other positions as well, we just haven't figured out what all of
them are yet, so if you want to be involved *please* contact us and we'll
find a place for you! :-)
Readers and vote counters should contact Meg at meg @ sholvah.org; graphic
artists should e-mail Noelle at noelle @ sholvah.org, and if you don't see
yourself in any of those jobs but still want to do something, contact Azar
at azar @ sholvah.org and we'll see what we can do! (Remember to take the
spaces out of those e-mail addresses before trying to contact us.)
If everything goes well, hopefully the Isis Awards will be around for years
to come. Next year we might even include Atlantis, once the show has been
around long enough to figure out what the dominant and secondary 'ships are.
:-D But in order for that to happen, we need to make this year a success and
that all depends on YOU!
Hope to hear from a lot of you soon!
Sincerely,
Azar, Meg and Noelle
Isis Awards coordinators
Please pass this letter on to any groups you think may be interested. Thanks!
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