Region Two Web Awards
Greetings, Region TwoJudging for the annual Region Two Richard Daystrom Cyberspace Awards will begin on Sunday, February 1, 2009. Therefore, if there are any major changes or updates that you need to do, make sure you have those completed by then. Judging will end Saturday, February 14, 2009.
Please verify that your chapter has the correct URL web link on the Region Two Chapters Page: http://region2.org/chapters.php
If Region Two members have a personal web site that they wish to be included, make sure the link is correct and that is linked to a Chapter website. This includes any type of website, blog, even social media profile (MySpace, Trekspace, etc) that a member in good standing of Region Two has built for personal or STARFLEET related business. Sorry, no commercial sites.
Remember that there is no actual nominations to make for the web award. Just make sure that your site is correctly linked at one of the above locations, or linked on a web page that will be visited at one of those locations. If any of these links are out of date, please send them to me immediately at compops@region2.org
The judging methodology will remain the same as previous years: Each of the web award judges will choose and rank the three best web sites for each of the Cyberspace Award categories. First will receive 5 points; second, 3 points; and third, 1 point. The web site with the most points totaled among the three judges will win that category/award.
As I have a couple of sites that I have designed or manage that qualify for judging, I have recused myself from the process. I have selected a pool of six judges. All of them are from OUTSIDE of Region Two to be completely "fair and balanced."
Each site will be evaluated on nine criteria:
Technical Correctness (broken or out of date links)
Advanced Features (Java, flash, shockwave, etc.)
Compatibility (multiple browser support)
Multimedia Appeal (effective and appropriate use of graphics and other media)
Efficiency (does it load quickly and use appropriate file formats)
Design (logical and easy to use layout)
Content (does it actually say anything or just looks cool)
Freshness (has it been updated recently)
and Overall Appeal (the general impression the site makes)
While not mutually exclusive, scoring high in one criterion can easily cause a lower score in another criterion. The best websites balance them all.
As you may know, I'm a big advocate of multi-browser capability. Therefore, if I have the time, I have asked the judges to also be view your web sites with other web browsers and operating systems to measure compatibility. For those not familiar with the world outside of Internet Explorer, here are some options.
Mozilla Firefox (Linux or Windows)
Older versions of Internet Explorer (6, 5.5)
Google Chrome (Windows)
Opera (Linux or Windows)
The Lynx browser in a terminal session (Linux)
Safari (for OSX on a Mac)
I would also not be surprised if some of the judges looked at your site in their mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, or tablet. I know of two of the judges that have Palm Treos! So you may get extra Geek Points(tm) if your site is usable on a portable device!
Just a word of advice, not every new whiz-bang feature is a good thing. If your menu options are only available only via java, javascript, or flash then a user may not be able to browse your site due to incompatibilities or lack of these features. If your menus or much of your content are all in pictures or image maps without proper text backups, people who are visually impaired or prefer to surf with the images or special features turned *off* the site will be unusable.
Anyway, the sites will be rated in each of the nine criteria listed above. The judges will score the finalists simply by listing their top three choices in order of preference for each of the four categories. Once the submissions are in, a simple points system will be used to tally the finalists.
Also, judges have been asked to make notes about anything that leaps out as being particularly good or bad. Those ratings will be used to determine the final ranking from all the judges.
Once the 2009 Summit is over, you may ask to receive a copy of your scores to help you determine where your web site needs to improve. The judges are free to use any browser, OS, or judging methodology that they choose.
If you have any questions or concerns about the judging process used for the Richard Daystrom Cyberspace Award, please feel free to contact me at compops@region2.orgAlso use that address for sending link updates, or other updates.
Of course, if you have any questions about other aspects of the Awards Program, please contact Region Two Chief of Awards, Barbara Paul, at awards.region2.org
Thanks also to Richard Trulson. His guidelines for these awards were used in determining the guidelines for this year. No trout were injured during the creation of these guidelines.
Thanks for your time. AND GOOD LUCK!!!
Relaunch of Region Two Website
The crisis is over. The Region Two website is back online. It may take a little while for the old domain to be transferred. But the site is now located at http://secondfleet.orgYou may want to update your bookmarks.