The Moggy Awards for Post of the year: and the winner is…

22Dec08

When I set out to determine the best Australian media and marketing blog post of the year, The Moggy, I didn’t realise what a difficult task it would be.

Firstly there were dozens of great nominations, some by the authors, most from readers, that I had to sift through in order to whittle down to a worthy Top 10. That itself was a challenge as I wished to display the wide variety of blogging styles and content. I am sure that some might disagree with the final ten, but I was satisfied that it was representative of the quality and variety in the Australian blogosphere.

I enlisted the help of three judges who were involved in the media and marketing blogging community and had journalistic background. Mark Chenery (ex-Adnews), Kate Kendall (Marketing Magazine) and Mark Jones (ex-IT editor for AFR) then scored each of the Top 10 finalists looking at the quality of the post and the contribution to media and marketing discussion online.

proudly supporting The Moggy Awards

I thought that would have produced a clear winner, but when I tallied the scores it became apparent that 2 posts were well in front of the rest but still locked together. A tie breaker was needed. Fortunately, I had formulated an additional criteria in case it came down to this. Rather than me deciding which of the final two I preferred (and they are both very good for very different reasons) my criteria would be to look at the reaction both posts created. After all, a well written piece that few people read or respond to isn’t one which is making a significant contribution to the conversation.

So the two finalists for The Gold Moggy were:

Jonathan Crossfield – Linkbait at any Cost?

Matt Granfield – How to get the world’s attention without being remarkable

Jonathan’s post was a well written, well-researched item on a topic that is very relevant to the blogosphere. It uses a notorious link-baiting example to discuss blogging ethics and our collective responsibility to preserve the freedom of expression blogging provides. Abusing that privilege might result in unwanted regulation.

Meanwhile Matt’s post is a beautifully written fable of value to all modern marketers. Showcasing Matt’s considerable writing skills and experience, the post leads you through an entertaining story that in the end is all about THE STORY. Its simply a great read.

Matt’s piece was actually commissioned by Marketing Magazine’s website and displayed both there and on Matt’s site. I didn’t realise this when the finalists were compiled and sent of to the judges, one of whom is from Marketing Magazine. Matt’s piece subsequently has attracted plenty of exposure due to the two sites it ran on and the fact that was eventually being printed in Marketing Magazine. The post attracted 2 comments on Matt’s blogsite, and 7 at Marketing Mag.

Meanwhile Jonathan’s post ran only at his blogsite and attracted 21 comments (plus a few more by Jonathan) as the debate grew. He then followed up the story with another two posts and a summary of the controversy the incident in question created around the world, including the transcript of a Media Watch piece.

Of the two posts, Jonathan’s definitely had the greater impact on the blogging community and for that reason he is the winner of the GOLD MOGGY for the Best Australian Media and Marketing Post of 2008.

Winner: Gold Moggy  – Jonathan Crossfield – Linkbait at any Cost?

Runner-Up: Silver Moggy – Matt Granfield – How to get the world’s attention without being remarkable

Third: Bronze Moggy – Julian Cole – NAB Spamming: A story of a maverick blog personality

Congratulations to all three for outstanding efforts and to all our finalists for their contributions to Australian blogging and online conversation.

Thanks also to Mark Chenery, Kate Kendall and Mark Jones for taking the time to judge the final ten.

Finally thanks to Marketing Magazine for their support of the innaugural Moggy Awards and for promoting quality online content in the media and marketing world.

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