Vote for Our Panel "Black Blogging Rockstars" for SXSW 2010!

Please help us get to SXSW 2010 by voting for the panel "Black Blogging Rockstars"!

Just visit this link: http://bit.ly/2Tv45h. It takes just a few minutes to register and vote.

While you're at it, check out these other great panels by Black bloggers which need *your* vote to make it to SXSW!

Black Female Bloggers & the Future of Media: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/3198

How Social Media Can Destroy Your Business Model: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/3635

Can Online Social Media Erase The Digital Divide?: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/4325

Jingaling Baby! Making Money from Music for Media: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/4513

"Preserve the Sexy" of Your Brand through Social Media: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/4517

The Revolution Will be a #Hashtag: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/2274

Online Gatekeeping: Who Died and Made You King?: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/4753

Can I Reserve This Book With My iPhone?: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/3175

Thanks for your support and keep those votes coming for the Awards!

Best Microblog Finalists Added

We've sorted out the database issues and the "Best Microblog" finalists are now showing properly on the ballot. We also added them to the finalist list.

The 2009 Black Weblog Awards Finalist List

Mucho apologies for the lateness of the finalist list (we still have a few kinks to work out). Here are the top five finalists in the 2009 Black Weblog Awards categories (with the exception of "Best Business Blog" which has the top two finalists).

NOTE: We've worked out the database errors; the "Best Microblog" category is now showing.

NOTE: We're still getting the "Best Microblog" category straightened out as well due to some technical glitches, so please, bear with us. Here we go!

Best Blog Design

This Week in Blackness
My Two Cents.
MyBrownBaby
Houseofaura.Com
Straight From The A

Best Blog Post Series

Mane & Chic
The Black Snob
Wet Wednesdays Series on NakedWithSocksOn.com
30 in 30 Blog Marathon on NakedWithSocksOn.com
Starving Artists Series on 25 Magazine

Best Business Blog

BDPA Foundation
Industry Plug

Best Culture Blog

FreshXpress .:. The PULSE of Young Black America
This Week in Blackness
The Black Snob
Black Girl with Long Hair
Afrobella

Best Faith-Based Blog

Reflections of a Jazz Theologian
Big Is The New Small
The Fab Empire
Infinite Gen
Neo95

Best Food Blog

The Duo Dishes
The Ghetto Cooking Show
FlavorDiva.com
LBJ's Brown Bag
A Lot About Nothing

Best Gossip Blog

The Fury
Straight From The A
StraightOuttaNYC
The Black Socialite
AJ Supreme-World Famous

Best Group Blog

Cosby Kids
Very Smart Brothas
FreshXpress .:. The PULSE of Young Black America
Three Ways to Take It
MESH.

Best Health and Wellness Blog

The P.O.S.H. Life
TNM Blog and Newsletter
The Green Doorway Lifestyle Design
Mother Knows Best
Little Golden Lamb

Best Hip-Hop Blog

25 Magazine
GangStarr Girl
The Rap Up
D.Omen's D.Omain
Straight From The A

Best Humor Blog

The Fury
This Week in Blackness
Awesomely Luvvie
My Two Cents.
Fish And Spaghetti

Best International Blog

Black and (A)Broad
Ebony Intuition
Black Women in Europe
D W Jazzlover
London To MK

Best LGBT Blog

Xem VanAdams
Ray's Bleu Juice Blog
ADTV
Maybe It's Just Me
SistersTalk

Best Microblog

@elonjames
@xemvanadams
@maneandchic
@brotherjesse
@nakedwithsocks

Best Teen Blog

I (heart) That
The Puff Reports
Roc4Life
vivalajuicy
Houseofaura.Com

Best Music Blog

GangStarr Girl
My Mood is Music
D.Omen's D.Omain
The Rap Up
Sound-Savvy

Best New Blog

Cosby Kids
FreshXpress .:. The PULSE of Young Black America
MESH.
Three Ways to Take It
Ray's Bleu Juice Blog

Best Parenting and Family Blog

spelhouseLove
Blog It Out, Bitch
MyBrownBaby
The Ghetto Cooking Show
Makes Me Wanna Holler

Best Personal Blog

NakedWithSocksOn.com
Brother Jesse Blog
Blog It Out, Bitch
Babs In Blogland
Awesomely Luvvie

Best Photo Blog

KidduNot.com
HomeGirl
Discoveringhair
Street Etiquette
Swagger: Paris, New York

Best Podcast

The Insanity Report
WTF Online Radio
AnalogHype - The Urban Gamers Blog
Rainy City Radio
Man and Wife TV

Best Political/News Blog

The Black Snob
The field Negro
Postbourgie
The Intersection of Madness and Reality
The Insanity Report

Best Science/Technology Blog

Urban Science Adventures! (c)
BDPA Foundation
AnalogHype - The Urban Gamers Blog
Black Digerati
The Koalition

Best Sex and Relationships Blog

Very Smart Brothas
NakedWithSocksOn.com
Single Black Male
BlogXilla
undressingHER

Best Sports/Recreation Blog

Olympiahoops
Hail Mary Jane
Ed The Sports Fan
MKRob's Sports Blog
DaLockerRoom.com

Best Style and Fashion Blog

Mane & Chic
Black Girl with Long Hair
The Fashion Bomb
FresherThanChris
Stuff Fly People Like

Best Video Blog

Xem VanAdams
This Week in Blackness
The Ghetto Cooking Show
ADTV

Best Writing in a Blog

Very Smart Brothas
Xem VanAdams
NakedWithSocksOn.com
The Black Snob
Three Ways to Take It

Blog of the Year

Mane & Chic
NakedWithSocksOn.com
Brother Jesse Blog
The field Negro
Single Black Male

Blog to Watch

Cosby Kids
Very Smart Brothas
Mane & Chic
Xem VanAdams
FreshXpress .:. The PULSE of Young Black America

Finalists can use this graphic badge on their blogs to publicize their finalist status:



Voting ends September 1; winners are announced on September 4.

New Rules and Categories for 2009 BWAs

We like to change things up a bit every year, and this year is no exception. We have a few new rules and new categories, so listen up!

Rules

Like we stated before, we lifted that "you can't nominate your own blog" rule. Now, blog owners can easily nominate their own blog through our simple process. When you've completed it, you will receive a unique link for your blog that will allow other to vote for you for the finalist round!

Next up, we've changed the duration of the Awards just a bit. Nominations this year start on June 20 and end on July 25, which will give you plenty of time to get your nomination in AND have people vote for them. Finalist voting has also been lengthened, and now runs the entire month of August. Winners are announced on September 4.

There's also a new rule out there for those repeat winners. Blogs that have won a particular category at least three times are no longer eligible to win for that particular category. This includes blogs that have won either the Judges’ and/or Popular vote for their category. We'll go into more detail about this, since several categories have changed names over the years.

Categories

Based on growing demand, we have added the following four categories for this year:

• Best Health and Wellness Blog


• Best Microblog


• Best Parenting and Family Blog


• Best Sex and Relationships Blog

Unfortunately, we do have to say goodbye to the following categories based on decreasing activity:

• Best Blog Community


• Best Celebrity Blog


• Best Fictional Blog

Categories always come and go, and we're always gauging category popularity based on demand and user activity; we're always taking suggestions on new categories, so feel free to speak up (just don't demand it).

That's what's new for this year! Nominations end on July 25.

The Blog's New Clothes

Welcome to the new Black Weblog Awards website! Head on over to either the categories or rules pages for more information.

You can also catch us online at Twitter and Facebook (we have a fan page and a group) for more information or to talk about the Awards.

Here are a few of the changes with this new site:

- Better integrated blog: The blog has always been available, but it's been tucked off in the navigation. And if we're the Black Weblog Awards, why not go ahead and put our blog front and center? The Black Weblog Awards blog is now better integrated on the front page of the site so you can easily check out what's going on with the Awards as well as other news. We plan to have guest authors from time to time from some of the leading voices in the Black blogosphere.

- New nominating/voting system: We finally decided to lift that "you can't nominate yourself" restriction from the rules. Blog owners can now nominate themselves in any of our categories through our new process. They are given a unique nomination link they can use to get their readers to vote for them in their nominated categories up until July 24. Then, we'll take the top five nominated blogs in each category and those will be the finalists. Beginning August 1, you'll be able to vote for finalists in those categories, and finalist voting will wrap up on August 31. (Yep, you get the whole month to vote for the finalists.) Winners will be announced on September 4.

As we keep building and growing out the Black Weblog Awards, we'll keep you informed of what's going on via the blog, so stay tuned!