by Crazy Ivan
You could make an argument that any of the 4 JOTYAs is the most coveted prize in all of Myachi, but the Forum award always seems to be the tightest race. It often has the most heated battle for nominations and it almost always has the narrowest margin of victory.
It's not hard to see why. Until 2 years ago, this ceremony was entirely conducted through the forum. And even now that I've opened it up to the blog, the FB page, etc., the bulk of the discussion and voting goes on there. Because of that, everyone has a horse in this race.
Keep in mind that not every Myachi Maniac is a cutting-edge freestyler or an international traveler. A lot of the people on the forum probably don't feel like they're qualified to win the Trickster or STWAKOJ awards, but everyone is a contender for the Forum award. This one is just about who does the most to make the forum a fun place to hang out.
And there are always a great pool of candidates. Myachi has one of the oldest company-sponsored skill toy forums on the internet and we're pretty proud of the community that it has created over the years. Sure, there have been some peaks and valleys, some slow times and some busy times, but in all we've created a community that has sparked at least several dozen lifelong friendships.
But forums are forums so once in a while interpersonal conflict arises and, like you find on any online forum, there are occasional spats, disagreements and downright fights. That means that when STWAKOJ time comes around, a lot of people that might have partially burned bridges in the past suddenly get a little more political and try to smooth out old differences with potential voters.
The Forum Award is my personal favorite because I've seen the kind of community that it helps to foster. The past winners are exemplars of the kind of people we want populating our forum, the kind of voices we want representing our movement online. It's ultimately an award about friendship, and what could be more meaningful than that?
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