A question...

I just checked Ovations which I like. There is a guitar manufacturer and a TV station. I don't see either being a problem. I would think that the awards would have to be statewide as well as national and initially just an advice to the winners. With some sort of trophy if we can get one sponsored. Is that all there is? Well if that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. www.tonymoore.id.au

Sounds good to me (the Ovations name). Yeah, I think initially just some sort of certificate would be ideal; money being a large issue for making statues. Although there's no reason we couldn't have an online ceremony in a chat room or finding a web cam and doing it that way. We could make a vod/podcast too. I should mention that I'm happy to sponsor the site, since I'm not currently using mine for much at the moment, and wanted to keep the domain name anyway. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

I had some ideas over the weekend for the awards, which I'll post later (I typed it into a Word doc, but I can't attach it since I'm at work now). However, I've come across a slight problem. I've found a program which will allow easy reviewing to be done on a website. You can vote for the review itself, and you can vote on the show. This makes a "People's Choice" award very easy to implement, but not so easy for awards that are given by a panel. If you simply make all the awards given out by popular vote, then it's very biased, as one company can win an award simply by getting as many of their friends/family/etc to vote - therefore making it an unfair competition. By having an independent panel, it makes it less biased. I was thinking that whenever someone submits a review, they are forced to rate the show from one to ten in each of the award areas (ie. 2/10 for Best Actress). If the show is reviewed more than once, the ratings are aggregated and then a mean is found (ie. 2/10 plus 1/10 = 1.5/10). At the end of the year, all the ratings are collated, and whoever gets the highest number wins an award. Two problems:

A show that is reviewed more than once has a higher chance of winning an award, and has an unfair advantage over other productions. Since anyone can write a review and submit it, this can also mean a flooding of reviews for one show if that show is adept at convincing people to write a review for them. You could limit the number of reviews accepted for each show, but that means that someone has to admin/moderate and may be time-consuming.

If there is an overseeing panel in each state, then that panel is forced to see every show that they can. Obviously, there are issues with that. Anyone have any thoughts on how we can do the ratings? Or perhaps some opinions on the above? Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Hi Everyone. I would love to be involved in this. What about having a team in Sydney/NSW , Melbourne / Vic etc there would be state awards and then the winners of the state awards narrow become eligable for the National Award, that poeple can the vote on or (members if we sign up members). What do you think?

Yes, that's pretty much what we've discussed so far. The large problem is that getting people to volunteer their time is an issue - while I have no doubt that a few committed individuals would be willing to be part of a team, inevitably family/work/etc gets in the way and it becomes more and more reliant on each member of the team being able to participate. By having anyone submit reviews, we're no longer reliant on a committed panel; but as I stated previously, this causes issues for voting. In simpler words: are we aiming for a reviewing system that is nothing more than a popularity vote, or are we aiming for something that combines popularity with an independent reviewing panel? Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Why dont the people who are interested in being involved place there details in an email to a central co-ordinator 9 I am prepared to be this person) and then they can send in there thoughts and ideas and a group email sent out on a weekly basis with updates and thoughts.

Maybe we can get the Ovation Channel to sponsor the awards.

of having each state have it's own reveiws and the winners in each state go into some sort of central pool. The trouble is you guys in the east having such a larger population base would probably always win thye national. (See I'm complaining already and I'm just from SA imagine what Tasmanians will think. There's only about 400,000 of them total. I also like the idea of having a combination of popular vote and panel. I'm prepared to be SA rep for all of this. Is that all there is? Well if that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. www.tonymoore.id.au

Hi I will create an email address tonight and post it on this site. Could anyone interested please send an email to that address so that we can start a distribution list. Cheers

Well, I sort of hoped that it would be an open discussion created by the community. A lot of people visit this site and are welcome to join the discussion, since the whole reviewing system is going to be designed for the national theatre community. I've already gotten a couple of people who've said they'd be willing to be involved as reviewers, but I'd much rather have the conversation in the open. (It's also probably that I'm too lazy to do emailing, when the conversation has already begun here :P ) Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Rats! Forgotten about that... Maybe we should think of another name? (Actually, this brings up a separate point - I was just thinking of this in terms of theatre reviews. But do we include film and TV? This actually takes us in another direction, because much of the film/TV is non-Australian, and I was aiming for something just for Aussies) Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

That's the direction I'm heading - a combination. It's fairly easy to set up a form where you add your text (the review) and then select a bunch of ratings for the show. The ratings can easily be added to a database from which we can aggregate results and make tabulations. (I will be loading up my document later when I get home, and people can add notes to it, etc.) Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Hmmm I wrote out quite a lengthy post which my internet decided nah I'm going to not let you post that! BAH computers! Here was one point I was going to say. The panel goes out to see a show. They review it, and tack some audience opinions on the end. Every show they see they review and then at the end of a specified time (eg 1 month) they post a poll of 'What play do you think should gain the title of Play Of The 'month' and move on to the state finals?' Then we've written a review but it's ultimately the people that get a vote. The panel doesn't vote because we too would be biased...possibly seeing different plays to each other. So it's up to the audience. If a certain theatre group gets more people to vote for their show, then they do...I suppose we can't stop that.We could post a disclaimer that says cast members are not allowed to vote or something though....I don't know. On top of the panel reviews and submitted plays we could get a public review and nomination as well. That way we don't need to worry about a lack of reviews. Winner of the state goes on to the nationals...so you only have one play from each state eligable to win the gold ovie lol if we're still going with that ______________________________________________________________ Currently working on: "Boy Banned" a fusion of live acting, video footage, corny songs, syncronised dancing boys and egos! JULY 2007, ticket information coming soon!!!

This is actually the model I wanted to avoid. The main issue I have with it, is that it limits the number of shows reviewed. A person can only see so many shows (whether they get comps or not), but if everyone can submit a review, then it means that a great number of shows are reviewed over the course of a year. This makes it more fair to the shows who usually don't get reviewed - Melbourne for instance, has more reviews made on shows by medium to large companies, and even during festival times, it is usually the 'hot' new thing getting reviewed. An overseeing panel on the other hand could see as many shows as they can, but aren't encumbered with the whole responsibility of the reviewing process. One is more inclusive, and the other is more exclusive. PLEASE NOTE: ATTACHED IS MY NOTES/IDEAS. FEEL FREE TO DISCUSS/DESTROY/ADD/EDIT. Download here. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Adding to my suggestion...as it was probably in my first attempt that failed...that it would be the smaller shows that get reviewed. Having sooo many shows in the awards could get confusing too. Reading the attached... Ahhh how do I get into it...it wants a username and password. ______________________________________________________________ Currently working on: "Boy Banned" a fusion of live acting, video footage, corny songs, syncronised dancing boys and egos! JULY 2007, ticket information coming soon!!!

Doh! Sorry, I'll fix it up. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Got it now! Cheers! Reading... ______________________________________________________________ Currently working on: "Boy Banned" a fusion of live acting, video footage, corny songs, syncronised dancing boys and egos! JULY 2007, ticket information coming soon!!!

Can you let me know if that worked - I'm not sure whether it's letting me in because my computer remembers a password... Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

We should create a chat session... Where's the chat link gone? Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

I'm there, It's the chatbox link thingy on the left side of the page. And you have to allow pop ups ______________________________________________________________ Currently working on: "Boy Banned" a fusion of live acting, video footage, corny songs, syncronised dancing boys and egos! JULY 2007, ticket information coming soon!!!

Ah, but I'm using the other template. And the chat link disappears. Give me a sec, I think I know how to find it. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Hi Evryone please use email address "oawards@yahoo.com.au" makes sending info better and I will create a group email

I'll sign up. In the meantime, we're in the chatbox if you want to have a conversation now. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Hi Everyone that is interested in the Awards If you would like to be added to our group please send details to address Subscribe: oawards-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Is this an issue? LA Stage Alliance: The LA Stage Ovation Awards The Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Called the "...highest-profile contest for local theatre ______________________________________________________________ Currently working on: "Boy Banned" a fusion of live acting, video footage, corny songs, syncronised dancing boys and egos! JULY 2007, ticket information coming soon!!!

I doubt it. I'm more worried about the TV channel. Anyway, we can change the name later on - it's more important to get the system worked out, and then the name is more of an aesthetic thing. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

That's a direct name though...'Ovation Awards'...ick. Sean _____________________________________________________________ Currently working on: "Boy Banned" a fusion of live acting, video footage, corny songs, syncronised dancing boys and egos! JULY 2007, ticket information coming soon!!!

Well then, think of another name! ;) :P Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

This is only a working name when we get it out there we can chabge the name.

After a few hours of deliberation... Standing Ovation Awards hahahahaha Yeh you're right we can change it later. It's the process that really counts. Have we progressed any further on that front? _____________________________________________________________ Currently working on: "Boy Banned" a fusion of live acting, video footage, corny songs, syncronised dancing boys and egos! JULY 2007, ticket information coming soon!!!

No, not yet. My webhost is in the process of getting the bug fixed with a third party. To help understand what's going on: One of the functions offered by my webhost is called a 'Cpanel'. This is basically a page hosted on my domain name which allows me to do all sorts of administration of the entire domain (ie. create emails, upload files, etc.). Cpanel comes with a list of third-party programs (all free to use, including the program that is used here on Theatre Aus, called Drupal) which can easily be installed on the account. I can install one of these programs - the one I'm planning on using is 'Joomla' which I used before for TPC - myself, but it means a lot more work for me as I have to manually add things. Currently my diskspace on the account is being eaten up by an old install of Joomla; one which I will remove once the bug is fixed, and then I can install it fresh. The problem is at the moment that Cpanel can't connect to the database of information for my account, and therefore I can't install/uninstall anything. This is a problem with the people at Cpanel, and not actually my host. Hence the length of time to fix it. (That may be gobbledy-gook to you guys; basically it means that uninstalling manually may not delete all the files necessary to clear up space, and a manual installation can't be done until there is an unistall of the old program) However, once the problem is fixed, it will only take me a couple of days to install everything and have it running - at least a beta. It doesn't really matter what we decide on as the process (panels vs. community-created reviews), because the programs that I will install can be used no matter what we decide to go on. I have already sussed out the reviewing program (it's a plugin that goes with the core installation), plus a pretty web template. I'll also add other things that we may need, like newsletter functionality, a 'community' component which will allow for reviewers to have their own profiles, etc. ... Anyway, fingers crossed it'll all be fixed very soon. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

I've just been really busy. will be in touch more soon. Is that all there is? Well if that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. www.tonymoore.id.au

The bug has been fixed, and I can now create the site. I will be doing some of the work on it over the weekend. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Fantastic....can't wait to see it up and running _____________________________________________________________ Currently working on: "Boy Banned" a fusion of live acting, video footage, corny songs, syncronised dancing boys and egos! JULY 2007, ticket information coming soon!!!

A bit of an update on the site. Unfortunately today I've hit a major stumbling block in that the program that costs $80 US also requires another program... and that costs $200 US. I'm trying to find a way around this (without doing anything illegal of course), but unfortunately that was the best program so far. You can find the demo here (http://www.reviewsforjoomla.com/Demo/) if you are curious. In the meantime I've had a look at two other programs. One of which is infuriatingly difficult to set up, and I haven't gotten it working yet; the other is simple to set up, but it is way too simple for our purposes. It's good if you want to have five or ten reviews, but not for hosting several hundred. (I'm tempted to try using a completely different core package, like what Theatre Aus. uses, but it means having to learn an entirely new 'language' of editing, programming, etc. It's not that hard, but it means a lot more time is eaten up trying to learn everything all over again. I'll wait and see if I can fix this first; if I can't, I'll do a different core package.) You can have a look at the site as I work on it: http://www.thepromptcopy.com/awards The top left hand link ('Reviews') is the reviewing program that I can't get to work. Further down, in the main menu is 'Write review' and 'Reviews' both of which link to the simpler reviewing program. You'll notice that the template is very basic at the moment; I'll fix it all up when and if I can get the actual functionality working. (So ignore the 'lorem ipsum' stuff :) ) Later on I'll add more templates; some of which you can see by using the template chooser at bottom left of the page. I'll keep you updated, but it's probably going to be at the end of next week when I have something workable. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Thanks Grant - I was actually tempted to ask you for some help, but wasn't sure how busy you'd be. I've got a bit of an answer about the program that I was looking at (I don't have to pay $200 US for the additional one, just the $80 US for the actual review program), which is good. I'm undecided as to what to do, but I'll probably email you about it later this week. Thanks for the offer! :flowers: Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip

Due to an unexpected error, the awards beta is unavailable. For whatever reason my blog site disappeared over the weekend, and I've had to reboot the whole site using a backup. I did not backup the work done over the weekend, so it's all gone. I should be able to put it back together again over the next week. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip