Recently I've been thinking about some of the truly excellent posts I've stumbled across in this forum. Several have been on topics I don't ordinarily follow, but because they were so impressive, I read them through anyway. Earlier this week I read an excellent review, first posted in January 2010 (which I missed when it was first published), and it occurred to me that we might all collectively benefit from having the best of the best nominated each month, in one place, so that excellent work might be rewarded, even if that reward is only an acknowledgment and an expression of gratitude from the bretheren.
[Political Correctness Note: My use of the word "bretheren" is intended to include women who share our collective interest in lighting tools, and the other aspects of perception and illumination. No disrespect is intended because I don't have a better, more inclusive word. (I rejected "Illuminati" on grounds that it has elitist connotations, but I'm open to arguments to the contrary.)]
Anyway, back to the point of this post. What do you think about setting up a thread where the best of the previous month's posts could be nominated as exemplars of excellent contributions? I'm personally against collective voting or establishing anything resembling a top ten list; rather, I'm leaning toward a thread where the members merely bring excellent work to the attention of the other members, without making too much fuss about it. Also, nominating work for accolades on a monthly basis operates to keep the number of nominations reasonable, and keeps the reading list from becoming too long.
An example of the kind of post I think qualifies as worthy of general accolade is shown in the link below. The post first appeared in January 2010, and is titled A Tribute to NiteCore D10.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=255627
The thread I'm suggesting should be self-limiting; we're all grown-ups (most of us, anyway), and there's no real need to have nominations vetted or refereed by a moderator. If you think sombody posted really, really good work, just post a link, along with a short summary describing what's in the post, so others can also appreciate it.
At this point I'm interested in your collective thoughts...if those thoughts suggest a poll might be in order, we can start one in a related thread. For now though I'd love to hear other's ideas about this, and to see what others recommend as exemplars of excellent work in these forums. (If you're going to nominate a post for general admiration, please limit it to something first posted in February or March 2010, and remember to post a link to the thread.) If this works, and others find value in the thread, we can start another for April 2010, and the months thereafter.
I welcome your thoughts.
[Political Correctness Note: My use of the word "bretheren" is intended to include women who share our collective interest in lighting tools, and the other aspects of perception and illumination. No disrespect is intended because I don't have a better, more inclusive word. (I rejected "Illuminati" on grounds that it has elitist connotations, but I'm open to arguments to the contrary.)]
Anyway, back to the point of this post. What do you think about setting up a thread where the best of the previous month's posts could be nominated as exemplars of excellent contributions? I'm personally against collective voting or establishing anything resembling a top ten list; rather, I'm leaning toward a thread where the members merely bring excellent work to the attention of the other members, without making too much fuss about it. Also, nominating work for accolades on a monthly basis operates to keep the number of nominations reasonable, and keeps the reading list from becoming too long.
An example of the kind of post I think qualifies as worthy of general accolade is shown in the link below. The post first appeared in January 2010, and is titled A Tribute to NiteCore D10.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=255627
The thread I'm suggesting should be self-limiting; we're all grown-ups (most of us, anyway), and there's no real need to have nominations vetted or refereed by a moderator. If you think sombody posted really, really good work, just post a link, along with a short summary describing what's in the post, so others can also appreciate it.
At this point I'm interested in your collective thoughts...if those thoughts suggest a poll might be in order, we can start one in a related thread. For now though I'd love to hear other's ideas about this, and to see what others recommend as exemplars of excellent work in these forums. (If you're going to nominate a post for general admiration, please limit it to something first posted in February or March 2010, and remember to post a link to the thread.) If this works, and others find value in the thread, we can start another for April 2010, and the months thereafter.
I welcome your thoughts.
