2011 Clawbies: Game On!

December marks all sorts of wonderful yearly occasions, but for us at Stem Legal it’s the Canadian Law Blog Awards (a.k.a. the Clawbies) that make this month so much fun for us!

Now in its sixth year, the Clawbies are a celebration of excellence in law-related blogging. The awards recognize the interesting, innovative, and informative sites that are the Canadian legal blogosphere’s best and brightest. But unlike traditional awards, the Clawbies are designed to create awareness for each blogger who nominates another’s blog, and peer endorsements via social media represent are a big part of the judging process.

The 2011 edition of the Clawbies will follow the same format as prior years, with three ways to nominate a Canadian law blog:

1. Tweet your nomination via Twitter with the hashtag: #clawbies2011. We’ll be monitoring!
2. Email your favourite blog, including a couple sample posts or any other notable highlights, to Steve Matthews at steve@stemlegal.com. We’d prefer a public nomination, but this is still acceptable.
3. Write a blog post nominating up to three other Canadian law blogs you currently read, with a brief explanation of why you think those blogs were award-worthy in 2011. Don’t forget our “humble Canadian” rule, though – make no mention of your own blog. In return, we’ll take a thorough look at your blog as well as your nominations.

One notable addition to the awards selection process this year: I’m delighted to announce that Simon Fodden of Slaw fame has agreed to join me and Jordan Furlong on the judging panel.

Clawbies categories will remain the same as previous years, so there’s no need to suggest new categories or assign categories to your nominations. While most of the winning blogs will be Canadian, we remain on the lookout for any US or European blogs that pay attention to the Canadian legal blogosphere, for our Friends of the North and EuroCan Connection categories. We also love mentions a good sleeper pick – a blog that’s totally new to us. As in previous years, we’ll be tracking incoming nominations over at the Vancouver Law Librarian Blog.

Our comprehensive list of established Canadian law blogs is available at lawblogs.ca; newer, unlisted blogs may be eligible if they demonstrate all the critical elements of a great blog: decent post frequency, audience engagement, topic originality, and blog-to-blog references or citations.

The deadline to nominate is Wednesday, December 28th and the 2011 Clawbies winners will once again be announced on New Year’s Eve.

Have fun with your nominations – we’re looking forward to reading them!