Would you look at that! Our favourite time of the year is here again: it’s Clawbies season!
Yes, as we do every December 1st, we hereby give you permission to forget about your holiday to-do list for a little while, hide away on a laptop for a few hours (pretend you’re doing work), and spread some cheer by giving props to Canada’s best legal authors!
Our social nomination period for the 2019 Clawbies is now officially open, and similar to previous years, set to run from the 1st (today) thru December 20th. Awards will be announced at Clawbies.ca on New Year’s Eve!
Before getting too far into this, we want to acknowledge a small truth: the gradual morphing of these Awards beyond blogs. We’re not looking to change too much. We won’t stop celebrating quality writing or the strong online legal voices that Canada has to offer. But we feel the need to expand the spectrum of Canadian commentary and authors that we shine a light on.
We cracked this door open a few years ago with the addition of legal podcasts, and a little more last year with an award for an author publishing within a group blog or digital platform. So now what? We’re going to open the floodgates!
It’s all going to be fair game: blogs, podcasts, videos, social accounts, legal newsletters, platform commentary, CanLII Connects, whitepapers, a stellar SSRN account or a serial magazine column. We’re basically looking at everything that’s online and free, short of books.
All your nominations have to tell us this year is which Canadian legal publications or writers inspired you in 2019. Got something new or different? That’s exactly what we’re after. We want to know your top picks for the most engaging, thorough, entertaining, current, hard-hitting legal commentators, regardless of format or platform.
Our judging panel of Emma Durand-Wood, Jordan Furlong and myself, are all signed on for another year of poring over Canada’s varying sources of digital content, starting with the 500+ legal blogs listed on lawblogs.ca. But if you’ve participated in the Clawbies before, you know that this process is just the starting point. We depend on your help to identify the potential winners!
Want to be a Part of #Clawbies2019?
Tell us who you read (or listened to) in 2019. Who inspired you and made you think? What content blew you away? Or compelled you to engage or share?
If you have a Twitter account or are a legal blogger, help us identify your best of 2019.
As always, we ask you to embrace our “humble Canadian” rules:
Rule No. 1: Do not nominate your own publication or project for a Clawbie. It doesn’t work that way. The only surefire way of getting your work on our radar is to write a post about other commentary authors. Follow this rule and we’ll take a look at your work too!
Rule No. 2: Nominate a digital publication or author in one of two ways:
(a) Write a blog post nominating up to three Canadian digital sources you currently read, with a brief explanation of why you think those authors deserve an award in 2019.
(b) Tweet your nomination on Twitter, using the hashtag: #clawbies2019
The categories are going to get a revamp this year — but take a look at last year’s Clawbies to see what we’re about. (Feel free to suggest a category, but what we really want to know is what makes your nominee award-worthy.)
Not sure where to start? Head over to lawblogs.ca or surf the #clawbies2019 hashtag on Twitter to start reviewing what’s out there. And remember, you’ve got until December 20th to do your nominating.
To us, the word “blog” still means first-person narrative. That element remains an incredibly valuable part of the Clawbies and will continue to influence our final award decisions. That said, feel free to cast your eyes beyond blogs this year! Let’s see what kinds of incredible online content sources Canada has to offer.
May the nominating begin!
