It's Here Again!

Due to an oversight, we have updated the awards to include a "Best Chat Emoticon" category. And a reminder that more than 10 nominees will be allowed in a category.

This yearly event helps recognized the achievements in the emoticon community during the past year. This year's event will be co-hosted by Krissi001 and Mirz123 We have been working hard to make this year's awards special. We hope to keep the spirit of the event, while also giving it some new twists and fun.  So, let's cut to the chase and get to the categories!

Best Animated Emoticonist - This emoticonist has created some of the best animated emoticons of 2012.
_{Previous Winners: Krissi001 (2011), Droneguard (2010), CookiemagiK (2009)}


Best Static Emoticonist - This emoticonist has created some of the best static (non-moving) emoticons of 2012.
_{Previous Winners: happy-gurl (2011), Indae (2010), Seiorai (2009)}


Best Chat Emoticonist - This emoticonist has created some of the best chat-friendly emoticons of 2012. Chat emoticons are generally smaller and have a more specific purpose to be usable in chats and forums, without breaking text lines significantly.
_{Previous Winners: Mirz123 (2011), CookiemagiK (2010), zachriel (2009)}


Best Newcomer - This is an emoticonist who created their first emoticon in 2012 and has shown great promise or exceptional skill.
_{Previous Winners: OnionBlaze (2011), LedMaiden (2010), Sinister-Starfeesh (2009)}


Best NaNoEmo Participant - This emoticonist participated in NaNoEmo and produced the most amazing work for the event.  To see the participants and their works, check out NaNoEmo
_{New Category this Year - No previous winners}


Best Emoticon Group - This group should have been active through 2012 and helped support, promote, and feature the art of the community.
_{Previous Winners: Emotizine (2011)}


Best Emoticon Tutorial - The best tutorial covering emote creation, animation, shading, or other emoting skill uploaded in 2012.
_{Previous Winners:  cookiemagik.deviantart.com/art… (2011)}


Emoticon Project of the Year - The emoticon project that blew everyone away. Note that only finished or ongoing projects will eligible; abandoned projects will not.
_{Previous Winners:  phlum.deviantart.com/art/Emoti… (2011)}


Best Emote Plz Account - The best emoticon PLZ account created in 2012.
_{Previous Winners:  :thumb196430104: (2011) (2010), (2009)}


Best Emoticon of the Year - This is the top dog, the emote that blew the rest away last year.
_{Previous Winners: indae.deviantart.com/art/Best-… (2011)}


Best Emoticon-Art - This piece should utilize top-notch pixelling, backgrounds, and a high level of animation (if any). As the category states, it should best represent to the dA community that emoticons can be art.
_{New Category this Year - No previous winners}


Best Chat Emoticon - This piece should epitomize chat-friendliness, sporting the best-of-the-best in both lovely looks and useability.
_{Previous Winners: blue-berry-boy.deviantart.com/…}


Emoticonist of the Year - This is the top award. This emoticonist has set themself apart from the crowd by creating wonderful emotes, as well as being an active member of the community.
_{Previous Winner(s): Krissi001 (2011) ,Mirz123 (2010), CookiemagiK (2009)}

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Now for the Rules!

Nominations

Nominations will run for 3 weeks. They will open on January 24, 2013 and close on February 14, 2013.

The winners from each category last year (2011) will not be eligible to win in the same category this year. However, they may win in a different category.
_{For example: happy-gurl won as best static emoticonist last year, so she would not be able to gain the title again this year.  However, she could win in the best animated (or other) category.}

You may give your reasons why you would like someone to win, but it is not a requirement.

Krissi001 and Mirz123 are the hosts for the year and are not eligible for any awards.

You cannot nominate yourself for any category.

The period of eligibility is Jan 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012. That means that all emoticons nominated must have been uploaded during that period. All emoticonists nominated must have been active for some period during those dates.

You are limited to 5 nominations per category. You don't have to use the full 5, but you cannot nominate more than 5. This is to keep things easier on the hosts.

Nominations will be done through note. Notes should be sent to EmoteWatch -- Please do not note Krissi or Mirz's personal accounts.

At the request of several people, we have decided to open nominations to as many deviants in a category as possible.

Once all nominations are received, there will be a maximum of 10 nominees selected for the voting stage, per category. Again, this is to keep things easier on the hosts. Nominees for each category will be determined by the number of nominations each receive.


Voting

There will be a one-week period between nominations and voting to allow the hosts to tally the nominations and compile the voting article.

Voting will run for 2 weeks. They will open on February 21, 2013 and close on March 7, 2013.

Votes will be cast through note. Notes should be sent to EmoteWatch -- Please do not note Krissi or Mirz's personal accounts.

You can only vote once per category.

You cannot vote for yourself.

In the case of a tie, there will be a special tie-breaker vote for a period of one-week.


NEW RULE FOR 2012!

In order to help give as many chances to win, and to avoid any "sweeps" in categories, this year we have decided to institute a policy where a deviant cannot win more than one category.  The only exception is "Emoticonist of the Year."

How does that work? -- If a deviant wins more than one category, they will receive the award for the category they received the most votes for.
_{Example: If Mr. Emoticonist got 10 votes for Best Static and 8 votes for Best PLZ, then he would be awarded the title for Best Static.  The runner up for the PLZ would receive the award for that category. However, Mr. Emoticonist would still be eligible to win for "Emoticonist of the Year."}


Winners

Winners will be announced in a special article.

Winners will receive a special badge which they can display on their page.

We will also be hosting a special chat-event with the winners with lots of fun and prizes.

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Please remember that ANYONE can nominate and vote. You do not have to be an emoticonist to participate in the process. You DO have to be an emoticonist to qualify as a nominee or winner.

Note on prizes: We don't feel it's fair for others to donate actual prizes, since there are so many winners, so we will not be accepting them. However, we are more than happy to accept journal or news features for the winners. If you would like to donate a feature, please comment below.

Thanks, everyone! We look forward to a great Awards event this year!