If You Were Waiting For The Last Minute, It's Here. Most Inspiring Blog Award Voting Closes Today

We Need Your Vote in the 2009 BlogLuxe Awards!

Violence UnSilenced Nominated for 2009 Most Inspiring Blog
Trouble navigating BlogLuxe? ♥ Technical Difficulties?

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Updated 8:00 PM EDT: Voting has apparently closed. Violence UnSilenced finished second in the voting, but final vote counts were not made available.
For the last several weeks, you've seen this big purple box at the top of every post I've published. Today will be the last day for the big purple box, because today is when the polls close for the 2009 Most Inspiring Blog Award. I've campaigned hard for this because I felt that it was a form of validation for the contributors to Violence UnSilenced, and because I felt that a win would put the blog out there in front of a wider audience. And the campaign has been fairly successful -- as of 6:20 AM EDT VU held a slim lead (14 votes) in the category.

Voting closes today, and right now it's anybody's race. But it's just turned from a marathon to a sprint. So take 5 minutes and cast a ballot (the links above will give you all the details). Then take five more minutes and Tweet it, hit your Facebook friends with it, send up smoke signals, do whatever it is you do when you need to get something out in a hurry. There's still time to pull this out. And it's important so I don't have any problem being shameless about it.

There will be a new survivor story published at VU this morning. If you need any other motivation, go read it. Or read one of the others that's come before it. And after today, when there's no contest to win anymore, go back and read the next one. And the next. Because Violence UnSilenced is about awareness. It's about courage, and it's about survival, but more than anything else it's about awareness and hope. The hope that one day there will be no need for a site like it. Yes, the award is important. But tomorrow when the voting is over, the contributors at VU will still be writing. And the stories won't stop until the silence is shattered and the wall of not-seeing crumbles.

So vote. Read. Comment. And pass it on to someone else.

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BlogLuxe Nomination Update

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It seems there are a couple of common misconceptions that have surfaced in the past few days that I need to clear up. The first one is that Violence UnSilenced is my blog. It isn't. It was started by Maggie Dammit of Okay, Fine, Dammit earlier this year as a forum for survivors of domestic violence. And if VU "belongs" to anyone, it's them. It belongs to those survivors who contribute their stories in the hope that putting their most painful memories in writing will help someone else still trapped in the same circumstances. They're the reason VU got the nomination in the first place, so this award isn't for me -- it's for them. I'm just the guy behind the curtain.

The second idea that seems to have surfaced in the last day or so is that VU is leading in the voting -- and leading big. I wish that were true, but actually, as of 7 AM this morning, VU was running second by about 650 votes -- which is still well ahead of the rest of the field, but nowhere close to the leader. I'm guessing that the reason for this misconception is that the category lists at BlogLuxe have been randomized so that the order is different every time you visit the page. This gives all of the entrants in each category a chance to be listed at the top where they'll be more easily seen. You only see eight blogs listed at a time, but there are 97 entries in the Most Inspiring category, so chances are that you won't see VU and the leader in the same "window". With that many entries, the easiest way to find any particular one is with your browser's search function. (Shortcut: type CTRL-F in IE or Firefox, I don't know about the others, but it's probably the same.)

Misconceptions aside, I would like to personally thank every single person who has voted, and especially those who continue to vote daily (you can vote once per day). Violence UnSilenced is about giving the survivors of domestic violence a voice, and by lending your support to this effort, you make that voice heard by a wider audience. Whether or not VU wins in the voting, that will still be true, and you'll be a big part of the reason. So I humbly thank you on behalf of all those who have provided the stories, and for those who will in the future. You guys rock!

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Losing Ground, and Short on Ideas

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I'm not very good at marketing and sales. That's why I write software rather than sell it. And the campaign to bring home the 2009 Most Inspiring Blog Award for Violence UnSilenced is too important to leave solely to my meager sales skills. So I'm asking you. What am I missing? What else can I do that will turn this around?


I've tagged every post scheduled between now and July 6th when the voting closes, and included those tags in my template so I don't forget to add them to any new ones between now and then. I've established a BCC list for people who want to get a daily email reminder (there's plenty of room still on that list by the way... he hinted subtly). I sent one mass mailing out to everybody in my address book that I thought might care, but that's not something I like to do more than once for any given item. And I've plastered the badges and buttons all over this blog so you can't possibly miss the message if you visit here.

And yet, as of this morning, VU was 700 votes back and losing a little more ground day by day. So I decided what I needed was a really, really BIG button. (But if you have any better ideas, I'd love to hear them!)
Why Vote VU?
Trouble navigating BlogLuxe? ♥ Technical Difficulties?

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Technical Disenfranchisement of VU Voters?

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WARNING: Deer In Headlights Syndrome may occur. If you notice symptoms of DIHS, do not panic. Read slowly, and keep your breathing steady.

Several people have told me that they're still unable to vote on the BlogLuxe Award Site because of technical issues. The usual description is that the voting button just isn't there at all. And I've done my due diligence to make sure that everybody's looking in the right place, so I'm convinced that there's a browser-specific issue or possibly a setting within the browser that's causing the problem. Unfortunately, SocialLuxeLounge isn't my blog, nor do I have admin rights to it so regardless of what the problem is I can't fix it myself. There is another alternative, and I'll get to that in a minute. First let's examine the actual problem and see if there's a solution that will allow you to rock your vote.

First thing, check the steps in the Handy Illustrated Guide To Voting For The BlogLuxe Awards and make sure you're looking in the right place. The BlogLuxe page isn't the friendliest interface I've ever seen, so it might be that you're just expecting it to be somewhere and it's actually somewhere else.

Second, if you've got a horizontal scroll bar across the bottom of the window, the HTML may not be rendering the way it should and the voting button may actually be way off to the east of where you are. Scroll on over there and see if it's just out back grazing or really AWOL.

If none of that solves the problem, and you have the option available, try a different browser. Despite all the industry standardization, not all browsers render things in the same way. I use Mozilla Firefox (3.07), and have had no problems with the technical functioning of the page. Usually Firefox, IE, Safari and Opera all behave pretty much the same way, but this is not guaranteed. If that's not an option for you (or didn't solve the problem), then read on.

Your browser may also be set up to block "active content", though the voting form is pretty standard HTML so I doubt that's the problem unless you have security set very, very tight on your browser and/or network. If this is the problem, Internet Explorer and Firefox will both display a bar across the top of the browser window telling you they've blocked some of the content on the page. This bar will usually offer a way to allow the blocked content too. So if you see the obnoxious bar at the top, find the button/link/widget that says "Options" or something similar and see what it can do for ya. You might also check your security settings (where those are depends on the browser you're using but you'll usually find them under "Tools" or "Options" or something similar). If you're on a network and the firewall is blocking this content, you're pretty well schtupped unless you're the network admin. And if you are the network admin, then you probably know more about this than me and you should be answering these questions.

Finally, if you're still stuck in disenfranchised voterland, my suggestion would be to email SocialLuxLounge at buzz@socialluxelounge.com and tell them you're having a problem. The more people they hear from (a) the more likely they are to pay attention and (b) the easier it will be to troubleshoot.

If you decide to do this be sure you include the following information:

1. The browser you're using and the version (you can find this information under "Help -> About..."
2. The operating system you're on (Windows XP, Vista, MacOS, Linux etc.)
3. How you're connecting i.e.: through a local area network, via cable modem, DSL, dialup (seriously??)
4. The symptoms you're seeing, as precisely as you can describe them. For example, I expected to see the rectangular "Vote" button underneath the blue box with the name in it and it simply wasn't there.
5. Any error message that might have appeared as the page was loading. these aren't always obvious. IE, for example, is famous for very quietly telling you at the bottom of the window that the page is "Done, but with errors on page" or it may tell you even worse than that. The absence of an error message doesn't mean that there wasn't an error, just that the browser didn't tell you about it if there was one. But if it does tell you something like this, that's important information for somebody trying to troubleshoot the problem. Also, watch the status bar at the bottom of the window as the page is loading. It will normally only tell you a bunch of useless stuff like "Transferring from yada-yada.com, but occasionally it'll slip in something useful that you might need to know.

And now for the part I said I'd get to later. While you're waiting patiently for SocialLuxeLounge to answer your cry for help, here's my offer to you ('cause I'm just a rock star that way and besides that I have no life). I'll cast your vote by proxy. All I need is a name (your real name, your first name, your Blogger ID, your initials, whatever... they don't really care, they just want something) and an email address (which probably should be yours okay?) to plug into the fields in the voting form. I can't tell you what -- if anything -- SocialLuxeLounge does with this information other than use it to keep track of who's voted in a given day. But I will only use this information to fill out a voting form. In other words, I'm not mining email addresses to sell to spammers. And believe me, I'd much rather have you voting for you than me voting for you, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. What's a few seconds and a couple of clicks in the grand scheme of my life, right? So if it comes to that, you can send your proxy information to me at jbengel [at] brandenburg3 [dot] com and I'll take care of ya.

Peace, yo.

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Rockin' the BlogLuxe Vote: An Illustrated Guide

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In case you're looking at this wondering WTF? you can get all the details and motivational speeches in this post. In a nutshell, Violence UnSilenced has been nominated for the BlogLuxe 2009 Most Inspiring Blog award. Voting has already opened and will run through July 6th. There are lots of good reasons for voting for VU and its contributors, but that's in the other post. this one is just the nuts and bolts of how to get around BlogLuxe. Which can a bit of a challenge.

Apparently the voting page at BlogLuxe was designed by a former employee of the Florida Board of Elections (Chad Something I believe he said his name was). Anyway, the point is that several people have emailed me saying they couldn't find the link when they got to the page. And it's really not the most intuitive path to take, which is why I've prepared this Handy Voting Guide. Together we will make your voice heard!

Step 1. Go to the Category Page. (The link will open in a new window, so you can keep me here for guidance.)

Step 2. This is the part that seems to bite most folks. When the page loads, all it gives you is the list of categories. And until you click one of the category banners, you won't see any of the nominees. This is an improvement over the original page which opened with the "Cleanest Blog" category already selected and open. You might have assumed that this was where all the votes were cast, and not even seen the other categories. The one you want is in blue -- Most Inspiring Blog.

Step 3. Once the category is open, locate the button for Violence UnSilenced. This might be a little tricky too since sometimes the category takes you to the bottom of the list when it opens. As of this writing, VU is in the #2 spot -- so scroll back up until you find it. It'll look like the illustration below -- only hopefully with lots more votes.

Step 4. This is the easy part. From here on it's pretty intuitive, but if I'm gonna do this may as well do it right, na? Here's where you fill in a name (doesn't have to be your real name, but you should probably use the same one every time you vote. Just sayin'. This is Florida after all.) And fill in an email address so they an keep track of how many times you voted today. It has to be a valid email address. It should probably be your email address, but I don't think they're checking. (Just sayin'.) If you have more than one, vote them all. And your kids, your parents, your dog -- hey don't laugh -- whoever you have proxy for.

Step 5. If everything went according to plan, you should get a confirmation that says your vote was recorded. so click the OK button and feel good about what you've just done. Then repeat for each email address and remind yourself to come back tomorrow and do it all again!

And THANK YOU for your support!

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Did You Vote Today?

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This just in: Violence UnSilenced has been nominated for the BlogLuxe 2009 Most Inspiring Blog Award, to be presented at BlogHer 2009.

Updates: First off, thanks to The Bumbles for finding out that the voting closes July 6th. Much appreciated! Second, several people have told me they've had trouble navigating the BlogLuxe voting page, and frankly it's not especially intuitive. So in the interest of making the process as non-stress-inducing as possible, I've compiled a detailed guide to navigating the page, complete with illustrations. Hopefully, this will make it easier for you to get to the right place and cast your vote. But if you're still having problems with it, just let me know and I'll address any questions you have the best I know how.

Personally, I can't think of a blog more deserving, or an award more fitting. Because it's impossible to read any of the stories shared on VU and not be inspired by them. And this is your chance to say so. This is your chance to give the contributors that have so courageously shared their most painful memories the validation they deserve, and to do it in a very public, very emphatic way. Because VU isn't about a blogger, or a couple of bloggers. Violence UnSilenced is about survivors, and their will to not only break free themselves, but to try to help others to break free from the prison of domestic violence as well.

The authors who contribute their stories to VU do it with only one possible "payoff" in mind. They do it because they know that someone out there is living the same story. Someone is suffering the same abuse and degradation and humiliation and shame they did. And if that someone knows that she or he is not "different", that someone else has come out the other side, it just might be the thing they need to finally summon the courage to get out of their situation before it's too late. That is first, last and always the mission of Violence UnSilenced.

Inspiration is what VU is all about, and as such I know of no more appropriate way to recognize it than with an award for Most Inspiring Blog. So get clicking my friends. Follow the link form the badge at the top of this post, then scroll down to the Most Inspiring Blog Category. Click the banner to open the list of nominees, then find Violence UnSilenced and hit that vote button. You'll be asked to provide a name and email address for auditing purposes, and you can vote once per email address per day.

As of this writing, I don't know when the voting closes, but it could continue through July 23rd, 2009 when the awards are presented at BlogHer 2009. But for as long as the voting is open I hope you'll support the writers at VU with your vote. (If you would like a reminder sent to you by email, send your name and email to me at: jbengel [at] brandenburg3 [dot] com with "Subscribe: BlogLuxe Voting Reminder List" in the subject and I'll add you to a mailing list to be distributed daily.)

Thank you all for your continued support of Violence UnSilenced and the writers that make it happen.

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