Over at the head offices of Swamplot, we’re taking most of Presidents Day off. How about you?
Photo: Kelly Diane Torian
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FARKED Not seeing comments show up on this site as quickly as usual? It’s just temporary — Swamplot has been dealing with a small flood of visitors from Fark, all eager to gawk at Houston’s impromptu beef soup buffet. We’ll be back live once the traffic subsides.
Only a few hours are left to get your votes in for this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. The polls close today at 5 pm. Is there enough time for a come-from-behind candidate to win? Maybe, if enough supporters cast each of their 4 possible votes to sweep it over the top.
Without your votes, will the best candidates win all these categories? We need your help to make the 2010 Swampies the best they can be.
We hope all of you enjoy your Christmas holiday! You can probably guess the little gift Swamplot is still handing out: A chance to choose the winners of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. This year dozens of highly qualified nominees are competing for your votes in 10 juicy award categories. They are:
- Favorite Houston Design Cliché
- Best Teardown
- Parking Lot of the Year
- Drive-Thru of the Year
- Walmart of the Year
- The Washington Ave Award
- Most Improved Neighborhood
- Least Historic Neighborhood
- Neighborhood of the Year
- Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate, 2010
(You can also get to all these categories from this single page.) What winners would you choose? You can vote up to 4 times for each category — once each following one of these methods:
- Adding a comment to the official ballot for the category
- Indicating your choices in an email to Swamplot
- Announcing your choice on Twitter (please use the format spelled out here)
- Posting your selection on the wall of Swamplot’s Facebook page
The polls close for all categories at 5 pm this Monday, December 27th. Have fun deciding!
- How To Vote in the 2010 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Awards Ballots 2010 [Swamplot]
The official nominees for all 10 categories of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate have been announced, and voting is now well under way!
For each category this year you have 4 places you can vote. But you don’t have to choose one of them — you can have more influence on the outcome by voting in all 4 if you like:
- In a comment to the official ballot for the category
- In an email you send to Swamplot
- Using Twitter (it’ll help if you use the format spelled out here)
- In a wall post on Swamplot’s Facebook page
Here, in one convenient place, are links to the entertaining but official ballots for all 10 categories:
- Favorite Houston Design Cliché
- Best Teardown
- Parking Lot of the Year
- Drive-Thru of the Year
- Walmart of the Year
- The Washington Ave Award
- Most Improved Neighborhood
- Least Historic Neighborhood
- Neighborhood of the Year
- Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate, 2010
Got a question about voting? You can probably find the answer in this brief voting guide.
Many of you have voted already. But there’s still time to round up more support for your favorites! Come-from-behind candidates, now’s your chance! All it takes is a little email, Facebook or forum post, or tweet to stir up your friends. Explain your vote clearly when you make it — maybe that’ll inspire a groundswell of support!
Voting in all categories will end at 5 pm next Monday, December 27th.
- How To Vote in the 2010 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Awards Ballots 2010 [Swamplot]
As of this morning, the official nominees have been announced and voting has begun for 8 of the 10 categories in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, Drive-Thru of the Year, Walmart of the Year, the Washington Ave Award, Most Improved Neighborhood, and the latest: Least Historic Neighborhood. Have you selected your favorites in each of those categories yet? Nominations closed for all categories at the end of last week. The official ballot for Neighborhood of the Year will be posted shortly; by the end of the day today, all categories will be open for your votes.
As we’ve mentioned, this year you’re allowed to vote up to 4 times for a nominee in each category — as long as you cast each vote in a category using a separate method: in a comment to the official ballot post, in an email to Swamplot, from Twitter, or in a wall post to Swamplot’s Facebook page. These rules give an obvious voting advantage to readers who really really want their favorite candidate to win, and who are persistent enough to help make it happen. But there are other ways of stretching your influence: Just let your friends know about the awards, and get them to vote too!
Even if the results in a particular category don’t matter to you much, please do vote and encourage your friends to vote too: The Swampies belong to you! More participation will make the results — which we’ll announce next week — a more accurate reflection of this city and the varying opinions of our readers. (Plus: The results will feature the best comments included by readers with their votes, so they’ll simply be more fun to read.)
If you can’t make all your voting decisions before the holiday, though, don’t sweat it. You’ll have a little bit of time after Christmas to get those last votes in: The polls will close at 5 pm on Monday, December 27th.
- How To Vote in the 2010 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Awards Ballots 2010 [Swamplot]
Only 2 categories remain open for nominations in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. But they’re the biggies: 2010’s Neighborhood of the Year and Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate. If you’ve got a great suggestion for either award, you have until midnight tonight to get it in. And here’s a tip: Sure, it’s nice to get all those standard one-word nominations — like, say, “Katy!” But to make it onto the official ballot, a nominee needs something more: Your sharp and quotable explanation for why it deserves that particular award.
One by one, we’re posting the official slates of nominees for all the other categories. Four have been posted and opened for voting so far: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, and Drive-Thru of the Year. Next up: Walmart of the Year and the Washington Ave Award.
Did we mention you can vote up to 4 times in each category of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate? That’s right: once in a comment to the official ballot post, once in an email to Swamplot, once from Twitter, and once on the wall of Swamplot’s Facebook page. You’ll find more details on how to do each (and how not to have your votes disqualified) here.
So it’s Wednesday. The official nominees have been announced and voting has begun in 3 categories so far: Parking Lot of the Year, Best Teardown, and Favorite Houston Design Cliché. Nominations closed last night for Walmart of the Year and the Washington Ave Award. We’ll be posting official ballots for those categories soon. Tonight at midnight, nominations will close for Most Improved Neighborhood and Least Historic Neighborhood. Do you have any last-minute suggestions for these categories? Or better yet: Can you contribute a smart and convincing explanation for why your choice deserves the award? (Really, who’s going to vote for a neighborhood just because its name is on the ballot?) Please add them now!
Nominations closed for 2 more award categories early this morning: Parking Lot of the Year and Drive-Thru of the Year. We’ll announce the official nominees and open the voting for both next. Voting began late yesterday for Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Teardown.
We’ve also posted the official voting rules, which are different this year. For each category, you can vote in a comment, by email, on Twitter, or from Facebook — or all 4! Please note also that campaigning for your favorite award candidates — by sending out emails to friends, Twittering, or posting about the contest in forums, other blogs, or on Facebook, for example — is highly encouraged. Start a groundswell for your choices!
There’s still just a bit more time for you to submit your nominations for the 6 remaining categories. The deadline for submissions for Walmart of the Year and the Washington Ave Award is tonight at midnight. Got any last minute suggestions — or improvements to the nominations that have already been sent in?
Are you on Facebook? Do you like Swamplot? Would you mind doing us a small favor? Please take a moment, then, to visit Swamplot’s Facebook page, and click on the “Like” button at the top of the page.
Thanks!
Nominations closed at midnight last night for the first 2 of the 10 categories in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. Later today, we’ll announce the official nominees and open the voting for these categories: Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Teardown.
This means there are now less than 14 hours left to make your nominations for the next 2 categories, which are new this year: Parking Lot of the Year and Drive-Thru of the Year. Take a look at the nominations other readers in the comments for each of those posts. Are any obvious contenders missing? If you’ve got a parking lot or drive-thru you’d like to add, do it now! Nominations for these 2 categories will close at midnight tonight.
Voting begins next week for the 2010 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. All 10 categories in the competition have now been announced. Some terrific nominations have already come in for many of them, but we still need your help to make sure that all the candidates are the right ones, and that each is presented in the best possible light.
So if you find anything missing from any award category, please add your nomination now! Or if you think you can improve on any of the explanations submitted with a nomination you like, feel free to write in with your own better presentation. If you see a nomination without an explanation, please add a good one! Got photos of any of the nominees? Please send them!
This Sunday at midnight, nominations will close for the first two award categories: Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Teardown. On Monday, we’ll announce the official slate of nominees for those awards and open them for voting. For the next 2 categories we’ll close nominations Monday night and open the voting on Tuesday, then continue that way through the week with the rest of the categories.
There’s still plenty of time to contribute. Add your nominations to the comments section below the post that announces each category. Or send them to us in an email. Who are the contenders in Houston real estate this year? What deserves recognition?
- Award categories: Last Category: What Was 2010′s Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate?, Nominations Are Now Open for Houston Neighborhood of the Year, Now Accepting Nominations for Houston’s Least Historic Neighborhood, What Would You Consider To Be Houston’s Most Improved Neighborhood?, Announcing the Washington Ave Award. Your Nominations, Please?, Next Award Category for the Swampies: Walmart of the Year, Now Taking Your Orders for Drive-Thru of the Year, Your Nominations, Please, for Houston Parking Lot of the Year, Best Teardown of 2010: Who Are the Contenders?, What Are Your Nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché? [Swamplot]
- The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate 2010: How To Make a Nomination [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Award Nominations 2010 [Swamplot]
We’ve announced 9 categories so far in the 2010 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, Drive-Thru of the Year, Walmart of the Year, the Washington Ave Award, Most Improved Neighborhood, Least Historic Neighborhood, and Neighborhood of the Year. Phew! What’s left to cover?
Here it is, the 10th and final category. And as usual, we’ve saved the best for last: What was the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate of 2010?
Swamplot is dedicated to covering great moments in Houston real estate. That’s why we’re here. Did we miss a few this year? Browse through the site if it’ll help you to draw up a list of contenders; or raid your own memory banks. Then tell us what moment deserves this recognition. (If you’ve got questions about how to make a nomination, you’ll likely find the answers here.)
A great moment is lost if there’s no one there to chronicle it or cherish it. Which is why we need your help. Add your comments or send us an email describing the moments you’d like to nominate.
- Previous category announcements: Nominations Are Now Open for Houston Neighborhood of the Year, Now Accepting Nominations for Houston’s Least Historic Neighborhood, What Would You Consider To Be Houston’s Most Improved Neighborhood?, Announcing the Washington Ave Award. Your Nominations, Please?, Next Award Category for the Swampies: Walmart of the Year, Now Taking Your Orders for Drive-Thru of the Year, Your Nominations, Please, for Houston Parking Lot of the Year, Best Teardown of 2010: Who Are the Contenders?, What Are Your Nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché? [Swamplot]
- The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate 2010: How To Make a Nomination [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Award Nominations 2010 [Swamplot]
This is it: The next-to-last category in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. So far, we’ve opened nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, Drive-Thru of the Year, Walmart of the Year, the Washington Ave Award, Most Improved Neighborhood, and Least Historic Neighborhood. Have you added your thoughtful suggestions to each of those categories?
The category this time is Neighborhood of the Year. What qualifications does a neighborhood need to meet in order to be declared Houston Neighborhood of the Year? You tell us — as you make your nomination! Of course, a neighborhood might be considered for Swamplot’s Neighborhood of the Year award for vastly different reasons than another one might be considered for an award of the same name from, say, the GHBA.
Please note that entrants in this category — as well as all the others — need not be located strictly inside Houston’s municipal boundaries. Swamplot tries to track the idea of Houston as it regularly travels outside the city limits. (In fact, last year’s winner of the Houston Neighborhood of the Year award was . . . yes, Galveston.)
We’re ready to receive your nominations in the comments below, or in an email. If you need more guidance, consult the official rules. Who are the contenders for this award?
- Previous category announcements: Now Accepting Nominations for Houston’s Least Historic Neighborhood, What Would You Consider To Be Houston’s Most Improved Neighborhood?, Announcing the Washington Ave Award. Your Nominations, Please?, Next Award Category for the Swampies: Walmart of the Year, Now Taking Your Orders for Drive-Thru of the Year, Your Nominations, Please, for Houston Parking Lot of the Year, Best Teardown of 2010: Who Are the Contenders?, What Are Your Nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché? [Swamplot]
- The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate 2010: How To Make a Nomination [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Award Nominations 2010 [Swamplot]
It’s neighborhood day here at Swampies Nominations Central! This morning we introduced the 7th category in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. Here’s the complete list of our categories so far: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, Drive-Thru of the Year, Walmart of the Year, the Washington Ave Award, and Most Improved Neighborhood. Keep those nominations coming! Are you ready for what’s next?
A lot of attention was focused on Houston’s designated historic districts in 2010. But really now, is that fair? Together, these areas make up only a tiny portion of this city’s considerable land mass. What’s it take for less-historic areas to get some attention?
Well, how about a Swampie award category of their own? That’s right: In this category of the Swamplot Awards, we aim to honor Houston’s Least Historic Neighborhood. Now, it’s one thing for an area not to be particularly historic — or even not to appear to have that potential. But what neighborhoods really excel in that regard? What parts of town would you nominate to be considered for the honor of Least Historic Neighborhood? And why?
Refer to the official nominating rules here if you need them. Add your suggestions below — or email them to us privately. What can you come up with?
- Previous category announcements: What Would You Consider To Be Houston’s Most Improved Neighborhood?, Announcing the Washington Ave Award. Your Nominations, Please?, Next Award Category for the Swampies: Walmart of the Year, Now Taking Your Orders for Drive-Thru of the Year, Your Nominations, Please, for Houston Parking Lot of the Year, Best Teardown of 2010: Who Are the Contenders?, What Are Your Nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché? [Swamplot]
- The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate 2010: How To Make a Nomination [Swamplot]
- Swamplot Award Nominations 2010 [Swamplot]
