It’s been a mad 24 hours for me and for the site. I’ll move on to the headline topic shortly, but let’s start at the beginning.
Last night, I had the pleasure of being part of a presentation; I’ve been working with the Priory Academies delivering a writing course to Year Nine students. The aim was to connect with young people who might not identify with the curriculum, or who felt they’d find a passion for writing through football and specifically Lincoln City.
We did six or seven sessions over late spring and produced a book entitled ‘The Brighter Side’ which was filled with work produced by the students. The presentation of the books came last night at the ground, Ellis Chapman being good enough to give up his free time to come along and hand them out. The club have been so supportive and from a personal point of view, I found it incredibly rewarding.
Today, I’ve been back at the club offering some feedback on certain subjects as a supporter which has also been nice. I know that some (Martyn, I’m looking at you) are not sold on the idea of a Supporter’s Board, but the club are trying hard to engage with the fans as much as possible and gauge some opinion on core subjects. I must confess two one-and-a-half hour round trips to the ground inside 24 hours, along with a full day or two of work to complete, has been testing, but it’s also very rewarding. I’m very lucky to be flexible in my work and to be able to get involved with these projects.
My fear was neglecting the site and so I quickly did the ‘Thanks, No Thanks’ article before I left at lunchtime. I’m conscious I have a group of patrons and keen followers whom I want to produce good content for and felt I may have neglected them. Knowing how much you appreciate my work, I wanted to squeeze something in to keep you amused.
It seems as though the hard work has not gone unnoticed. Incredibly, I’ve been nominated for a top award and have only found out this evening myself. It’s an incredible honour to be on a shortlist of six for the prestigious Football Supporter’s Association Award for Fan Media of the Year. It’s incredible as this shortlist was created by a panel of judges and includes such huge enterprises as the Anfield Wrap and the Arseblog.
I’ve been very lucky to make the final of the FBA’s for three years on the spin, but to get to the final ten or 12 there you must get votes; this is six sites chosen for their quality and put forward for a final vote. The award ceremony is held at the Tower of London in December and promises to be a wonderful occasion which I’m incredibly excited to be a part of.
Please, take the time to head to the site using this link and place a vote. It would take a Herculean effort to get anywhere near the lads from the Anfield Wrap, who are a sure-fire winner, but just to be in the same company as them is utterly amazing. There are also nominations for Josh Vickers, the Lady Imps and Alan Long, a real boost for the club and the fans.
I promise the site will keep putting out this great content and thank you to the great team we have here, all of whom help to bring you the very best Imps’ content around.
Voting done, Gary. But couldn’t see the lady Imps anywhere in the nominations.
Fully deserve to be on the shortlist – hope you and your supporters can promote and share far & wide to ensure you get every vote you can !!
Superb, and much deserved Gary! Absolutely delighted for you and the hard work is getting it’s rightful rewards.
I won’t be voting as I don’t agree with it. How can you judge how good something is by how popular it is? The premiership sides will dominate it.
Thank you for the kind words. It does feel a little harsh but then again to be in the selected six is almost a prize in itself. I respect your decision not to vote and understand why. Sadly, the podcast and fanzine section are judged by a panel, but not the fan media.
Aye was going to say, take as an award in itself given how many are out there and you are one of the few selected. Once again, excellent stuff