Thoughts on the Snuffies!

[Bluestone]

Well, another Snuffie Award season has ended, and it's time for a post mortem, so I invite your comments.

This year's awards were dominated by 4-5 producers, depending upon how to count co-productions, which were PKF Studios, Amazon-Warriors, Chris' Corner, UKSG and Bluestone's Silk Videos. Other producers' work was nominated, but the 9 main categories were won by less than 9 producers. Why was this? Well, having won the "Best Producer of the Year" award, I would have to say that these producers are considered the best in the industry by the people/customers of our community. Yes, I will accept bragging rights and encourage all of the other winners to do likewise. I will plaster my awards all over my website as well as at my Nicheclips store, and I will do so to challenge every producer who didn't win a Snuffie this year, and particularly their customers. If you think that the Snuffie Awards do not mean what I stated above, then do something about it... because I plan to market myself as the "Best Producer" all year long and into 2013... until and unless someone successfully challenges me!

If you're thinking, "Hey, Bluestone, that's not a very humble acceptance speech. Who the Hell do you think you are?" Well, I just told you who I am!

In the 2010 Snuffie Awards, I disqualified myself as well as my co-productions with UKSG, because I wanted to make it clear that this was not just the Bluestone awards for the Bluestone fans. This year, I entered the contest, but once again, I made it clear that it was open to all producers and their customers, even producers who did not advertize on FF... every producer and their work was open to nomination by any of their fans, who could join FF for free to nominate and vote. The result speaks for itself. Very few fans of the other producers cared enough to nominate or vote. There was a category for "Best Hanging Video" and despite the fact that there are many hanging sites, not one nomination was received. There are membership sites that are at least partially devoted to hangings. Don't you think that there would be a rush of people to join if one of those sites had won that Snuffie Award? I say, definitely! What the converse says to me is that a hanging site where none of the members even nominate one video for a Snuffie Award must be a very lame site. No? Well, somebody better prove me wrong with a nomination of two, because otherwise my strangle video co-productions with UKSG are going to take that "Best Asphyxia Video" award next year too, unless those hanging fans send a different message with their nominatioins and votes.

Well, those are my comments on the 2011 Snuffie Awards, and I invite all of yours.

I thank all of my fans for their support, and am proud to accept these awards. I understand that you appreciate that I have had to struggle this past year, but have continued to try to produce the best videos possible for my fans. I will continue to do so. I accept the challenge to produce Snuffie-worthy material in 2012 and beyond. Thanks for your support of the Snuffies!

Blue

[Chris B]

I am proud to even be nominated, and even though I was the only nomination for the category I won for, I still feel the honor that I was even nominated. I guess "Best Drowning" is my strong point!! Lol Here I was trying to be the best at strangles, and even shootings, but I am not good enough yet to catch up to the big boys like Blue, Dirty deeds, PKF, and Rue Morgue, etc. I just need to keep brushing up on my film making skills and maybe i can hang! Thanks so much again for the nomination and the shoe in!

Thanks so much to Bluestone and Femme Fatalities for hosting and putting in all the work for the awards. CB

[Bluestone]

Hey Chris,

You're welcome! Hey, today the Drowning Award, next year who knows, maybe the Best Video award!

Remember to plaster that award certificate everywhere. It helps to get the word out for these awards. Next year, I expect many more nominations, votes, and a much stiffer competition. I really don't know why you weren't nominated for "Best Producer", for example. You should ask your fans that one. Next year, I expect to see more nominations for you, now that you're a Snuffie alumni!

Blue

[tommygun]

Blue, first let me say thanks to you for organizing and running the SNUFFIE competition.

But then, I must admit that I don't think it represents all that much because so few people participate. If the winner has the most votes out of 15, it must mean that the vast majority of people who purchase the film work either can't remember any purchase that is worth nominating, or don't think much of the work they bought. Either way, it is very disappointing.

I've got some thoughts about how things might be changed a bit to help make the SNUFFIES more representative, and might also help the producers get more revenue for their best productions. I'll share them with you off-line first so we can consider the matter a bit further as you make plans for the next round of awards. Again, I thank you for doing this.

(The production quality issue comes down to this: Higher production costs turn quickly into losses on the films. Remember that 100 copies of something at $15 is just $1,500. Subtract 40% for web hosting, credit card processing and web host "marketing", and you've got $1,000. Subtract $200 per model for the work done and you've got $400 out of a three-person film. Subtract the costs of location, clothing, supplies, camera amortization, travel expenses, food on the sets, etc, and you've got perhaps $100 to $200. So that's what the producer and editor get.)

[Bluestone]

Hey TG,

I agree with you and will look forward to receiving your ideas.

Yes, I was disappointed with the turn-out too, but I was very aggressive with my bragging and chest-beating, because I look at it this way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the award ceremony idea, and it a very valuable exercise in finding out what the general community wants. Now, if that general community consists of only a handful of people who care enough to nominate and vote, thereby supporting their favourite producers, then so be it! There are no excuses as to why more people didn't participate. The process is fully open to anyone to nominate any community producer, actress or video. Joining FF to do so is free. So, I don't care how many people participated. I have decided to accept bragging rights until someone unseats me. Until someone comes up with a better award system, the Snuffies are the community standard and whoever wins these awards, despite the voter turnout, is simply who the community feels is the best that there is in our community!

If the next President of the United States was elected with poor voter turnout, would that invalidate his or her Presidency? If course not. If the electorate prefers to let the active voters make the decisions in this world, then so be it.

Personally, I think there will be a much better voter turnout for the Snuffies next year, because everyone's going to get sick and tired of me taking full credit for the Snuffie Awards won by my co-producer, UKSG, my actress,Petra and I. At least, I hope they do!

Best Producer Blue

[Nightposter]

I have a thought on no nominees for hanging vid.... Could it be that there were no videos worth the honor???

When I heard that the category needed some help, I went looking... frankly, I have nothing in over 300 gb of stored videos, I bought or was gifted with over the years. I have only 1 video, and it was a custom from 1998. So I went looking on the net... I found nothing that interested me that wasn't commercial. The only place I did find was Eyewitness Productions, but the are member only, wildly protect their privacy, and I haven't been a member in 3 years.

[Bluestone]

I have a thought on no nominees for hanging vid.... Could it be that there were no videos worth the honor???

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Yes, I guess that is a possibility. Also, a good guess as to why there was only one drowning video nomination.

It does seem to indicate that there are a lot of videos being produced, but not a lot of ones that are so excellent that they deserve a nomination.

Well, nominations are now open for 2012, so we'll see what people thought of the videos that were released over the last three months.

Blue

[tommygun]

Blue, first, let me say that you DESERVE the bragging rights! Obviously, I loved PPS because I nominated it, I think. And I certainly voted for it.

No one could have been more fair and open in trying to get people to participate in this process. I just was disappointed that so few people remembered enough of the videos that were good to put them up for an award. In order for this to be worthwhile, we need to get more participation!

So, we'll all eat crow as you crow!

[JohnM]

In order for this to be worthwhile, we need to get more participation!

I concur. Given that 10's of 1000's of videos are ordered throughout the year by1000's of customers, I would have to say that 200-300 participants would probably give a more accurate representation of the community. Theoretically, with such low numbers, it would be real easy for producer A to drive a few customers to nominate and vote. And if producer B was too busy too worry about it, well, producer A gets the flowers and crown.

Also, no matter what you say, there will be bias of the hosting site is run by a producer--no matter what the professed philosophy or altruistic intensions. It is just the way it is. I have run several internal polls encouraging others to vote for producers and movies--even suggesting they take me out of the running. But, unless I intentionally leave my name out of the poll or survey, most of the votes seem to go my way.

The best way to do this would be to launch an independent blog site with a write in survey. Then, after nominations are counted--with a limit of 5-10 of the top ones per category, a multichoice poll is then conducted for each category to determine the winner. I did a test of this software in a Wordpress blog format and it worked great.

The blog would have to be hosted by someone, spend a few bucks to send up a domain pointer to it, then all the forums and producer sites could drive traffic to it and for the most part, the nominating and voting would be non-bias.

However, after all that, unless there are the numbers I indicated, the results probably won't be too representative. And, that harkens back to the way forums work. Of 1000's of members on a typical forum, most will lurk and never post. That is the way forums are. So, even in the best of times, I am not sure if people will worry about it. Most folks already know what they like and for the most part, are not even on the forums. I have over 12,000 email from customs since Jan of 2011. Only a handful are actually members of any forum.

I was, of course, happy with the results. I like wining things. But, I wish I had up against a bunch of movies and a bunch of producers. As it turned out, the two videos that one, were, indeed good videos. But, I released over 100 movies in 2011 and combined with other producers there were well over 1000 new releases. Based on this content, most would be crap. And, while that may be true, I am sure there were many many many, that were no where near crap as well, that, in a wider poll with more participants, would have been up for vote.

Thanks,
JohnM

[Pennpaul]

Bias in the snuffies is painfully obvious, but that does not otherwise detract from the honors accorded to the winners in each category. Statistically, the bias is evident. Using Nicheclips as a basis, there are 100's of producers and thousands of videos in each category. The numbers nominated and identities (hardly different from 2010) are almost insignificant to the numbers available. As an example, ChrisB expressed a concern in that he was the only one nominated for BEST DROWNING. I dare say that Debbie D and others with whom I have worked can actually out perform other actresses doing drowning stories. In fact both Debbie D and Laura Giglio are mermaid qualified. Both can remain underwater for great lengths of time. That, however, matters very little if the videos are not considered by the members of FF. My point, as a producer, I cannot nominate, nor can I force anyone to buy regardless of my opinion.

My comments, above, pertain to all other categories as well. And specifically to any category that received 5 or less nominations. The hanging category seems to have missed newcomer GASPING HORROR. This producer has a rare real Debbie D hanging that is included as a bonus. Debbie wanted to experience an actual hanging. She learned the hard way never to do that again.

This is of course my outside observation. The Snuffies are a great idea, if more producers and videos are ever considered.

4P

[Bluestone]

As an example, ChrisB expressed a concern in that he was the only one nominated for BEST DROWNING. I dare say that Debbie D and others with whom I have worked can actually out perform other actresses doing drowning stories. In fact both Debbie D and Laura Giglio are mermaid qualified. Both can remain underwater for great lengths of time. That, however, matters very little if the videos are not considered by the members of FF. My point, as a producer, I cannot nominate, nor can I force anyone to buy regardless of my opinion.

Thanks for your comments, 4P, but you missed one small point... but you're not alone in this oversight. It appears that you have LOTS of company. You're right that producers cannot nominate, but they can encourage their fans to support this award ceremony. I find it very hard to believe that you don't have any customers and that Debbie D doesn't have any fans who feel strongly enough about your videos to simply make one little post. I know it's extremely hard to do. I mean, someone would have to actually type half a dozen words on a message board, such as, "I nominate Debbie D as Best Actress"! I agree with you, there is a definite bias here, because the winning producers have fans who genuinely appreciate their videos, actresses and production companies enough to type a few words on the nomination thread.

Here's a brilliant idea. Why not email your biggest fans, give them a link to the nomination thread, and suggest that they post a nomination if they feel strongly about any of the videos that you have produced so far this year.

Oh, this staggeringly brilliant idea is not just for your edification. I dare say that any producer could do the same. Hey, I even know some who have their own forums that can be used to get the word out. JohnM already got the word out on his forum, and look at the result. I guess it works. Perhaps you can even send an email to Gasping Horror. Apparently, someone likes their work. You'd think they could muster up a nomination, wouldn't you.

Sorry, 4P, the sarcasm isn't meant to minimalize your very important comments... just to highlight that producers cannot simply complain that not enough producers were nominated just because their fans didn't care enough, or know enough, to nominate them. Producers simply have to educate their fans better for this year's Snuffies, because they're going ahead again, and they are the only people's choice award in our community that is open to each and every person in our community to nominate any video, actress or producer in our community each and every year. If that's bias, then I guess I don't understand the meaning of the word.

Blue
(Producer of the Year)

P.S. If you find me irritating, encourage your fans to knock me off next year.

[JohnM]

Blue--

Your response above is out of touch and has a slight decay of ego.

Reality is very clear. Most people that buy videos are not attached to or even members of forums.

I sent out a bunch of emails to by best customs customers. Over time, that was well over emails. And, to illustrate that they are GOOD customers that like what I do, except for once, which was rectified, every custom I have made has received a positive review. So, out of all those, I recived about 20 responses, most of which were something to the effect of, "they did not want to join the forum". Of course, I told them all in my initial email, that it was really no big deal. And, of course it is not. If I instead, emailed begging or my company would fall in ruin, or perhaps bribed them with a free video, then I might have gotten some of them to vote. Heck, I could have mass emailed a list I have of over 3000 folks, but frankly, that is just going to piss people off.

Honestly, the majority are not clinging to forums. Of the 5000+ members you have, what % check daily--weekly even. How many have posted--once. How many have not been back in 6 months or more. I get more traffic on my forums then yours and I delete 1000 people every 6 months for no activity and 1000 more sign back up. I bet I know all the figures. That is just the way forums are unless you've got celebrity pics or free porn. People are busy. And, when shopping for fetish videos, the swoop, buy and hopefully are happy.

Your suggestion of the producers driving the customers to vote is ludicrous. I spend 70+ hours a week editing, promoting, site building, and answering tons of emails all to make sure the company stays afloat, employees are paid and I can spend a couple minutes with my family. Now, I have to promote myself to drive the bias of the award contents too?

Please, leave me out of it for 2012. It was fun, but not if it's going to be work.

JohnM

[Bluestone]

Hey JohnM,

Here I am working hard to present myself as the most egotistical son-of-a-bitch that I can in order to get knocked off next year, and you go ahead and try to k.o. me 3 months into 2012!

No, John, I know you're busy, and so am I, and so are the customers. Not to worry. I won't send an FF audit team over to your studio to count the emails that you're sending out. You actually did the spade work already this year. At least your customers know about the awards. I was speaking more to those who received no nominations at all in either year. Sorry if I upset you with my strutting peacock act. I've been working hard at it, but I must admit that I'm more comfortable with a more laid back persona.

So, I'll lay off the big promotion and let others post their thoughts without further editorializing. I still think the Snuffies are a good idea, but those other than you and me will have to put a little effort into promoting it, John. It's been established, just like FF. For those who want forums and want to give feedback on community videos, it's all at their fingertips. Up to them if they want to enjoy and make use of the forum and awards competition.

Blue
(Last Year's Man)

[Pennpaul]

JohnM has hit the point while Bluestone has missed by a wide margin. Must be the rose-colored glasses he wears.

JohnM's cogent point references FF posting membership. Thus the bias begins.

As far as posting traffic, the DS board makes FF look stale and stalled. But FF does have a posting regular group. I dare say that more producers get exposed and traffic on DS than FF. But 2 things hinder championing DS:
1. No program comparable to the idea of Snuffies
2. Very real problem in posting photos with video ads
[3. Very odd posting and limitations rules]

And while Bluestone exhilarates in PRODUCER of the YEAR AWARD, need I point out that FF is within the Bluestone empire and that none other than Bluestone invented and advocated the Snuffies. Somewhere within that sphere is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

During the 2010 cycle, I pointed out that statistically the Snuffies were comparable to ballot stuffing in as much as the voter base is significantly less than the potential nominations.

Perhaps JohnM has uncovered the same bias I tried to publicize during 2010.

JohnM, Dalila and I had the opportunity to select and show our best video offering at the 2010 Erotic History convention in Las Vegas, championed by Bailee Arnett. For me that trumps the Snuffies. Plus I left a copy of that video as well as one I did on site during the convention. Again for me that would be a double trump of the Snuffies.

Preying upon customers for nominations is about as crass as our President asking for caampaign donations from the sick and elderly. It doesn't fly in my world.

4P

[JohnM]

Blue--No worries. I sometimes get a little emotional when my blood sugar is out of whack.

Pennpaul--I just like things to be fair as possible. And, logically, we are far off from that.

In conclusion, it's a fun little promo, but I don't think it is much more unless we get participation more representative of the volume movies purchased. I don't think you can get that in a forum environment.

JohnM