The Sonic Site Awards is back in 2009 to award the best in undiscovered fansites! First established in 2001, the SSAs were the first ever community awards to allow the visitors to have their say in every part of the polling process – from the nominations right down to the winners. An explosive first year meant that the event became an annual occasion, with more awards being added and encompassing fan creations as well as websites.
In 2008 there were no Sonic Site Awards to hand out. There were a number of reasons for this, the primary one being that attention was spent mostly on getting the very first Summer of Sonic convention absolutely right. But 2007 proved that the SSAs were becoming too big of a beast to handle, and even after a cutback on awards handed out that year, it felt like the meaning of the ceremony was lost.
Now the awards are returning, in a more refined form that is intended to highlight those Sonic fansites that deserve a few more hits on their counter. This year, there will be only one proper award – The Sonic Site Award 2009. The other awards will be in the form of banners (or micro-awards) – here are a list of the awards and some details on them.
- Best Layout/Design
We’re not looking for fansites that have used the generic site-building tools in an Angelfire host. This banner will go to the website that has taken the time to learn a bit about HTML or other site-building languages to create a custom design. One of the main things that will draw visitors back to your site is a clean, cool layout, so we’re awarding the best ones here. - Community of the Year
A great site always maintains a vibrant community. This can be a forum, oekaki, a comments system in a Sonic related blog or anything else that would facilitate discussion and contribution from visitors. A creative, active and friendly community will be hotly tipped to win this banner. - Information Station
Of course, a fansite is nothing if it doesn’t have anything for visitors to discover or read about. A well-constructed Wiki, a large database focusing on games, merchandise, comics or any other aspect of the Sonic universe, or simply an up-to-date, regularly maintained news service are examples of sites that can earn this banner. - Most Entertaining
The ability to make people laugh or keep them hooked on your material is a key aspect of maintaining a respectable userbase. Do you give your information pages or news stories that little bit of flair that visitors find unique and fun? Perhaps you run a Sonic humour site and your gags should have people coming back for more? This banner will go to you. - The Sonic Site Award 2009
The big one. Winning this award will earn you the visibility and visit count you need. But the Sonic Site Award will only go to the website most deserving of the attention – the little fansite that could, the place that tries so hard with quality material but needs that extra exposure to make it. The Sonic Site of 2009 will need to have a good mix of all the above qualities and a webmaster with a fresh approach.
Best Layout / Design 2009
- Sonic: Zone 0 (34%, 176 Votes)
- Sonic Sharing Center (26%, 136 Votes)
- Emerald Coast Comics (23%, 119 Votes)
- Sonic Genesis (10%, 50 Votes)
- SEGADriven (7%, 33 Votes)
Community of the Year 2009
- PortalSonic Forums (48%, 234 Votes)
- Sonic Arena (21%, 100 Votes)
- Black Hero Forums (12%, 58 Votes)
- Sonic: Zone 0 Forums (10%, 49 Votes)\
- SoniClans (9%, 43 Votes)
Information Station 2009
- Power Sonic (52%, 315 Votes)
- The Archie Sonic Wiki (20%, 120 Votes)
- Sonic: Zone 0 (18%, 108 Votes)
- Sonic Speed Zone (7%, 40 Votes)
- Pro Sonic Gamers (3%, 27 Votes)
Most Entertaining 2009
- Sonic FM (40%, 253 Votes)
- Power Rings (33%, 210 Votes)
- Emerald Coast (13%, 85 Votes)
- Sonic Style (9%, 58 Votes)
- Roarey Raccoon’s LiveJournal (5%, 31 Votes)
Sonic Site Award 2009
- Power Sonic (53%, 332 Votes)
- Sonic: Zone 0 (21%, 129 Votes)
- Saturday Morning Sonic (13%, 83 Votes)
- The Sonic Factory (7%, 41 Votes)
- Black Hero (6%, 37 Votes)