Award

Fans have organized a variety of awards to recognize and reward outstanding fanworks and fan activities (such as infrastructure work by archivists, for example). Some awards work via open voting, and others restrict voting to the members of a particular mailing list or community. However, some kind of voting must take place, otherwise there would be no difference between awards and recommendations. While the results are often printed as a straight list, some awards are presented at cons, or in an Award-ceremony fic.
==Offline Awards==
Some conventions organize awards, for zines or other fanworks. The Fan Q Awards, given at MediaWest*Con, originated as Star Trek fic awards but have expanded to all active fandoms.
Anime conventions often feature AMV competitions.
==Online Awards==
Online, the most common awards are for fanfic, though some awards also have categories for fanart, fanvids, or websites. Preventing vote tampering is more problematic in online awards than for those attached to cons. Online awards often provide banners or other graphics for the winners to display on their websites or journals.
==Controversies==
Because awards involve ranking fanworks, they often cause wank, especially if the fans who organize the award aren't sufficiently transparent in their organization to avoid allegations of bias, whether through the setup of the award's categories, the nomination and voting procedures, or outright vote tampering.
Comments from 1988: 
Comments from 1994: 
Additionally, awards may face criticism for privileging BNFs, i.e. for making the awards personal "popularity" rather than "quality" contests.Merlin Missy, Anything You Can Write, I Can Write Better -- Fanfiction Awards Posted 13 December 2007 (accessed 5 May 2010); WebCite Comments from 2005:
Other fans dislike awards as they do not reflect a reality of what is "best." Comments from 1998:
Some fans disliked the word "award" rather than the practice of awards. Comments from 1998:
===Interview with a Ballot Stuffer===
See for an interview with a fan who stuffed the ballots in the 1996 Spooky Awards for the X-Files.
==Did Awards Morph Into Recs?==
The internet brought many fans online, something that obviously had an effect on fandom and fan activities in many ways.
One thing the internet affected was the visibility and variety of fans. Fandom had moved from a more or less decentralization to being much more spread out. No longer were there recognized bases of fandom, a starting point for formal awards on pre-approved topics. Not only could fans communicate more easily, but they were voicing their taste for specialized aspects of fandom.
A comment in 2005: 
==Fan Awards by Fandom==
* multifandom
** Crazy Girls Awards (for vidding)
** Fan Q Awards
**Huggy Award
**No Rest for the Wicked Awards (Buffy, Star Trek, Heroes, and X-Files)
**Pegasus Award (for filk)
**Screwz Awards or 'Slash Creativity Recognition for Entertainment and Writing in Zines' (for slash)
**Sizzler or 'Slash In Zine Literary ERotica' Awards (for slash)
**STIFfie (for slash)
**Titanium Whip Awards (for kink)
**UFO Awards
* Anime
**The Tenchi & Anime Awards Engine
** Chicken Ball Awards
** The Ranma Fanfiction Awards
* Backstreet Boys
** Backstreet Boys Fan Fiction Awards
** Backstreet Elite Fan Fiction Awards
** Backstreet Lite Fan Fic Awards
** Felix Awards
* Beauty and the Beast
** Beauty and the Beast Fan Quality Awards
* Buffy
**Absence of Light Awards
**Crossing Over Awards (crossovers)
**Fang Fetish Awards
**Halo Awards
**Kinda Gay Awards
**Running With Scissors Awards
**The Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards
**White Knight Awards (focusing on the character Xander) (older awards archived here)
**Willowy Goodness Awards (focusing on the character Willow)
* Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
** Plato Awards (1999)
** Golden Acorn Awards (2002-2017/2018)
*** 2017 GAA at the Acorn Cafe
*** 2002-2016 GAA archive at the Acorn Cafe
*** 2002-2008 GAA archive at Indy's Ranger Museum
* Comic Books
**Comic Book Fan-Fiction Awards
**Damn Fine Awards
**Maggie Awards
**The Prosh Awards
**X-Day Awards
* Due South
** Serious Duck
* Fringe
** Blue Moon Awards
* Hanson
** Authors Only Awards
** Blank Page Awards
** Broken Angel Awards
** Hanfic Awards
**Hanson Fan Fiction Awards
**Kanga Awards
**Literary Hanfic Awards
**Really Big Hanson Fanfic Awards
**Various Artists Awards
* JAG
** The JAG Fanfiction Awards
** The Shipper Choice Awards
** The J*Spot Awards
* Kim Possible
** Kim Possible Fannie Awards
* Lois & Clark
** Kerth Awards
* Lord of the Rings
** Mithril Awards
** Middle Earth Fanfiction Awards
* The Lord of the Rings/RPF
** Men of Middle Earth Awards (MOME) Livejournal Community
** Slashy Oscars LiveJournal Community
* Merlin
** Camelot Music Video Awards
** Merlin/Arthur Fanfic Awards
** Merlin Slash Awards
* Power Rangers
** What A Character Awards
* Robin of Sherwood
** Major Oak Awards
* The Sentinel
** Golden Guppy Awards
** Light My Fire Awards
*Sherlock
**The Holmsies Awards (Discontinued)
* Stargate
** Isis Awards
** McKay/Sheppard Fan Awards
** Sam and Jack Fanfiction Awards
** Stargate Fan Awards
** Stargate Music Video Awards
* Starsky & Hutch
** Torino Awards
* Star Trek
** ASC Awards
** Golden Orgasms
** Surak Awards
** Philon Awards
* Star Wars
** Star aWards
* Supernatural
** Salt and Burn Awards
* Twilight
** Eddie and Bellie Awards
* The Vampire Diaries (TV)
** Klaroline Awards
* West Wing
** The Jeds
* Xena: Warrior Princess
** The Swollen Bud Awards
** The Xippy Awards (recommendations)
* The X-Files
** FOX Awards (for fanfiction covers)
** Morley Awards
** The Prosh Awards
** Silver Sutures Awards
** Spooky Awards
** Starbuck Awards
** Whammy Awards
==Meta/Further Reading==
* Interview with a Ballot Stuffer (1998)
* , post by shannon730 (2009)
* (2000)
==References==
#Award