This is the second year in a row that the EIF will be awarded by the Daria Fandom Blog. (Not very many votes last year, but that will not stop us from soldiering on.)

Looking at the post for EIF nominees of 2005, I am surprised that we are in our ninth year of "Daria" fandom, and we are less than one year away from the 10th Anniversary of Episode 101 of "Daria", "Esteemesters" (air date: March 3rd, 1997).

However, despite lasting for almost ten years, Daria fans still have big problems in getting it together. Many attempts have been made to have a large convention of "Daria" fans. What would count as "large" would be a matter of dispute, but I would have to say you would need at least twelve people and three BNFs. Frankly, I'm just glad the fandom exists in any form. That might depend on whether or not "Daria" has any television outlets -- the day "Daria" episodes go off the air is a day the fandom is in danger. On the other hand, if "Daria" fans ever get their episodes on DVD -- and I see that as more likely than a fan convention, no matter how much I want such a convention to take place -- then the fandom will have dodged the bullet. As long as DVD episodes exists, then "Daria" can never die.

On this year's list, you will recognize fewer unfamiliar names. We are moving away from the alt.tv.daria-based fandom and towards an Internet messageboard based fandom, and you should sense the shift by looking at nominee names. At worst, only two or three of the names should leave you scratching your heads. As nominator-in-chief, the goal was to create a nominee list which gives great emphasis on seniority in this fandom.

So if you're pissed that you didn't make the list, then a) these people have been around longer than you, wait your turn, and b) someone didn't make a case that you should be nominated. In either case, not my fault.

A bone of contention among some fans was that I was the "decider" -- no input was asked for in drawing up the following list. This is as it is for a number of reasons. First, you have to get the veterans out of the way before opening the floor, else they'll be forgotten. Second, after the veterans have been considered -- my list has about 20 names on it right now -- the floor will be opened. Third, you can write a letter pleading someone's case (I'll post it on the blog, my address is cincgreen@yahoo.com), and you ALWAYS have the power to use your three votes to vote for people not on the list.

Another might ask, "why are some people on the list? Don't you have a feud with X"? I might have or have had a feud with "X" in the past, but this is an honor to recognize achievement and importance. I recognize that some people have made contributions that warrant recognition in the eyes of many people. My opinion regarding these contributions is, to quote an old "Daria" fan, "as important as all-f***".

You will also see that some people are "repeat nominees". These were people who earned enough votes to be considered in 2006, but not enough to win in 2005.

Now, I'll repeat the old part of this post:

Currently, this list has ten names on it.

Every Daria fan can vote for THREE of the names on the list. You may not combine votes, saying that you intend to give two votes to nominee A and one vote to nominee B. Each vote must be for a different person.

Furthermore, the nominees are just that -- nominees. They are only suggestions, after all. You can vote for people who are NOT on the nominees list, if you feel that some other fan is so deserving of recognition that special consideration should be made. For example, instead of voting for three people on the nominations list, you could vote for three other Daria fans.

And you can vote for ANYBODY. The person you're voting for doesn't have to own a website, or be a writer, or an artist, or anything. They can simply be person you enjoy reading on the message boards, perhaps someone you've met in real life, or someone who personally means a lot to you. Maybe a fan who lent a hand, or who is a voice who listens. Someone who represents the best of what Daria fandom has to offer.

There are only three groups of people excluded from nomination:

1) my wife and I, for obvious reasons
2) people who have no connection to Daria fandom, and
3) people involved with the creation/production of the television series - thus people like Glenn Eichler and Wendy Hoopes would be ineligible for an award recognizing Daria fans.

Votes for the above would be considered "null" votes.

There is no material or financial prize awarded. The only prize rewarded is simply recognition of the fact that in some way, these people were very important to Daria fans and that in some way, that importance deserves a bow of the head in respect.


1. Mike Quinn

Mike Quinn is a member of "Daria" fandom from its earliest days. For five years, Mr. Quinn wrote the famous "Mike's Delayed Reaction Reviews", where he reviews and comments on each of the 67 Daria episodes -- it's a lot of text and a lot of work, and the complete archive can be found on Outpost Daria. The reviews stirred up a lot of debate in Daria fandom, but most fans eagerly awaited the publishing of a review after an episode.
(Mike Quinn was a 2005 EIF nominee.)

2. Martin J. Pollard

When Planet Daria and alt.lawndale.com went down, there was an outcry among the fandom. Where would the fan fiction and transcripts of Daria episodes be stored? As it turned out, they would end up on Outpost Daria, the fifth major Daria fan site which is still more or less the first stop where you go to find Daria information.

Most of the fan fiction on Outpost Daria is quite literally irreplaceable. Many of these fan works are from 1997 and 1998, from the older Daria fan sites. These early fans have stopped writing but their fiction lives on at Outpost Daria. All the transcripts from the Planet Daria site can be found there, as well as a large collection of essays and archived news.

In addition, Mr. Pollard used to run a message board (The Outpost Daria Message Board). The board no longer exists (it did run before 2000), but Mr. Pollard directed the former message traffic to the Paperpusher Message Board, which is now the primary Daria message board. He also posted/posts on USENET and frequented the #daria+ channel. (Martin J. Pollard was a 2005 EIF nominee.)

3. "The Paperpusher"

"The Paperpusher" (first name Rich) has been a Daria fan since at least 1998. And, like many Daria fans, created his own site with fan fiction, news, and a message board.

The scorched remnants of the first Paperpusher Site can be found here . As the message boards in Daria fan history went up, and then went down, they were first directed to the Outpost Daria Message Board, and finally, the message board at Paperpusher's site, which would later be referred to as the PPMB.

Rich paid for the message board for a long time, providing a great benefit to Daria fandom. However, he came to turn the actual operation of the board over to other Daria fans, and in 2005, the actual possession of the board was turned over to Kara Wild. Rich is involved in academic studies now and is no longer active in Daria fandom. ("The Paperpusher" was a 2005 EIF nominee.)

4. (Father) Martin Sylvester

Since there are two well-known "Martin"s in Daria fandom, the other Martin of the two is sometimes called "Father Martin" or "the Padre". He's called "Father Martin" as he is a Catholic priest in England.

A Daria fan since at least 1998, the "Irony Maiden" website has been up since at least 1999. The site has a different purpose than most Daria fan based sites -- the purpose is to keep up with the show outside the United States, to follow on which channels in which nations one can find "Daria".

In addition, one can find information about some of the earliest "Dariacons", which are "mini-collections", gatherings of a few fans here and there around the world to meet and discuss Daria. Father Martin has himself travelled to the United States and met many Daria fans in person, and has been nothing less than a gracious spirit. (Martin Sylvester was a 2005 EIF nominee.)

5. Chris Smith ("Reese Kaine")

Chris Smith has been in Daria fandom since the days of alt.tv.daria. From a write-up by Thea-Zara, modified by myself:

"Another of the early fans, he ran a site located here with the famous "Daria Sounds Archive" (also at here by Web Archive), the LHWF, and his 'Kain' series of fanfics. Chris Smith started #daria+ on Dalnet, and was/is a regular in Daria chat in both IRC and AIM. He's still active in the community working on both fics and on creating Daria characters with many different 'create a character' video game systems.

Mr. Smith has been a consistent member of fandom since the beginning and has added a quirky sense of humor and some much needed levity to our community."

6. Chad Page

A fan of long standing, Chad Page spends most of his time now at the most recent incarnation of the #daria + channel, located at sorcery.net. He contributed to
alt.tv.daria and as a writer for Kara Wild’s series, "Abruptly Amy", and he
formerly served as a moderator of the Paperpusher Message Board.

Even though most of Mr. Page's contributions to fan fiction have been as a beta reader, he is generally known as a major supporter of Daria fandom since its
beginning.

7. Janet Neilson ("Canadibrit")

Better known to Daria fandom as "Canadibrit", Janet Neilson has been a longtime message board poster, fan fiction writer, reviewer of fan fiction, essayist, and web master.

In particular, her website called "I Am Not Daria" was considered to be at one time the first stop for any serious Daria fan. (The scorched remnants of the second version of the site can be found here .

In addition to her presence on all of the versions of #daria on IRC, Neilson is best known for "The Look Alike Series", a long running alternate-universe fan fiction serial of Daria and her look-alike sister, Lynn. The series has over fifty parts and more new parts are being produced.

8. Damon Domjan ("Orca")

Also known as "Orca", Domjan opened "Damon’s Half-Assed Daria Shrine" in 1999 as a response to the closing of the "Daria Sounds Archive" page. In three months, the site was renamed "The Sounds of Cynicism" and would soon be given a home here . The site opened in 1999 and was closed on May 11, 2000 due to copywright infringement.

According to Mr. Domjan,

"At the time of closure, 2,500 screen captures, 1,100 sounds, and 41 full episodes at a variety of bitrates representing approximately 1.4 gigabytes of data were available. Every day 300 Daria fans pummeled the servers with 11,000 hits and 1000 page views, representing a staggering 2.5 to 3 gigabytes of bandwidth, and traffic was still going up at the time of closure. *sniff* We'll miss you SOC..."

From 1999 to 2003, he was a presence on the IRC #daria+ channel and kept the stats for the channel here .

Mr. Domjan is no longer active in Daria fandom.

9. Steven Galloway

Steven Galloway, a Daria fan of long standing, has several accomplishments to his name.

He is the writer of the "Spotlights", very popular summaries of noteworthy Daria fan fiction writers. Mr. Galloway would choose a fan fiction author to spotlight approximately once a month; seventeen of these spotlights can be seen here . Unfortunately, all of the spotlights were posted on Daria message boards, and most of them are lost.

In addition, he is the author of "Revelations" and "Visitations", perhaps the longest Daria fan fiction series ever written, regarding Daria and Quinn's heretofore unknown older brother. He is a moderator at the Paperpusher Message Board, an early contributor to alt.tv.daria and remains active in Daria fandom.

He was also the creator of a floorplan for the Morgendorffer home, based on his viewings of the episodes.

10. Kara Wild

A fan of "Daria" since its earliest viewings, Kara Wild has several noteworthy fan accomplishments to her name.

She is probably best known for the "Driven Wild" continuum, an alternate universe diverging from standard "Daria" reality and noteworthy for its take on Helen and Jake's relationship. Other fans might know her for her creation of the "Abruptly Amy" website and series of stories (by herself and other writers) detailing a wild take on the concept of a series based on Aunt Amy, and mocking the standard conventions of broadcast television.

It is hard to find a field in which Kara Wild has not made her mark. She is the webhost of the "Contrarian’s Corner" website located here . She is also a noteworthy essayist. And her most current and prominent contribution is as the new owner and manager of the Paperpusher Message Board.

......

In order to cast a vote, please send your votes to either:

a) me at cincgreen 'at' yahoo 'dot' com
b) Frank Sinisterra at dr.sinisterra 'at' gmail 'dot' com.

You can even vote for persons not on the list. The deadline for voting is the midnight of August 20th, 2006.