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The Newsvine Cyborg (aka Newsvine Blog) is going into overdrive after a long bout of robotic-writer's block. Do not take the frequency of awarding to be inversely-proportional to the quality of these recipients' work - we're now just catching up on RAVs that should've already been awarded, in some cases, a long time ago ;-)
The Newsvine Team is happy to announce that the 14th Newsviner to receive the Random Act of Vineness award is Brian Ford.
Though the 'Random Act' Brian is receiving this award for is in connection to his tremendous creativity and dedication to Newsvine Survivor, he has contributed so many great designs, projects and articles to Newsvine, that we've had a tough time singling out any particular body of work of his - so we'll just name a few that we consider to be extremely valuable to the Newsvine Community.
Though not a Newsvine employee, Brian has spent a considerable amount of time writing documentation for new users, so that they too can find their way around the Vine. Two examples that stand out in the Newsvine Team's eyes are, A Newsvine Primer, and Using Newsvine Effectively: Levels of Participation, both of which have literally sent thousands of new members properly on their way. Being a small company, we don't always have the time to document all the new features we're developing, and users like Brian - who take it upon themselves to help others - make our jobs much easier as a result.
Next, Brian has consistently been a productive writer whose variety of articles adds diversity to the Vine. He writes many thorough film and music reviews, and one such article was even referenced by Roger Ebert - an achievement that may have merited an RAV on its own. Brian's own designs have made their way into many of his own articles, as well as into projects put together by fellow Newsviners, such as the Relay for Life Cancer Walk.
Just because Brian Ford enjoys participating in novel and refreshingly different ways, doesn't mean that he also misses what most Viners consider to be central to Newsvine. He shares his own thoughts on Citizen Journalism, and even dabbles once in awhile. He's no stranger to politics, and while Brian has been known to get into some tangles with his fellow Newsviners from time to time - he's oftentimes also the first one to make it abundantly clear when someone deserves recognition. Not all RAVs are awarded for the same good deeds, which is what keeps it interesting. The sheer number of Brian's popular and creative contributions are reason enough for his award - but a great many of them could individually merit Newsvine's highest distinction as well, which is remarkable by any standard.
Brian Ford is one of the most consistent, dedicated and talented Newsviners, exemplified by his amazing productivity (188 articles to date!). For these reasons and many, many more - we're happy to recognize Brian Ford's contributions to the Vine.
Leave a Comment:
Please accept my most sincere congratulations, Brian. You deserve the RAV for all of the reasons mentioned in the article, and more. My own personal favorite is because you challenge us all to take the time we spend here seriously and expect a certain level of journalistic professionalism and ethics from us.
Without that, it would be far too easy, I'm afraid, for us all to degenerate into MySpace.
Congratulations again, and keep up the good work.
Cheers!
Congrats, Brian!
Way to go, Brian!
To paraphrase Lt. Dan:
"They gave you the Random Act of Vineness. They gave you the Random Act of Vineness! They gave you an imbecile, a moron who goes on Newsvine and makes a fool out himself in front of the whole damn country, the Random Act of Vineness. Well, then, that's just perfect! Yeah, well I just got one thing to say to that. God bless America."
Now Jason plummets down a ramp backwards, and nothing happens to him.
Story of my life. ;-)
In mine, I plummet down a ramp, hit my head, get it stitched up, and then plummet back down again only to have it repeat itself; but hey, thats life. :)
Gotta respect that brotherly love.
But for the record, Brian and Jason are like, totally the same person.
;)
If we're the same person then I want the 6th branch as well. :)
Yippie! Yahoo! Congratulations. This is a well-deserved honor...a long time in the waiting! I'm having a beer for you tonight. :)
...Any excuse....
-Dave
Yeah... I had a beer for you yesterday. In anticipation...
Ooo! I'm having wine for it tonight!
Yeah! Party like Brian Ford just won the RAV! Wooo!
I had brandy and Guinness tonight "for medicinal purposes only"
But hell, I'll chalk them up to celebration.
-Dave
Labatt Genuine Honey Lager.
Also medicinal.
But celebratory, too...
Well, I have to ask....
What are the medicinal purposes?
And seriously... Brandy and Guinness? That can't be good. I mean, maybe if you froze the Brandy and used it to slushy up the Guinness....
I dunno. Must be an Ireland thing. I haven't been in a while. :P
It wasn't a cocktail.
Guinness is full of Iron and vitamins.
Brandy is good for soothing the throat.
God. You people ever drink other than to get drunk?
YOU'VE FORGOTTEN YOUR ROOTS!
-Dave
I never drink to get drunk.
It's just an unintended consequence.
Yes, a long overdue reward, and I'm surprised Newsvine Survivor in particular wasn't mentioned. The amount of time and effort he expended just to put up with us alone merits some kind of honor.
You mean aside from the headline and this sentence:
=P
I think you may have missed something up there. ;)
And yes, getting the constant emails from us all and listening to us, and keeping track of everything, and making decisions about loopholes. That had to have been a real pain in the ass. Not to mention sustaining it for so many weeks.
That alone deserves an RAV, nevermind all the other awesome stuff Brian has done for and on the Vine.
D'oh! That's what getting up at 4 AM does to you. Yes, aside from the blatant and straight-forward mention of it right from the start, there's nothing in here about it!
To be honest, my mind somehow skipped that part, and read through the entire thing wondering why the Blog Cyborg was mentioning all his accomplishments without bringing that up. Yeah. You guys can proceed with the laughter now.
Sorry. Had to get you for that one. ;)
Ahhh.. late again. Congratulations Brian, may your vines flourish forever!
Is he dead yet?
My uncle was a reporter in the Antarctic and it was so cold he had to eat his own foot.
What kind of a wimp complains about stuff like that.
Course he was British.
That picture is gross. I would congratulate you, Brian, but ... I'm feeling sick in the stomach looking at that.
Congratulations Brian!! This will free so many of your readers from having part of our appreciation for your writing, distracted by the nagging questions, Where's his RAV? What are they waiting for? If not Brian, then who? With those conflicts resolved in the collective Viners psyches, we can move on to the next challenge of global justice.
Talking of which, it must be high time for the first RAV to land outside the US. There must be many deserving candidates sitting anywhere in Europe, Asia Minor to Australia.
Ahem.
Maybe Americans are just better than you ;-)
Seriously, I agree. I nominate Dennis P. McCann.
could be no other!
(just so everyone knows -- Canada is outside of the U.S...
Good catch Synthesis. My apologies for being careless with my comment. I did mean North America.
No big deal, Raat. The way things are going, we'll one country soon enough...
oh no you don't. too many of 'em gas guzzlers not good for the environment:-)
The heck with that! When are you Canadians going to seize control of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and rightfully claim it as your territory? I'll be happy to provide coffee/tea/beer/Jamesons/whatever it would take to entice you all to do just that.
You're right, Aine. After all, it is the shortest distance between the two points of Sarnia and Sault St. Marie...
:) And we already talk like you do, and hockey is our regional sport too, eh?
Heh. I used to go down to work with some folks in Detroit. They always said I sounded like a Yooper...
Congratulations Brian. I suppose now I have to confess that (blush) I've always sort of...well, looked up to you. You are so intelligent and you write with such common sense. And you're also living in the Kansas City area, which we all knows means you're among the best of the best. So kudos to a deserving guy.
Congrats Brian! I'm having a grande mocha to celebrate you.
Congratualtions, Brian. I couldn't go on any longer in a world where I had an RAV and you didn't.
Could've been worse, I suppose; it could have been Noah and not you (shudder)!
For reasons that most other Viners probably understand - I just always assumed Brian had a RAV already. In the back of my head I suppose I have a list of the people I'd have given these out to years ago. Brian Ford is up towards the top of that list.
Congratulations, Brian.
'bout time, eh? *grinning*
Congratulations, Brian, I am very happy to see this. (((hugs for you)))
I don;t know what Brian did but congratulations anyway.
Lol @ Dennis & Hurray @ Brian
Congratulations Brian! Much thanks to you for your assistance to me.
Congratulations, Brian... A well deserved honor, indeed.
Thanks guys - it's nice to see this pop back into my conversation tracker...