African Blogger Awards - Photography runner-up

I am currently exploring the Wild Coast a bit while on my way to #Indaba2015 in Durban and have had very periodic internet access.  On checking Twitter yesterday afternoon I saw a tweet announcing that The Firefly Photo Files has taken the runner-up spot in the Photography category of the African Blogger Awards.  Say what?  It took a double take and a quick check at the other tweets announcing the different winners and runners-up before it dawned on me.  I actually took second place in the African Blogger Awards!  It hit like a ton of bricks. Well, actually like a totally unexpected message on Twitter but you get the idea.  The one thing that struck me though (except for that proverbial ton of bricks) is the fact that the category was my second choice, Photography.  I actually entered the blog in the Travel category and it gave me an option to choose a second category as well.  So there it is.  Always keep your options open because sometimes it pays off to have a little backup in place. 

I don't normally enter blog competitions because often the winners are chosen on popularity by seeing who can get the most votes.  These awards used Webfluential's social media tracking to measure blog traffic as well as social media engagement so I gave it a shot.  Apparently a shot was all I needed. 

The African Blogger Awards aims to acknowledge the top African talent in the world of Bloggers, YouTubers, Facebookers, Tweeters, and Instagrammers. These awards provide an opportunity to the most successful online influencers in Africa to be recognised for their hard work in growing and keeping their communities active and engaged.  Reading this makes me really proud of the achievement and recognition that this blog has received.  Now all I can hope for is similar recognition from my peers and those making use of bloggers  in their campaigns or just to create content.  To my regular followers, thanks you for sticking around and enjoying what I have to share.  I may not be a professional photographer or writer (well, hopefully at some stage in the future I will make some money from doing it) but I do it because I have an absolute passion for travel and really enjoy sharing what I see, discover and experience with you.  This one, is for you.

The Firefly Photo Files is a finalist in the 2014 Bloggies awards

Imagine my excitement when I was told the other day that The Firefly Photo Files has been selected as one of five finalists as Best African Weblog in the fourteenth annual Weblog (Bloggies) Awards.  This is where I would like to ask for some help from you.  Public voting plays a major role in how the winner gets chosen and I need all of you as well as your spouses / partners / moms / dads / kids / uncles / aunts / grannies / friends / co-workers and anybody following you on social media to please go and vote.  "How do you do it?" you ask.  Well, here are 7 easy steps. 

 

1. Go to the Bloggies Website: http://2014.bloggi.es/

2. Scroll toward a bit to Best African Weblog.  The order of the blogs changes, so it may be in a different order.

 

3. Find the “The Firefly Photo Files" blog

 

 

4. Click on the small round grey box at the bottom right of the thumbnail.

 

5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and submit your email information.

 

6. Check your email:

 

7. Confirm vote:

 

 

       

Voting is open until 28 March so please check back March 31 for the winners!  Only one vote is allowed per email address so if you have a couple please vote a couple of times.  To those who decided not to go and vote, thanks for at least reading this far.  For those who do vote, thank you so very much.  For those who vote and get others to vote by sharing this post or just asking them to do so, you truly are my heroes.

South African Blog Awards

Time for some shameless self promotion. It is time for the annual South African Blog Awards and this year is my first opportunity to try and get my blog nominated. In the right hand bar there is a big orange tag. Please click on it if you think my blog is worth nominating. You will see I threw my name in a couple of hats. "Wie nie waag nie, wen nie"

According to the rules you need to nominate at least three different blogs to submit a valid nomination form. Here are some of my suggestions.

SA Blog of the year - Jeanette Verster Photography
Best Photographic Blog (I don't think I would be able to beat her, but I can try) - Picture this! by Karin
Best Overseas SA Blog - South African Living in Germany - Marcelle
Best Travel Blog - Port Elizabeth Daily Picture - Max and Sue
Best Personal Blog (I have two nominations) - Mom's Meanderings - Avirl
- Greetings from Gauteng - Janet