With the acknowledgement and observance of Norton Day two days ago, the FNORD judging panel felt it best to delay the announcing of this year's award winners to allow for the people of Micras to celebrate this joyous occasion and recover from all that date observation!
The first award of the evening is for the
Best New Idea. A unanimous decision for the only nomination this year, as
Carl (known on his Hub account as Hālian) takes this award for his idea and fruition of the
Micras Discord server. Since its creation, the server has grown from a small group looking for something more reliable than Skype to a multi-channel chat with over twenty regular users, bringing together micronationalists from all across the community to talk with others they'd otherwise have little interaction with and even giving new members a gateway into Micras!
While the Micras Discord may also come with the occasional disagreement, when it comes to diffusing such situations,
Edgard has been your man this year. He has been given the
Conflict Resolution award for his diplomatic reasoning throughout a
difficult affair which saw Hamland and Passio-Corum at loggerheads regarding the position of Passas. Edgard's involvement smoothed the path for amicable talks and oversaw the peaceful transition of the control of Passas and a number of other outlying territories.
However, the Alexandrian is not just a one-trick pony. The award for
Leadership also makes its way to
Edgard's possession. Under a number of guises, he has shown his authoritative talents in Shireroth; where his reign as Kaiser Redquill was prosperous, Natopia; where he currently heads the government as Benjamin Meir after a successful election, and of course in Alexandria; which seemingly goes from strength to strength under his guidance.
While micronationalism is often an individual pursuit, the collaboration of a larger group can produce even higher standards of work. Shireroth's
ShireWiki is a prime example of this, and its considerable and continued additions, work and improvements from all its contributors this year have made it one of the community's greatest resources, making its awarding of the
Cultural Development award exceedingly fitting.
Not only is cultural development a forte for the Shirerithians, their nation is one based on a multitude of histories, of which the
Goldshire Civil War is but one.
Ardy's in-depth coverage and descriptions of the war have earned him the award for
History this year.
It takes one skill to document history, but it takes another to tell a story. The award for
Literature honours this and there was only one person whose work was deserving of such an accolade this year, with
Krasniy's sagas in Minarboria (of which there are almost too many to count:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10 &
11) facing no opposition.
With writing also comes reporting, and so onto the
Journalism award. While there were no public nominations this year - not even for the
winners of the past four Journalism FNORDs! - the judges agreed that the fantastic political news coverage from Alexandria's
ABC News in 2016 was worthy of this recognition.
Turning from the front pages to the back pages, with the award for
Sport.
Holy shit, I won Craitman's work
establishing wiki articles for Micras' football clubs has given us more sporting information and given him the award which shares his name for the first time.
Art is occasionally considered a dying, well, art in micronationalism. 2016, however, witnessed a prolific display of conceptual portraits by
David across three nations to win him the
Art award without contest.
Micronational economies are notoriously difficult things to get right and maintain - 2009's FNORD-
winning concept has learnt that this year - but there are still means and ideas floating around to win the
Economics award. This year's winners
Passio-Corum's
economy has shown its sustainability and has continued to grow in complexity as others falter.
Two other nations which have sprung roots this year have benefited from solid economic bases, with both having an equal stake in the
Most Promising New Micronation category. Sharing the accolade are the
Maritime Markets, whose approach to a wiki-based existence complements their economic culture, and
Blackstone, with its penchant for trading and a willingness to engage in disputes surely setting the stage for bright futures for the pair.
But what are micronations without micronationalists? While we may not get many new ones through our doors, when one comes along a week before the FNORDs are announced and wins one, that's something to take note of. That's exactly what
Amir has done to garner the
Most Promising New Micronationalist award, bringing refreshing enthusiasm and a blistering work rate to MicrasWiki with his detailed articles about his nation
Sayaffallah before it's even claimed on Micras.
If there's ever a nation who can give advice about claiming, though, it's
Jingdao, whose return to Micras following what seemed to be a certain, self-induced end to the nation showed tremendous restraint and resilience by its citizenry. That's why they can proudly declare
"'Tis But a Flesh Wound" when adversity strikes.
Lastly, as we are wont to do in such ceremonies, we have the award for
Overall Achievement. As the sole nominee, and with such resounding arguments towards his awarding as "Do I need to say anything more?" and "'nuff said", it would perhaps be fitting to give him it and not really explain why, but thankfully one of the nominations gave us a little bit more to go on! With fingers in many a proverbial pie, his recent
Shirerithian Kaisership,
multiple contibutions on ShireWiki, the ability to juggle involvement in Minarboria,
taking-on administration of a heavily-fraught SCUE, and even playing the unofficial head judge in the FNORD Awards, of which he has already won one this year, we can see why people thought he was such an obvious nomination. Therefore, the final award of the FNORDs for 2016 goes to
Ardy!