The nomination period is over, but here is your chance to vote for who and what you think has been influential on the web this year. You can vote on your favorite tweet, the best political use of social media, best web-series (we chose The Guild) what on the web is best for journalists, and much more. You can also vote for @FeliciaDay for the best actress to follow!

Just visit this page and start voting! http://mashable.com/owa/categories

TWITTER USER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES INCLUDES #AGCHAT FOUNDER

Agricultural Community Captures Attention in Social Media

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18^th – A Brazilian pop star, Hollywood celebrities and an agricultural speaker are side-by-side in the race for an internationally-recognized social media award. Mashable, The Social Media Guide, announced the nominees for the 2009 Open Web Awards today and Certified Speaking Professional Michele Payn-Knoper was one of the top five nominees for Twitter User of the Year. There are over two million “tweets” sent daily on the micro-blogging site Twitter and celebrities attract the largest number of followers, so agriculture’s representation on th

is list is an exciting opportunity for the agrifood business. Payn-Knoper was nominated by members of an agricultural community, “#AgChat”, which Payn-Knoper founded in April.

Professional speaker colleague Eliz Greene voted in the Open Web Awards last year and knew that Payn-Knoper’s contributions deserved attention.

“Her devotion to her cause – agriculture – is inspirational. She tirelessly champions the agricultural community and empowers farmers to tell their own stories. Her orchestration of AgChat and FoodChat as streaming conversations on Twitter provides rich environments for the exchange of  ideas and information. It is amazing to watch unfold.”

AgChat is a weekly moderated conversation on Twitter for people in the business of raising food, feed, fuel, fiber.  It is a virtual venue for participants on Twitter to discuss issues impacting agriculture, such as mainstream media coverage, sustainability, communications, agronomy, animal welfare, USDA programs and perceptions of farming.  Payn-Knoper and the group also created the monthly FoodChat designed to provide farmers and consumers with a forum to discuss issues in which they connect.  In fact, supermarket guru Phil Lempert participated as a special guest in FoodChat on November 17.

Greene connected with a few people from the #AgChat community and found quickly that the group propelled the idea with a campaign approach.

“Eliz was so passionate about what she had seen as someone who was new to production agriculture, so we immediately realized we needed to be involved.  With some effort, we thought we could introduce AgChat to more people,” said Janice Person, who guest moderated the FoodChat session on food insecurity that week.  “It made sense that Michele would be the person we put out front.  Her efforts early on gave many in the agriculture community confidence to try more ideas.  It seemed like the creation of AgChat and the community that grew out of that concept has made such great strides in social media.  What really motivates us is to see farmers telling their own story with efforts like Farm2U on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.  We have definitely had an impact within Twitter. Since that started with Michele’s one idea, we knew she was best to carry the torch for us.”

Payn-Knoper admits that she thought her community could better focus efforts elsewhere, but realized quickly how committed they were.  As days passed and votes mounted, some of the people participating posted their stories of support.  Blog entries by dairy farmer Ray Prock, rancher Jeff Fowle and precision agriculture rep Nate Taylor and others provided personal connections encouraging followers on Twitter to cast votes in the viral contest.  It was a bit overwhelming, Payn-Knoper admits.  “I thought I understood the power of our community until they decided to do this…it’s a good lesson in the determination of agriculturists,” she said. “Most importantly, it’s an opportunity to build connections between the farm gate and consumer plate.”

Mashable is hosting voting through December 13 and Person says there is a lot of excitement in the AgChat community.  “There are millions of registered users on Twitter and people likely would have said there would be no way we could get an agricultural representative in the top five, but we did it.  And with this success, we have incredible energy to continue reaching out to other groups and making connections to AgChat.  We have a lot of people we will be voting everyday to keep Michele in the running but more importantly, we will continue telling our stories and building the presence of agriculture online.”

AgChat is held weekly on Tuesday evenings from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. eastern via a “streaming” Twitter feed.  A sister chat, known as “FoodChat,” takes place on the third Tuesday of each month, in lieu of AgChat, and is tailored more specifically to the interests of consumers, nutrition professionals, foodies and influencers of food choices. FoodChat gives its followers an opportunity to “meet a farmer” or ask questions of those in agriculture.

Chats begin with 15 minutes of networking, followed by 4-7 questions the community sends to the moderator in advance on the topic of the week. The chat is fast-paced, insightful and, often, colorful. The final 5 minutes is reserved for “pitching.”  Participants can plug their blog, site, product or ask for feedback on a business related idea.

Anyone with an interest in agriculture or food is invited to participate in AgChat and FoodChat. See the guidelines for assistance in how to get started or visit Payn-Knoper’s Gate to Plate blog for tips on social media and agriculture.

#   #   #

RESOURCES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN:

• Page listing nominees

• Link to vote

• Cause Matters Corp (Payn-Knoper’s website)
  • #AgChat FAQs
  • #AgChat Guidelines

• Eliz Greene
  • Who is @mpaynknoper and why should she be twitter user of the year?
  • More Than A Speaker! Why You Should Vote Michele Payn-Knoper Mashable’s Twitter User of the Year
  • Twitter’s Role in Grass Roots Advocacy:  A Lesson Learned from AgChat and MPKbest

• Dairy Farmer Ray Prock
• Nate Taylor
• Rancher Jeff Fowle

• Previous posts on my blog:
  • Nothing like having #agchat tweeps
  • The How & Why of #MPKbest
  • Social Media Revolution
  • A top 10 list to remember

I’m still processing conversations from the STS-129 Launch Tweet-Up at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday and Monday. Because we spent launch day at the press site, I crossed paths with a number of veteran reporters and cameramen — yes, most were men.

They found it “amusing” — to say the least — that we wanted to host a group of “twits.” Ar Ar Ar Ar. Think loud belly laughs and shared nods. (A modern version of their reaction would be fist-bumps.) We prefer the word, tweeps, thank you.

Here’s one common question: “What can you possibly say in 140 characters?”

My answer: A few well chosen words speak volumes. What about:

I love you.

You’re fired.

Thank you.

You’re free to go.

I’m pregnant. (I’m not. Just so you know.)

Here are a few words I tweet often. Reality check on our industry. We’ve been reluctant to let others see us sweat. So. I like to remind the twitterverse:

Space is HARD! We make it look easy.

But noone can tweet it better than @Astro_Mike Massimino, who is eloquent in his 140 character essays on life in space.

@Astro_Mike's tweet from orbit

My point is simply this: 140 characters, crafted thoughtfully, can be life-changing. We, in the government AND media, are wedded to our wordiness. (Just look at some of the titles on our business cards.) We ensure nothing is left open to interpretation. We want the “last word” to close out the argument.

Twitter invites a conversation. Free form. No boundaries.

Is free-flowing conversation a risk? Sure. Isn’t it always? But, I think we call that democracy. Right? Freedom of speech? Twitter simply makes it global. And how cool is that!

Follow the living, breathing NASA STS-129 Tweet-Up conversation.

BTW, you can help @Astro_Mike win TWEET of the YEAR for his first tweet from space in Mashable’s Open Web Awards. Vote & vote often!

Cross post on GovLoop.

WOAH! i have apparently been nominated for best Flickr Photographer in Mashable.com’s open web awards!
O_O
This is the first round of nominating to get people into the finals. And apparently, I am on the leader board, according to this article.

Could you take a moment to click the link below and throw in a nomination for me?
[you need to log in, and then at the very top it says:Nominate "Chanelle Richardson" for "Best Flickr Photographer". make sure those fields are correct, and click :"Submit".]

I am humbled and excited to be a part of something like this.

love,
chanelle

• E! Online has a short spoilish blurb on the Gossip Girl threesome.
• PEOPLE.com has a poll asking if Gossip Girl is “going too far.”
• MTV interviewed Lady Gaga about her upcoming Gossip Girl appearance.
• Rolling Stone interviewed GG executive producer Stephanie Savage about Gaga’s appearance.
• TV Overmind has an article criticizing Gossip Girl, much like yesterday’s piece from the Daily News.  Again, I’m not GG’s biggest fan–far from it–but I don’t think the picture they painted is entirely accurate.  Buddy TV has a piece, too, but it really just regurgitates the Daily News one.
• Leighton Meester (Blair, Gossip Girl) on the cover of the December issue of Glamour UK.
• TV Guide Magazine calls next week’s One Tree Hill a “standout episode.”
• One Tree Hill director Mike Leone recorded a message for fans.
• Apparently Hilarie Burton (Peyton, One Tree Hill) is one of the most nominated people in several categories of the Open Web Awards put on by the social media site Mashable.  Burton is being nominated for her work with SoGoPro.
• Jennie Garth (Kelly, Beverly Hills 90210) wrote a piece for CNN on heart disease.  As you may or may not know, it’s an issue both she and members of her family have personally dealt with.
• Here are all the articles I could find on last night’s Dawson’s Creek panel at the Paley Center: Zap2it, Zap2it again, New York Post, Home Media Magazine, AfterElton.  I’m a little disappointed as I expected there to be more. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Photo credit: Sabrina’s Stash

By Juliet O

All daters have fears. By dating, we make ourselves vulnerable to being hurt in many ways that are precluded by choosing to remain single. As daters, we tend to hold onto our fears, much to our own detriment. Fears hold us back and hinder us from opening ourselves up to love and fulfillment. Part of the battle of dating is in eliminating your fears — of intimacy, of vulnerability, of emotional honesty, of betrayal, of rejection, of ourselves — so that you can open yourself to the possibility of love. It’s not always easy.

Online dating presents a unique set of fears and challenges. While it may seem difficult, these fears need to be overcome if you want to date online successfully. We want to guide you through these online dating fears and give you tips on how to overcome them, because we want online dating to be a great experience for you. And why shouldn’t it be a positive experience? By online dating, you have an automatic dating pool of singles all using Zoosk for the same purpose: to hopefully find romance and connection. But how can you find romance or connection if you’re still holding onto all that fear and baggage? If you still hold onto fears or reservations regarding online dating, read this post for helpful tips on overcoming your trepidation, in order to engage with the online medium openly and fortuitously.

Fear 1: Fear of the telephone.

It’s not always easy jumping into uncharted waters and talking on the telephone. For some, the telephone is viewed with a disproportionate amount of anxiety. Most of the anxiety stems from a fear of not having anything to talk about (which can be awkward indeed). But the phone isn’t as scary as it looks or seems. In August, we published a tutorial on how to be a smooth operator on the phone. We discussed some of the basic rules of phone conversation, and we even offered some wisdom on why the phone is an important first step in online dating. Another part of the fear re: phone calls is an absence of things to discuss, of awkward pauses and momentary glitches in the flow of conversation. Fear not: here are some conversation ideas. There is no shame in writing down topics in advance to make phone conversation smoother. Honestly. The only shame is in being so scared of the phone that you don’t even make it past the online stage to a real life meeting.

Fear 2: Fear of getting close.

We all have a fear of getting close to people, but we must overcome that fear if we want to find love. As we wrote previously, “our earnestness reflects our ability to open ourselves up in relationships and put ourselves out there — even if it means revealing our vulnerabilities.” A good way of overcoming this fear is to simply look at the alternative. Being hurt is painful, but there is also pain in prolonged solitude. What’s worse? The pain of heartbreak, which dulls over time, or the pain of solitude, which only grows as time goes on? In the end, love is worth the struggle, so swallow your fears and take the leap. Even if you fall, you’ll get back on your feet.

Fear 3: Fear of other people.

Other people can be really, really scary. The scariest aspect of other people is not knowing if your idea of who they are coheres with the actual truth of who they are. You might think someone likes you, for instance, but how do you know they actually do? We fear other people most when we have an unstable view of ourselves. We fear people because we fear that they have the ability to affect us, that their being in our lives somehow affects how we view our lives. What we must realize is that no matter what happens to us, we are still fundamentally who we are. No one can remove or take that.

Fear 4: Fear of failure.

We all fear failure, not just in our relationships, but in everything. But things that are high risk are sometimes associated with the highest rewards. Love is one of those things. By letting your fear of failure hold you back, you are also denying yourself the rewards of love. That doesn’t sound like a great trade-off. Unfortunately, people do fail in love — it’s a fact of dating. But people also succeed and win big all the time. Look at how many weddings are held each day, or how many people connect with one another each day to establish rewarding, substantial relationships. It’s a total game of chance, and sometimes, playing it safe has the biggest risk of all: the risk that, in the end, you’ll miss out on love completely.

Fear 5: Fear of real life.

Real life is definitely a scary place. When you’re dating online, you are shielded from the distractions and pressures of dating in real life. The thing is, all online relationships go to the real life stage at some point, if they are to be considered successful. And if you’re so scared of real life that you don’t ever take your romance out of the virtual realm, then you miss out on the possibility of growing your online relationship into something real and lasting. How do you overcome this fear of ‘IRL’ (in real life)? Get to know someone that you meet pretty well online first, taking it slow, before heading out to meet them in real life. That way, if you feel like you already know them, you can be confident that this person won’t surprise you in a negative way. One of the first rules of online dating is to take things slow, after all. Make yourself comfortable first, before heading to real life — no shame in overcoming fear slowly.

We hope these tips have been helpful. If you like these and other Zoosk online dating tips, remember to vote for Zoosk in Mashable’s 2009 OpenWeb Awards as best overall Facebook App! We love our fans and we’d love to see you love us back. Afterall, we’re both in the business of love!

Written by Thilde Vesterby

As they have done last year and the year before, Mashable are now running this years Open Web Awards.

According to Mashable, the Open Web Award is an international online voting competition that covers major innovations in web technology and achievements in social media.  You can submit any company, brand, person, website hyperlink, page or product for nomination. Mashable then let Twitter and Facebook users decide which initiatives they want to vote for in each of the many categories – so the whole thing is done with the web 2.0 principles in mind. The categories span from Best Non-Profit Use of Social Media over Best Tweetpic of the Year to Best Social Media ad Campaign.

You can nominate until November 15^th and vote from November 18^th to December 15^th where the winners will be announced.

A look at the 2007 and 2008 is a good indication of who are making it in the world of social media. We’re sure this year will show even more groundbreaking social media innovations.

Mashable’s 3rd Annual OpenWeb Awards are open for user submitted nominations and votes. Last year, Zoosk won an OpenWeb Award for Best Dating and Romance site. This year, Dating and Romance is no longer a category, so Zoosk is up for overall Best Facebook Application! We’re excited for the opportunity to win this category, so help us out with your nominations and we will love you forever (and ever and ever).

How do you nominate Zoosk for Best Facebook Application? Simply go to the Best Facebook Application nomination landing page. Make sure you are logged into Mashable via your Facebook username and password (to vote, you must log in via Facebook Connect). Once you’re on the nominations landing page, type “Zoosk” into the field for “Best Facebook App”. Then hit “Submit”. You’re done. Beautiful.

Nominate us, and then tell your friends to nominate us. We love you dearly. Please love us back?

What a way to end a great year! Thank you all for taking the time to vote for us in the 2nd Annual Mashable Open Web Awards.

It was great to be nominated in the Online Games category, but to go on and win both the Blogger’s Choice Award and the People’s Choice Award was a huge deal for us, especially against such strong competition.

Thank you again for all your support, not just during the awards but over the whole year. We hope you’ve had as much fun playing our games as we’ve had making them! We can’t wait to show you what we’ve got planned next!

We’re blushing…and ready to celebrate!!

Thanks to all of the much appreciated support from the Zoosk community, Zoosk has won the People’s Choice Award in the Dating and Romance category of the Open Web Awards 2009!

Mashable hosted the second annual Open Web Awards. It’s known as a “multilingual, international online voting competition that covers major innovations in web technology. Through an online nominating and voting process, the Open Web Awards recognizes and honors the top achievements of websites and services in 26 categories.”

Being elected as the people’s choice is an achievement that speaks to the hard work we continue to invest into making the Zoosk website and service a leading experience. It feels good going from contender to winner, and we thank each Zoosker for such an honor. This recognition is just fuel for the fire as the Zoosk team is driven to provide nothing short of excellence for each Zoosker!

The Last and Final Round of the Open Web Awards is underway…

VOTE HERE

And the nominees are…

Mainstream & Large Scale Social Networks
Netlog
Platinum Lounge
Twitter

Embeddable Widgets
Clearspring
Qoof
Sprout

Blog Plugins
AddThis
ShareThis
Zemanta

Social News
Help a Reporter Out
Hubdub
regator

Social Networking Applications
Artition
Digsby
Ping.fm

Social Bookmarking
AddThis
Diigo
ShareThis

Search & Social Search
Artiklz
findingDulcinea
Scour

Sports & Fitness
FitFiend
Gyminee
OneSeason

Photo Sharing
flickr
ipernity
TinyPic

Video Sharing
ffwd
Vimeo
YouTube

Start Pages
Google
iGoogle
Yahoo!

Places & Events
City Data
Doodle
Muchmor

Travel
CouchSurfing
GeckoGo
Spotted by Locals

Music
Last.fm
NoiseTrade
Pandora
(JamsBio got hosed!)

Social Shopping
A Full Cup
Pikaba
Tigerbow

Fashion
Chictini
Coolspotters
Polyvore

Celebrity & Gossip
Bollyscoops
Oh No They Didn’t
Superficial Gallery

Mobile Applications
Evernote
MocoSpace
Viigo

Dating & Romance
DateHookup
SpeedDate
zoosk

Wiki
Encyclopedia Dramatica
wikiHow
Wikipedia

Politics
CreateDebate
Politics4all
PreciseNews

How-to
A Full Cup
College-Cram
Howcast

Environmental
ecomii
gazelle
neighBorrow

Non-Profit Causes
DiscoverScholars
SocialVibe
Stop Political Calls

Online Games
Armor Games
Playfish
Powerpets

Niche Social Networks
Lymabean
The Star Tracker
Wadja

Happy voting!