My blog’s Stem Cell Person of the Year Award process has gotten off to a very exciting start. I have an amazing bunch of nominees and about 1000 votes were case in about 12 hours.
Based on some discussions with people yesterday, I believe a few clarifications are needed about the process:
- The award is NOT solely determined by the # of votes that someone gets. Therefore, the winner of the online voting is not necessarily going to be the winner overall. On the other hand, getting a lot of votes can’t hurt one’s chances and could help, especially in the case of a tiebreaker situation.
- The voting lasts another 2 weeks so while we have an impressive tally after just about a day, this is going to be more of a marathon than a sprint.
- What is most important is what the nominee actually did and what actions that they took. As a result, if you are a nominee please email me and make your case, or if you are a supporter of a specific nominee leave comments in support of them on the blog that specifically say what they have done.
- The award is specifically based on what each person did in 2012. Many of the nominees have years or even more than a decade of a track record in the stem cell field. That is wonderful, but this award is specifically for 2012 actions, hence the name “Person of the Year”.
- My focus is on rewarding people taking a risk to help others and thinking outside the box, transcending traditional barriers in the stem cell arena, and so forth.
- My plan is to give a Stem Cell Person of the Year Award out every year. So if you do not win in 2012, you might win in 2013 or 2014. Keep up the good work!
Thank you. Paul