As mentioned in another topic the BOB community has just passed our fifth anniversary. We have come a long way in those five years, and for our annual celebration this year we decided to try and recognize some of those members that have been around for the long term and have really helped the community by their participation. So here are the rules for the contest this year.
This topic will remain open until the end of August. During that time we would like for folks to nominate BOB members to be recognized for their long-term support of the community. In order to qualify (be nominated) that person must have been a member for at least two years as of BOB’s birthday (meaning their joined date must be August 15, 2005 or earlier) and they must have a minimum of 100 posts. We want to recognize folks for their consistent long-term participation in the community. A members join date is displayed under their username on their posts as well as on their profile so that information is easily verified.
A member must be current in order to be considered for this contest. If a member has not posted within the last 12 months they are not eligible for the contest.
Yes, you can nominate yourself. 
You may nominate more than one person. If someone has already nominated a person you don’t need to second (or third… ;-)) the nomination, just save it for voting in the poll. Poll results will be hidden until the final result is published, which will be at the end of September.
Members may opt to remove themselves from consideration for this contest but are under no obligation to do so. Members that have opted out of the contest will be listed at the end of this post. If you wish to opt out please post requesting that your name be removed from consideration and we will do that. Forum moderators are eligible to be nominated but moderator status is certainly not a requirement.
At the end of the month we will collect all of the nominations that meet the requirements and start a poll. In keeping with the philosophy of this contest (that it reward long-standing members) only those members that have been registered for at least 3 months will be allowed to vote in this poll. This is not intended to penalize new members but to ensure that you have been around long enough to be able to judge for yourself the merits of the contributions for each of the nominees. So our apologies to those of you who won’t be able to vote in this contest, but if you stick around (like many folks have) perhaps you will get your chance next year.
The first place winner will receive a $50 gift certificate good for amazon.com (or the equivalent for your country if you cannot use the US site). The second place winner gets a final edition BOB T-shirt and hat, and the third place winner gets their choice of a shirt or hat.
To post a nomination please reply to this topic and enter the user name for the person you want to nominate and a brief sentence or two about why you are nominating that person. Anyone can enter a nomination, there are no restrictions on membership duration or post activity.
Members who have opted out or cannot be considered for other reasons include:
[list][:93dcdf6448]BOB, BOB Downloads, Bob Junior, Bobarella, Bobbie (all various folks serving as forum administrators rather than “real” users)
[:93dcdf6448]Dave Rathbun (that would be me, and it would hardly be fair to award myself the prize :-P)[/list]
Nominations So Far
Andreas
Anita Craig
dnewton
Dwayne Hoffpauir
haider
jac
MichaelWelter
Nick Daniels
Steve Krandel
substring
wdaehn
Ted Michalski
MikeD
Two additional nominations were provided and considered, but the spirit of this contest is to reward long-term members with consistent activity. These two members certainly had their place in the early days of BOB but through no fault of their own have moved on to other endeavors. We have no problem with the efforts to recognize their participation, but they are not eligible for the current contest.
Cindy Clayton
digpen
[edit - changed the rules slightly to be only based on total post count rather than posts per year in order to make it easier to verify]
[edit - changed the rules to include the requirement that the member must have been active within the last 12 months to be considered]
Bob (BOB member since 2002-06-06)
(BOB member since 2002-08-08)
and I really appreciate the help and value this site has provided. But strangely I just search what ever issue or error I see in DI on this forum and I find it here (some rarely on google).
(BOB member since 2007-06-18)
(BOB member since 2004-03-15)
(BOB member since 2002-08-15)
(BOB member since 2002-06-17)
It is 2:30 am my local time, and I am up posting on BOB. What is wrong with this picture? 
(BOB member since 2005-08-19)
(BOB member since 2006-02-08)
(BOB member since 2003-05-13)
(BOB member since 2002-06-06)