We’ve been doing the rejuvenated Movie of the Month (in conjunction with LAMBcasts devoted to said MOTMs) for close to a year now, and it’s time to throw in a new wrinkle. Along the way, we’ve had several people campaign heavily for one film or another, sometimes gaining support and getting that film voted as the winner (like, say, Joel with The Long Kiss Goodnight) and sometimes not quite having enough pull to get a win (like, say, Joel with The Fast and the Furious…yet).
It came to me that, rather than my merely asking for suggestions of films and some LAMB out there potentially latching on to one of them, we should try to get as many vested parties interested as possible. Thus, I present to you the idea of MOTM Champions.
From now on (assuming this idea takes off), I will be asking for volunteers – for LAMBs out there to champion a film. Here’s what this entails:
* When I declare the winner of whichever is the current poll at the time, I’ll put the call out for MOTM Champions. The first 10 who are interested and will be available for that episode (the next one in question, and for which you would be volunteering for now would be March 10th) will be instructed to email me their film choices.
* When it’s time for the (next) poll, I’ll list all of the Champions and their films along with the poll. They will be encouraged them to make a post (akin to what Fogs’ Movie Reviews recently did – successfully, I might add – for The Shining) and campaign on Twitter or Facebook or whatever.
* If your championed film wins, you are obligated to not only appear on that month’s LAMBcast, but to ‘host’ the MOTM segment – explain why you chose the film, what you might like (or dislike) about it, guide the discussion, etc.
* To prevent highly influential LAMBs from dominating the feature every month, we’re instilling a small rule: the Champion with the winning film won’t be eligible to participate in the Champions event for the following three months. We want you to participate but not dominate.
Sound good? Let me know of any questions, comments, etc. And with that…
If you’d like to Champion a film for the next MOTM, and are able and willing to appear on the LAMBcast (and host the MOTM segment) on March 10th (the show usually records at 3:30 PM Pacific on Saturdays), send an email along with your choice of film to dylan [at] manilovefilms.com. (Films previously chosen as MOTM or those that have appeared on the polls and failed to earn 5% of the votes will be ineligible – I’ll let you know if you have chosen one of these films.)
Great iniative Dylan, I’d also encourage people or at least champions to embed the vizo poll widget on their blogs while its up.
People who are campaigning on Twitter might want to use the hashtag #motm
Neato! Let’s do this!
-Lindsay
Great concept, but the execution will limit the ability of some of the LAMBsters to be able to participate. Twitter? Podcasting? Even Facebook has 6.5 billion people *not* on it (I’m one of them.)
I’m not trying to be a party pooper; just pointing out that not all movie lovers and bloggers employ all available forms of communication for their opinions on movies.
Joel – Good catch on those things. You are the social media master.
Lindsay – I agree – let’s! Where’s your pick?
Chip – I think that’s a valid point, at least about Twitter and Facebook and the like. However, that stuff is extraneous and, however much we might like additional campaigning, I’d hardly argue that it’s necessary to win. Every LAMB has a blog and a readership, and that’s probably all that’s really needed.
As for podcasting, all that’s needed there is an internet connection (which all should have), a Skype account (free), a mic/headset (admittedly a limiting factor) and the time to do it on a Saturday (again, a limiting factor). But there are tons of LAMBs that either have their own podcasts or have the equipment to have guested and such, so I think it’ll be alright. We’ll see, though…