The first annual East Dulwich Awards

[Mark]

Thanks for the comments however I don't think one award would give enough praise and recognition to the large amount of local businesses we have. Hopefully 12 categories won't be confusing but we will bear in mind that it may be for some. It'll be the first awards and we'll see how it goes.

[mockney piers]

I can't see how one award achieves anything.

We've already had 2 forum awards (bar and curry house), and plenty of people have suggested more.

"The Bestest Ever" award is meaningless surely, it's all about context people.

[Michael Palaeologus]

Agreed - 1 award = meaningless also, too many awards = meaningless

10 ish would seem OK.

To avoid manipulation how about a requierment that people have been EDF members for 6 months to be eligible to vote?

[Moos]

6 months is a long time, Michael, lots of forumites haven't been around that long. How about people who registered before the day the awards were announced?

I agree 10-12 awards feels about right - think it's hard to compare the customer service you'd expect from a restaurant to that from a butcher or that from an estate agent.

[Michael Palaeologus]

NO! We must have order!!

Voting must be limited to those who live within the Parish, are above the age of 35, are heads of their households, are of the Gentleman class and own 5 acres of land or more.

Thats Democracy for you. At least it is in Illinois.

[Keef]

Voting must be limited to those who live within the Parish, are above the age of 35, are heads of their households, are of the Gentleman class and own 5 acres of land or more.

Damn it, I don't meet one of those!

Don't think anyone suggested having only one award, that would be silly (at this stage, can I say the "jewell in ED crown" award is a bad idea for all the reasons that having only one award would be.

I know the original list was only a proposal, from that list, and other suggestions, I would chose the following awards (my aim is to actually give a useful guide to someone who has just moved to the area, and may want advise on where to go / who to use).

* Best Customer Service

* Best cornershop / News Agent (not sure I can think of one that is on a corner anymore)

* Best place for a pint

* Best bar

* Best take away

* Best cafe/coffee shop

* Best baby/toddler group

* Best Restaurant

* Best Specialist Service (Dry Cleaners, Cobblers, Curtain Maker, local Photographer, Launderette etc...)

One concern about this is that it could cost the non winners business, and I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that thought.

[Mark]

Paul at Clarity does surveys and awards for a living so please don't worry about the logistics of it, you guys will just vote for your favourites and feel their glowing love should they win.

[Huguenot]

Don't worry mate, I wasn't volunteering ;-)

I was instead highlighting the challenges with yes/no vs. gradation etc.

I mean, is Single Transferable Vote going to be more accurate than simple polling - should 100 2nd places qualify higher than 11 1st places and 89 20th places? It should. First past the post can create terrible injustices you know ;-)

I thought the solutions I came up with were unworkable in practice...

As Paul and the Clarity team undoubtedly know, the technical execution of online research is child's play - you can either opensource it or reinvent the wheel. The challenge is to elicit valid results.

As a fellow industry denizen, I should however recommend him to improve his SEM/SEO strategy ;-)

[Sue]

Best takeaway - how can you compare Indian, Chinese, fish and chips, kebabs etc.?

Are we talking about delivered takeaways (a contradiction in terms I know, but don't most people get them delivered rather than collecting them?)

And if so, are we talking about places which deliver to ED even if not actually based in ED? (For example my vote would be for Fujiyama, but it's in Brixton).

[Moos]

Surely they have to be in ED? I think the award for the best takeaway place in ED should be for a place in ED.

[Keef]

Favourite fried chicken it is then!

[Mark]

Sue, all we're asking for is for suggestions about categories, don't worry about the how, what and why etc etc that's for us to sort out. Here's an example of what we're after:

I would like to suggest Best Entertainment in East Dulwich

This could cover comedy nights, folk nights, open mike nights etc etc. I know this doesn't really tick the customer service box but it would give recognition to the hard working people who put on those nights and give enjoyment to the people of East Dulwich.

[Moos]

What about best health service? Doctors and dentists' surgeries.

[Jeremy]

"Best food/drink retailer" seems like an obvious omission to me, given the number of delis, bakeries, wine shops, etc. Or if that's too specific, just a "best shop" category.

[SimonM]

Best Newcomer?

Quite a field I'd have thought...Cafe 2050, Magnolia, Franklins deli etc etc

[Ingenuity]

Paul from clarity pops his head above the parapet.... and wonders how long before he has to duck!

To assure people, the validity of voting, our system has ways and means of ensuring this and we won't say any more than that to ensure that if someone has less than honourable intentions they cant find a quick work around and the results get fudged.

Huguenot, absolutely agree with you on methodology. And Mark and I have spent a lot of time discussing the best way forward and how we structure this. There are a myriad of ways it could proceed and we're charged with finding the best way forward. Collaborative to a point but when push comes to shove, we'll have to decide. If we go down a weighting route it adds to complexity. And i'm sure you've heard of many surveys and polls being skewed in such a way. The simplest is a direct favourite which people vote for.

Just as Mark believes too, the debate is healthy and useful. But we all know now, we can't please everyone all of the time. It isn't possible is it? We'll do our best. Hand on heart. And we hope we do a great job you can all be proud of.

Thanks everyone... and at this time try and focus on what categories are the best for consideration. There will be a point where nominations for polling are canvassed in January, so please keep on topic (did i just sound like Mark then?) otherwise we'll be covering old ground come January.

Paul

(by the way.... at clarity we have engaged an SEO campaign and are top with msn and google on 28 of 77 search strings and top 3 in 38.... so we're getting there.... if you want to private message with me with any ideas on search strings, we are about to review and i would value your input, thank you)

[ladyruskin]

If there's going to be a 'best baby/toddler group' category can we have a 'best place to pick up single men above the age of 30' category too - just to balance things out a little, for those of us who are pramless..

[Sue]

Mark Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sue, all we're asking for is for suggestions about

> categories, don't worry about the how, what and

> why etc etc that's for us to sort out. Here's an

> example of what we're after:

>

> I would like to suggest Best Entertainment in East

> Dulwich

> This could cover comedy nights, folk nights, open

> mike nights etc etc. I know this doesn't really

> tick the customer service box but it would give

> recognition to the hard working people who put on

> those nights and give enjoyment to the people of

> East Dulwich.

xxxxxx

Probably shooting myself (or rather the Goose) in the foot here, but it's like comparing chalk and cheese ....

But hey, if you think it would work, go for it! I think the awards are a great idea :)

[JamesG]

* Best Customer Service Impress Dry Cleaners

* Best place for a meal Franklins

* Best place for a pint Hooper?s

* Best bar Locale

* Best cheap eat Ho Dok? (Chinese opp' Hooper?s)

* Best Sunday lunch Franklins

* Best place for gifts ED

* Most liked estate agent Property In

* Most reliable tradesperson Maurice the Plumber

* Best curry restaurant BBC

* Best take away BBC

* Best newcomer

* Best cafe/coffee shop Poor offerings

* Most child friendly place

* Best Restaurant Palmerstone

* Favourite forum person

* Jewel of the ED crown (overall winner) Palmerstone or Franklins

Estate Agent comments - Of course people use more than one estate agent! Would you buy, sell, let or rent a property without considering options. "Most people have only dealt with one" - Utter rubbish!

Area covered - Of course it should go beyond SE22! Would you not go to Hooper?s because it?s in SE5 or The Duke because it?s SE15. I am not a fan of this SE22 snobbery. People don?t care when they?re going for a drink or meal etc! We do not dictate our social lives or buying activity by the boundaries of the royal mail!

[SeanMacGabhann]

Good solid categories and (some!) choices there JamesG

* Best Customer Service - Nisha at Val's Grocers @ Plough end

* Best place for a meal Franklins

* Best place for a pint Plough

* Best bar Magnolia

* Best cheap eat - Hisar Mangal

* Best Sunday lunch Nuns Head (if allowed outside se22) - Magnolia if in SE22

* Best place for gifts ED

* Most liked estate agent

* Most reliable tradesperson Move Team (if they count)

* Best curry restaurant Tandoori Nights

* Best take away Spice Club

* Best newcomer Lucas Bakery

* Best cafe/coffee shop Jacks

* Most child friendly place

* Best Restaurant Franklins

* Favourite forum persona - I'm picking people I don't know personally which rules out several top-notch forumites so... - *Bob*

* Jewel of the ED crown (overall winner) Franklins

[Mark]

No, stop, please don't vote now. This thread is asking people for their suggestions for categories, which are being decided this Wednesday. I will probably ask Admin to remove voting posts to nip this in the bud.

[Keef]

James if It's not within SE22, where would you draw the line? My favourite place for a sunday roast is the Woodman on Kirkdale which is probably as close to SE22 as Hoopers, should I vote that in the East Dulwich Forum's East Dulwich awards? I don't think it's fair to suggest snobbery in these circumstances.

[AcedOut]

Impress Dry Cleaners have torn both a pair of Armani suit trousers AND a suit jacket (on separate occasions) costing me dearly , since I only noticed after collecting. Absolutely NOT Impress for me!

[AcedOut]

Should absolutely remain in SE22! There is no snobbery there, SE22 = East Dulwich. Simple.

[Jeremy]

Just measured it... The Woodman is 1km from the SE22 border. Hoopers is 0.1km from the SE22 border.

Still, it makes no difference. Hoopers is in Cambwerwell, The Woodman is in Sydenham. They're both excluded!!