Reader appreciation; October awards and November announcement

Well, I must say that the nifty little plugin created byNate Sandenhas really done its job.Combined with the financial reward to commenters (first saw the idea onGlen’s blog), itspawned more interaction and comment participation in one month than I’ve had before!So without any further ado, here’s the October awards:

1. $30 to newfound Notes enthusiastDustin Cook(any way to make a buck, right?!?)
2. $10 to regularK.T.
3. $10 to….Mandy MossI need some help… who was third? (sheepish grin) I forgot to look last night, and as soon as November 1 rolled around, the plugin reset for this month. (Thanks, K.T.)

I was pretty impressed with the comment race between Dustin and K.T. They each did a good job leaving legitimate comments, and each were neck and neck until the final hours.For November…I think I’ll keep the cash award structure, but this time, I’m going to award the prizes to the commenters who leave the most significant contribution to the site. I know this is a rather subjective way to award the prize, but hey, it’s my blog and my money. I’ll be looking for the following:

• Quality of content
• Respectful interaction
• Humor and/or thoughtfulness (doesn’t have to funny; doesn’t have to be thoughtful)
• Encouragement
• Comments generated by interaction of the original comment

I think this way of awarding commenters will generate as much comments, but will also help recognize those who might not have the blog time to comment as regularly as others.Again, many thanks to readers of Notes!