National Anti-Cookie League First Annual Site of the Year Awards, Robert I. Gwynn, Founder, 01.06.03

2003 Results
First Place: Jane Ellen Official Website (2J001)
Winner Favorite Site, Best Content, and Best Design

Mr. Gwynn's Review
I was a bit surprised at first when this one site swept all three voting categories, but one need only pay a visit to understand why. The Jane Ellen Official Website (JEOW for short) is the home page of American southwestern composer and web designer Jane Ellen. The site is loaded with information on her works, as well as media files, and several pages of general interest as well. As a fan of Ragtime music personally, I found the pages on John "Blind" Boone quite interesting. The site navigation is elegant and efficient, making use of a nifty DHTML drop-down menu script, a detailed site map, and well placed "internal" (i.e. back/forward/top of page) navigation. The content (and there's quite a lot of it) is easily digested thanks to thoughtful page layouts, gentle color schemes, and considerate font face/size combinations. The JEOW is a winning combination of unique and interesting content paired with a thoughtfully conceived and well constructed design. In conclusion, a site very much deserving the honor of first place!

Statement from the Site's Owner
It is with deep appreciation and humility that I accept these website awards from the NACL. When the JEOW was first created in 1998 it consisted of five pages of shameless self-promotion by someone who barely knew how to construct an HTML tag. Throughout its creation, I was blessed with help and friendship offered from people I barely knew, people I had only just met through the magic of cyberspace. I quickly realised that I wished my website to be something more than I had originally envisioned - an enjoyable place to visit and spend some time, as well as something which would give back to the cyberspace community.

My desire was to have something for everyone, and so the site grew steadily from a few pages to its present size of over 300. The JEOW became a place to share my dreams, my enthusiasms, my talents, my thoughts on social issues, my quirky humour, my research, my creative writing, and the creative works of others. Through my site, I have met musicians, poets, authors, actors, webdesigners, social activists, arts enthusiasts, publicists, and fans from all over the globe. I have received emails from people who found quotations that spoke to their hearts, or who wished to thank me for a poem or essay they discovered in the ever-expanding Musings section, or from people who felt moved to correspond for myriad other reasons. I truly believe that weighing the hours of learning, building, reworking and enhancing the website for the past five years against the joy, friendships and knowledge I have gained, there is no question that I have received far more than I have given.

Perhaps the greatest gift I received was when family members and friends of my adopted POW/MIA Sgt. Douglas John Glover contacted me to share personal information about him, memories, and photographs. When I signed up with Operation Just Cause, I was advised not to attempt to contact friends and family, and was cautioned that I would most likely never be contacted by anyone related to my adoptee in any way. A nephew, a brother, a sister, a school friend, as well as people who served with Doug in the military, all reached out to me -- providing me with new material for the POW/MIA Tribute, personal gifts, and thanking me for the gift I had given them through the JEOW. In actuality, I was the one who was blessed and deeply touched by their kindnesses and generosity.

In celebration of its fifth year on the web, the JEOW has been undergoing a site-wide facelift which includes the addition of several new sections. The most important new feature to me, however, is "Jane's Wishlist," a page in which I encourage people who have enjoyed visiting my website to go out and do something for others. I have compiled a list of places where people can "click" to donate for free, make cash donations, or purchase products which benefit others. Last but not least, I have included a small list of simple, everyday things that cost nothing but the tiniest amount of personal effort, yet which might mean the world to someone else. If we could all pass along a kindness every day, I believe that not only cyberspace, but the world, would be a very different place.

In closing I would once more like to thank the NACL: first of all, for providing me with cookie-free certification enabling my visitors to have a safer and more enjoyable experience; and secondly, for these awards which have already allowed me to introduce new people to a little bit of my life through the JEOW.

Jane Ellen
www.janeellen.com