What about those SD Times 100 categories?

Question:

I just caught your post-SD Times 100 wrap-up. I actually have a general question about the awards — do you pare down the entries and combine then into like categories? It seems like there were many more categories listed on the nomination form than final categories with winners.

I hate to toss another question into the mix, but noticed this the past few years and didn’t know if it was from lack of entries or something different.

I look forward to the SD Times 100 every year — it’s always the surprise names that make it the most fun.

Answer:

Every year, we use the previous year’s categories to solicit reader nominations. However, we almost always revise them (and then revise them again and again and again) during the judging discussions.

The categories are fluid, sometimes changing from one judging meeting to the next as we discuss trends and areas of innovation. We never quite know how it’s going to come out until the end of the process.