Well, I give you a ++ for making the effort to make a positive contribution. But I'm afraid that personally I'd have to give your idea a --

Basically what we are talking about here is a popularity contest. And I don't think popularity contests do anybody any good. For every monk that gets a momentary warm fuzzy feeling after having been voted/appointed/selected as "monk of the month", you'll have dozens more with their noses out of joint thinking "hrmph, what did she do to deserve that?", "I made twice as many posts as him", "my answer in thread XYZ was ten times better than his", etc, etc.

Besides that, there is also the logistics of implementing something like this. I mean - supposedly this would mean an additional poll every month. Then you have stuff like collecting and collating nominations, deciding what constitutes a valid nomination, etc, etc, etc. All this I think just distracts from what Perl Monks is all about - which as best as I can work out is - discussing Perl and things related to Perl.

Whilst I generally agree with the principle of positive recognition in order to encourage achievement, I do think that what we already have in place gives people enough recognition here at Perl Monks.

And as far as "repaying what may have gone unrecognised" goes. Speaking for myself, I can honestly say that I have taken much more from Perl Monks in the short time that I have been here, than I could ever give back. And I wouldn't be surprised if many other monks felt the same way.

Cheers,
Darren :)

Well McDarren. I do value your opinion.
But for the record, I wouldn't vote for you as monk of the month. Because you smell ; - )

It's a very selfless sentiment that you've expressed!  Regardless of whether or not it gets implemented at Perlmonks, I want to be among the first to applaud your good-hearted idea.

As for myself, I've been trying to welcome monks, via a short private /msg, whenever they join the All Saints List.  It's given me a chance to make some nice new connections, and possibly make those who reach the list feel that others are watching and positively confirming their progress.

But I think it would be especially nice if there were some way to specifically acknowledge monks who have made unique contributions, no matter what their level.  I've seen quite a few particularly erudite posts, from a number of monks who are relatively new to the Monastery.  Perhaps your suggestion could be used in such a way as to shine light on their accomplishments as well.

Update:  Fixed broken link.  (Thanks, chargrill)

But I think it would be especially nice if there were some way to specifically acknowledge monks who have made unique contributions, no matter what their level. I've seen quite a few particularly erudite posts, from a number of monks who are relatively new to the Monastery.

Don't we already have that with Daily/Weekly/Monthly Best Nodes?

Although personally I think "Best" is somewhat of a mis-nomer (popular would probably be a better description) - aren't these lists simply a public acknowledgement of those nodes that have been considered by the community at large as the recent "best"?

One of your nodes is currently sitting on top of the monthly best (quite deservedly so), and I was lucky enough to have one of mine up there a while back. I got quite a kick out of that at the time. And for me, at least, that was more than enough recognition :)

Cheers,
Darren :)

It's possible that the "most helpful" Monk in any given month never gets one of his nodes on the "Best Nodes" list. "Best Nodes" identifies the best nodes; MotM recognizes the "best" monk. There is no necessary correlation between the two.

Would the honoree get a better parking spot?

A virtual plaque?

Maybe extra flair for their suspenders?

A red Swingline stapler sure would be nice.

-derby

Fletch++ for extra flair on their suspenders

perhaps we could have... A Monk of the Month... Brethren could nominate the Monk they felt had done most for the Monastery

I'd think that kind of vote would stir up animosity. The (joke) poll certainly got enough downvotes.

Like many other similar suggestions (e.g.), I think the need is already quite adequately served by the freedom of the homenode. If you want publicly to reward another monk with kudos, put it on your homenode!

I made a similar point here.

With this I think the question is what is used to constitutes a valid nomination. I think that there should be some minimium monthly activity. There would also need to be some other considerations, but I think that is the main one.

For the perks of getting the award I would say a little plaque in the user information node. To give them recognition for being such a devout perl monk, without changing the system as it stands that much.

Update: well we know who won't be winning Monk of the Month;)

I'm not quite sure how a user with zero writeups, zero experience, and who hasn't logged in for over 5 years would qualify for anything much at all.

I suspect you were referring to somebody else? ;)

Paco seems to have done quite well from 1 write up!

Gavin

I can't say that I'd be eagar to see this since there'd be some people recognized I don't care to hear about, and some not recognized that will never be heard of. Selfish, yes, but would you rather I lie? :)