VoicesNet Blog

Our server switch is now in process, which takes 24 to 72 hours for the name servers to be pointed to the proper new VoicesNet server. You might see some problems in navigating the site until this transition is complete.

We appreciate your patience during this time of transition for VoicesNet and our web community.

Jeff
voicesnet.com

Due to some very poor support from NetworkSolutions, our current VoicesNet.com host, we are in the process of switching our VoicesNet.com website to a new hosting provider.

We are now testing out a new Virtual Private Server with a new hosting company.

We are sorry for the problems (especially that our forum has been shut down for many days now).

Please stop back often to check in to see if the forum is back online yet. In the mean time, continue to use all of the other site features that are still online and available for use.

We are looking at this disruption as an opportunity to switch to a more reliable and faster hosting company and expect that we will have improvements in many areas once we switch to the new host.

We thank you for your continued support and hope that you continue to come back to visit us and use the many VoicesNet features.

Jeff Humphrey
Executive Director
www.VoicesNet.com

We are sorry for the problems. Technicians are working things out now. We hope to have the forums up as soon as possible.

The VoicesNet team

Soon, we will be rolling out VoicesNet Skins, a new feature that allows you to customize your VoicesNet experience through settings in your membership profile.

You will be able to do things like (1) change the base VoicesNet logo (2) change some color features, (3) add some audio features to your experience, (4) enter other types of online pieces other than poems, including rants, short stories, exposes, editorials, and more,
(5) subscribe to other members and get notified when they post new poems or articles, and more.

Details are being worked out now!

www.VoicesNet.com

Recognize others who have their images posted and make a point of reading and replying to their poems.

You can help to spark bigger and better things at VoicesNet in that way and meet some good people and make some new friends.

The VoicesNet Team

Can we have a drum beat please?

Here are the top poems from this year's first half 2007 VoicesNet 3 Poetry Competition.

Pos Poem - Author and Country

1. Leaves - Lee Emmet of Australia

2. Hell by any Name - Joseph Bednall of the UK

3. Of the World - Hilda Poo of South Africa

4. Mother - Mandy Baldwin of the USA

5. Judas - Richard M. Johnson of the USA

6. Song for My Daughters - Cathy O'Rourke Grosset of France

7. Stanzas to A.S. - Gabriel Schivone of the USA

8. Fire - Jack Trew of Zimbabwe

9. My Library - Elaine Christie of the UK

10. The Long Road To Summer - Geoffery Hoffman of the UK

11. Battle Of Towton - Joseph Bednall of the UK

12. Hemelin - Ewan Lawrie of Spain

13. Wild West Wodeo - Jeff Leslie of the USA

14. Sometimes The Wind Whispers - Jean Stevens of the USA

15. The Final Beat - David Bell of Canada

16. The Gardens Of Our Mind - David Bell of Canada

17. Morning Show - Mandy Baldwin of the USA

18. The Chisel - Jeff Leslie of the USA

19. Strange Winter - Emilia Lukeman of Australia

20. Fall - Geoffery Hoffman of the UK

21. Questions - Geoffery Hoffman of the UK

22. Summer Down Under - Daniel Larson of Barbados

23. Sunset Beautiful - Carolyn Deverish of Australia

24. The Laws Of Nature - Timothy Lambert of Canada

25. The Dieter’s Lament - Myrna Lambert of the USA

26. Ebb and Flow - Andrew James of the UK

27. Story of an Eternal Love Triangle - Neh Rathi of India

28. Old Times Gone - Daniel Larson of Barbados

29. Stranger In My Bed - Stacey Stiles of the USA

30. Yonder Valley - Daniel Larson of Barbados

These poems were chosen from 5141 Poems submitted between January 1, 2007 and June 30, 2007.

Two hundred and thirty poems made it to the final judging rounds where these 30 poems were chosen.

Then these 30 poems were reviewed and read and re-read numerous times until a final order could be determined.

Congratulations to all of the entrants.

This is just the initial announcement of the winning poems. Expect to see a multitude of features on these poems appearing at VoicesNet on our website and in our newsletter in the coming weeks.

The top poem, "Leaves", can be found at http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=108404.

The 2nd Place poem, "Hell by any Name", can be found at http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=114566.

The 3rd Place poem, "Of the World", can be found at http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=110703.

The 4th Place poem, "Mother", can be found at http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=114961.

The 5th Place poem, "Judas", can be found at http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=109369.

The 6th Place poem, "Song for My Daughters", can be found at http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=109171.

The Top 30 Finalist Poems in VoicesNet 3, the January 1,2007 through June 30, 2007 poetry competition are below.

These poems were chosen from 5,141 poems submitted. Each of the 5141 poems were reviewed independently by three VoicesNet judges.

The top 200+ poems by composite scores were then reviewed again to come up with a final 30 poems.

The order of the top 30 poems will be announced this weekend on September 16, 2007.

The Final 200+ list will be presented after final confirmation of that list is completed.

Congratulations to these authors for their great poems.

Thank you to the diligent VoicesNet judges for their incredible contributions to the Internet literary world. You folks are amazing.

To read these poems, the links can be found on the top scores page at http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrycontestscores.aspx?lastscore=0&pubid=402.

BATTLE OF TOWTON by Joseph Bednall UK

EBB AND FLOW Andrew James UK

CHISEL ,THE Jeff Leslie USA

DIETER’S LAMENT THE, Myrna Lambert USA

FALL Geoffery Hoffman UK

FINAL BEAT, THE David Bell CANADA

FIRE by Jack Trew, Zimbabwe

GARDENS OF OUR MIND THE, David Bell Canada

HAMELIN Ewan Lawrie Spain

HELL BY ANY NAME Joseph Bednall UK

JUDAS Richard Johnson USA

LAWS OF NATURE,THE Timothy Lambert Canada

LEAVES Lee Emmet Australia

LONG ROAD TO SUMMER, THE Geoffery Hoffman UK

MORNING SHOW Mandy Baldwin USA

MOTHER Mandy Baldwin USA

MY LIBRARY Elaine Christie UK

OF THE WORLD Hilda Poo South Africa

OLD TIMES GONE Daniel Larson Barbados

QUESTIONS Geoffery Hoffman UK

SOMETIMES THE WIND WHISPERS Jean Stevens USA

SONG FOR MY DAUGHTERS Cathy O’rourke grosset France

STANZAS TO A.S. by Gabriel Schivone USA

STRANGE WINTER Emilia Lukeman Australia

STRANGER IN MY BED Stacey Stiles USA

STORY OF AN ETERNAL LOVE TRIANGLE - Neh Rathi, India

SUMMER DOWN UNDER Daniel Larson Barbados

SUNSET BEAUTIFUL Carolyn Deverish Australia

WILD WEST WODEO Jeff Leslie USA

YONDER VALLEY Daniel Larson Barbados

To read these poems, the links can be found on the top scores page at http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrycontestscores.aspx?lastscore=0&pubid=402.

We are always looking for new Moderators, Reviewers, Editors, and Judges so if you are interested in one of these volunteer roles here at VoicesNet.com, then send us an email to forums @ voicesnet.org (remove the spaces) and tell us a lot about yourself. Include a resume if you have one.

JJ
VoicesNet.com

We are a couple of days late in listing our final top 200 poems in Poetry Contest 3.

Stop by tomorrow and the next day and the list should be displayed.

Also, we are still on track to make our final selections by September 16, 2007.

We are trying to be very careful in our selections from the 5000+ poems that were submitted.

The VoicesNet Team

Thanks to all of the poets who have submitted their poems to the poems database in August. It is officially a record month of submissions, as of today, for poems submitted directly to the database by website members (NOT contest submissions).

Unbelievable!

These poem submissions were received from 125 different poets from all around the world.

Here are the names of the top 10 poem submitters:

Fenny West 318
Robert Miller 50
Ben Otieno 46
Pauline Murphy 33
Darryn Murphy 30
john glass 29
Danny Kiggins 19
Rachel Walsworth 18
SarahJane Bennett 17
Deanna Dilley 17