Oh well, this makes my ASIFA-Hollywood membership officially useless...

Nice, ASIFA-Hollywood. Real nice.

International Animated Film Society
ASIFA-Hollywood

Dear ASIFA-Hollywood Member,

From the time the Annie Awards were created, every year the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood reviews the awards in order to improve them.

Over the years, these annual evaluations have resulted in such major changes including changing the Annie Awards from a lifetime honor to an award which recognizes current achievements and excellence in the field of animation, and conducting the Annie Award voting online to ensure that voters have reviewed all of the nominees work before casting their ballot.

Following the creation of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science almost a decade ago, the Annie Award is now recognized by the entertainment industry as the highest honor given by the animation community, and ASIFA-Hollywood is regarded with the same kind of prestige as the Motion Picture and Television academies.

In order to maintain the integrity of the award the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood has decided to limit voting for the Annie Awards to only qualified members of ASIFA-Hollywood who are animation professionals. Non-professional and Student members of ASIFA-Hollywood shall not be eligible to participate in the Annie Award voting.

Therefore to participate in Annie award voting you must register to qualify to vote. This application process must be completed by August 31st, 2010. This is your only opportunity to qualify to vote this year! Your qualifications will then be vetted by a panel representing many studios and job classifications and you will be informed by email of acceptance or denial. If denied, you will be given an additional 30 days to appeal and provide sufficient proof of eligibility. Your eligibility status will also be available on your on-line profile page.

All professional members should apply for the Production categories (Best Feature, Best Short, Best Television Program, etc.). We also encourage you to apply for any of the individual categories in which you have credits or other verifiable recognition of your experience or expertise. If you are not sure if you qualify in a particular category, please apply and clearly explain your experience.

Each year, upon renewal of your membership, you will be given another opportunity to update your qualification categories. New members will also be given 30 days to qualify to vote upon acceptance of their membership.

To begin the process, please log onto the updated website for ASIFA-Hollywood at www.asifa-hollywood.org. Your login name is your email address. Your password should be listed on your membership card. If it is not listed, or you have misplaced your membership card, please select Forgot your password? and it will be emailed to you.

Once logged in, select Membership-Annie Voter Application. Then check the box for Production and any other category in which you believe you qualify to vote. Add your qualification evidence in the box next to the selected categories. When complete, select Update at the bottom of the page. Your status will be emailed to you after the qualification committee reviews your application.

Your application and your vote will help recognize excellence amongst your fellow artists and bring greater recognition to our art form. Thank you.

(facepalm)