From the FKO concom,
Please rest assured that we were horrified and saddened by this year’s technical issues with the Filk Hall of Fame nomination process. If you are not already aware of this situation, some nominations did not reach Dave Hayman, the Filk Hall of Fame administrator, in time to be included in the nomination files sent to the jury. There was a backup that enabled us to recover most of the nominations that were sent in, and we were even able to get most of them added to the files before voting was completed.
However, a nomination for Tera Mitchel–submitted by Eli Goldberg–was not recovered in time to be included for the 2026 selection. While these nominations can all be considered for future selections, Tera has unfortunately passed away, and while this does not preclude her induction, it does mean she will never have the knowledge of her nomination or be able to enjoy being selected.
We have already taken some steps toward solutions, but we are aware that this does little to address the pain and hurt caused by this failure in the process.
Dave takes this failure very personally, and we have been working together to make sure this can never happen again. We are very sorry that some of the messaging and communication around this seemed insensitive. We know that tone can sometimes be lost in text-only communication, especially when emotions are high, and we are truly sorry.
With that in mind, we ask that you allow us to focus on the con at hand, and know that we will dedicate ourselves to addressing the issues and your concerns after the con. Our goal is to annouce an improved process before the end of May, and it is our hope that many of you will work with us to ensure that no submission will ever be lost again.
Again, our sincere apologies to Tera’s family, Eli, and the entire Filk community.