The holiday weekend is upon us, so I’ll keep this short.

Don Jackson of Central City Productions has issued a “thank you” message to Stellar Award fans and supporters.

If this letter was intended to respond to the points that I made in the Open Letter, I must respectfully state that it falls short of my expectations.  Essentially, it dismisses many of the industry’s concerns.  Rather than actually responding to the way the gospel community is feeling, or to the notion that Central City might have made missteps, we are asked to rest assured that the process actually is fair and bursting with integrity, despite what we’re feeling.

Well, thanks!  It seemed sketchy, but if Central City says it’s not, then it must NOT be.  Dunno how we missed that, guys…

I’m reprinting the letter here for your information:

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To: Stellar Award Fans and Supporters
 
From: Don Jackson, Founder & Executive Producer of the Stellar Awards
 
RE: 25th Anniversary of the Stellar Awards Thank you Message
  
Dear Stellar Awards Fans and Supporters:
 
As Founder and Executive Producer of the Stellar Awards I want to personally thank you for your  overwhelming support of our Awards Program,  especially now that we are entering our 25th year Anniversary on National Television with the taping  of our  show on January 16th, 2010 in Nashville Tennessee at the Grand Ole Opry House. Your dedicated support has enabled us to continue the production of our Stellar Awards on National Broadcast and Cable television, which has resulted in our Stellar Awards attaining the position as the # 1 rated Gospel Music Awards show on television today, according to Nielsen Media Research. 
 
Our continuing mission of the Stellar Awards is to establish an environment through our Awards show where Artists and other Industry Professionals are recognized for their achievement and significant accomplishment in the field of Gospel Music for national recognition; and to support, encourage and promote Gospel Music Worldwide.  
 
Over the 25 year history of the Stellar awards I have openly met with Gospel Music Industry Executives, Artists, the Gospel Music Media outlets and  Faith based Institutions in our community, where I have welcomed their suggestions and recommendations on all aspects of our show, to maintain the highest standard and integrity  of our production as well as our Entry, Nominating and Balloting policy and procedures.  I will continue this open outreach to the Gospel Music Industry in the future, in an effort to improve upon our Stellar Awards production and procedures, and I will always welcome your constructive feedback and recommendations in regards to every aspect of our show.  
 
As a direct result of the constructive  feedback of the Gospel Music Industry, from the sources I’ve identified above,  I am pleased to inform you that for our 25th Anniversary Show we implemented several improvements to our Entry, Nominating and Balloting process that we feel strengthened our overall Voting process and made our procedure more open and inclusive, while continuing to maintain the integrity, fairness and highest standards of our overall process for everyone.  
 
The improvements that were implemented included changes in the following areas:
 
#1. The extension of our Voting Eligibility entry period window to allow additional time for the submission of qualified entries;
 
 #2. Changing our entire Voting procedure to an Online Internet voting process which included Eligibility submissions, and both 1st & 2nd round balloting,  versus a mailed hardcopy paper Eligibility submission and  ballot process;
 
 #3. Expanding the Charting System to include the entire Nielsen Media Data Systems, which added the Nielsen Broadcast Data System (BDS), versus using only SoundScan and Billboard Charts;
 
 #4. Opening up the first round of our voting process to Fan voting, to have an opportunity to  involve  Gospel Music Fans in our “Fan Favorite” voting process,  without compromising the final voting process of the 2nd ballot by SAGMA members which ultimately determines the final Stellar Award Nominees and winners. 
   
These changes resulted in the following improvements to our overall procedure of:
 
#1. Giving Record Labels and Artists additional time to submit their entries during an expanded Eligibility window, which resulted in increased submissions
 
#2. Improved our nominating and voting procedure by going online and eliminating the hardcopy paper Eligibility submissions and  ballot, which resulted in an increase in the voting process
 
#3. Increased the representation from Independent Labels dramatically, by using all of the Nielsen Data Charting systems including Nielsen BDS in the charting system without compromising the integrity of the voting process
 
#4.Opening the process up to Fan voting in the “Fan’s Favorite” categories, which resulted in an overwhelming response from our Gospel Music Fans where we will once again announce our “Fan’s Favorite” voting categories at our pre-show awards in the categories of Song of the Year, New Artist of the Year and Choir Of the Year, which does not affect the final voting from the Stellar Awards Gospel Music Academy (SAGMA) members in these categories.
 
Based upon the above constructive improvements in the voting procedure we are positively elated with the results and feel that the process is more inclusive and fairer to everyone in the Gospel Music Industry.
 
I want to mention that our 25th Stellar Awards Anniversary production planned for our taping on Saturday January 16th, 2010 is shaping up to be our best show ever! Please join me and our co-hosts Kirk Franklin, Vickie Winans, and Donnie McClurkin in our celebration of Gospel Music’s biggest night…The Stellar Awards. (Please see attached promotional flyer).
 
I greatly appreciate your support over the past 24 years and look forward to your continuing commitment.
 
Lastly as we prepare for our 25th Anniversary show, I would like for you to join me in prayer as we acknowledge that the Stellar Awards is God’s work! Our goal and mission is to raise Gospel Music to its highest level for the Glory of God. We are invoking God’s presence and guidance as we plan and organize to uplift His name. We are asking you to help us uplift His name. Please join us in prayer to speak the words of love, peace and harmony for the Glory of God throughout our Stellar Awards production. This is God’s work! In the name and through the power that is in the name of Jesus, we declare IT IS DONE! Thank You God!
 
God Bless!
 
Don Jackson
Founder & Executive Producer

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Your thoughts?