What do Conan O’Brien, Cory Booker, Sesame Street’s Grover, Suze Orman, Ted Leo, Neil Patrick Harris and NASA have in common? Besides being awesome, they’re all Shorty Award winners.

Now I’m in 4th for a Shorty Award.

Hollywood has the Oscars. Broadway has the Tonys. Now Twitter has the… Shorty Awards! ~ The New York Times

On a whim, I signed up for the Shorty Awards in the “green” category. I’m an avid environmental advocate, after all. Some would even use the term “eco maniac.” Plus, I utilize social media (to distraction) in hopes of inspiring others to live mindfully and take action on environmental issues. Why not give it a shot?

I was surprised to find myself in 7th place and I happen to like the number 7. It’s my lucky number, in fact. So, I decided it was worth asking more people to nominate me, determined to make it into the top 5. Then my son said, “Why not the top 3, Mom?”

Since I’ve recently slid into 4th, I’ve taken it to a new level. Campaigning for votes has become a daily obsession. It feeds my social media addiction, which I had sworn I would beat. “After the Shorty Awards are over,” I tell myself, “I will social-media-cize (TM) in moderation. I promise.”

I tweet it. I facebook it. Do I sound desperate? “Please nominate me. Please ask your friends and neighbors to nominate me. Don’t rule out your enemies—their votes count, too.”

I wasn’t going to write about it. Yet, here I am. Writing about it. Is this shameless self-promotion? I don’t think so. But I’m blinded by my son’s confidence that I can make it into the top 3. P.S. I’m also somewhat deluded by the possibility that I could actually WIN the numero uno spot. I will forge ahead until the end, which I think is February 17th. Even if I burst into flames, I won’t be stopped.

What the heck are the Shorty Awards?

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media, recognizing the people and organizations producing real-time short form content across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Foursquare, and the rest of the social Web.

7 Ways You Can Help.

1. Nominate me here: http://shortyawards.com/LynnHasselbrgr
2. Tweet this as frequently as you dare: Pls join me in nominating @LynnHasselbrgr for a Shorty Award in #green b/c she inspires sustainable living http://ow.ly/8W7sI
3. Post this link http://shortyawards.com/LynnHasselbrgr on your facebook page, asking your friends to nominate me (tell them why for better results).
4. If you’re not on facebook or twitter, email this post to people who are.
5. Cross your fingers! And your toes!
6. Keep it going through February 17th.
7. Slap me if you see me spending too much time on twitter and facebook after the Shorty Awards are over.

How will this help the world?

It may not. But it will provide added exposure for the I Count for myEARTH blog and the green writing I do here on elephant. Maybe my winning will somehow, indirectly, help the world in its own small way. I thank you from the bottom of my tweet. I mean heart.

Originally posted on my blog, Putting It Out There.

Photo by CubaGallery via Flickr.com