Okay, so technically, the new millenium doesn't start until January 1, 2001. But why argue with millions of other people, especially on a difference in semantics? Besides, it makes this award title a bit shorter, and I'm all for that.

Simply put, this award will go to the one person who has helped out online TransFandom the most. And by online, I also mean the precursors to Usenet and the World Wide Web -- if you remember someone from your online BBS days or back when CompuServe or Prodigy were not even remotely connected to the net, he or she is also valid.

In fact, there's only one person who is not eligible for this award: me. I mean, it would seem kind of silly for me to give myself the award, wouldn't it?

However, in a move that may seem controversial, I am opening this award out to everyone else -- ASM contributers or not. I want to do this because there may be people on my staff who contributed a lot in the years from 1000-1999 (or 999-1999), and really, with only one issue of ASM in that timeframe it hardly seems fair to exclude anyone. You have my word that I will be the only person who sees any results of this contest. No one else will be privy to the voting in process or the tabulation of votes. Just me.

There, that seems fair, doesn't it?

This is Stage One of the award process. In this stage, you will vote for three people, in no particular order, who you think have contributed to net.fandom the most. You can not vote for yourself, and you can not vote for more than three people. You can only vote one time; if you submit only two names, you can't vote again with the third name. See the Official Rules for more information.

Stage One will last until 11:59pm EST Sunday, March 26, 2000. After that time, all the votes will be tabulated, and a master list will be compiled. Stage Two will then start with the next issue of ASM. In Stage Two, you will then vote for your top choice. After Stage Two is done, the voting process will be completed.

For a list of Candidate Criteria, see the Official Rules.

PRIZES

You may be wondering what the winner gets. Well, the prize list is still being determined, and will be announced in Stage Two. ASM is working on several possibilities for a unique award, and quite possibly, something that reflects on the nature of so many different Transformer lines in the past millenium....

VOTING IS COMING SOON!

Your Name:
Your E-mail Address:
Person #1:
E-mail (or other contact info)
Why is this person worthy of this award?
Person #2:
E-mail (or other contact info)
Why is this person worthy of this award?
Person #3:
E-mail (or other contact info)
Why is this person worthy of this award?

GOOD LUCK!

OFFICIAL RULES:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. SWEEPSTAKES ARE OPEN TO LEGAL UNITED
STATES AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY.

The Altered States Magazine ("ASM") "Net.TransFan of the Millenium" Contest
("Contest Three") Stage One commences at 12:00am EST on Monday, February 21, 
2000 and ends at 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, March 26, 2000 ("Contest Three Stage
One Period").  Contest Three is sponsored by ASM.  By participating, 
entrants agree to abide by these Official Rules.

Eligibility:  Contest Three is offered only electronically via the Internet and
is open to legal residents of the United States and Canada for the duration
of Contest Three, including the Stage One Period and any future time periods
deemed as applicable to Contest Three.  All federal, state, and local laws 
and regulations apply.

To Enter:  Each entrant may vote for up to three Candidates who fit the 
Candidate Criteria as specified below.  All entries must be sent in English.  
Each entry must be accompanied by the entrant's name and current E-mail 
address.  Limit one entry per person or E-mail address.  If more than one entry 
is received from any single person or E-mail address, only the first one will 
be used, and subsequent entries will be disqualified.  If entry is received
with fewer than three Candidates, only the Candidates submitted will be 
considered, and no future additions from the entrant will be allowed.  The
entrant may not vote for himself/herself.  If the entrant votes for 
himself/herself, the entrant's entire ballot will be disqualified.

By accepting a prize, winner releases ASM, its subsidiaries and affiliated
companies and/or persons, its advertising and promotion agencies, and their
respective officers, directors, agents and employees, from any and all
liability, loss or damage incurred with respect to the awarding, receipt,
possession and/or use or misuse of any merchandise or prize and acknowledge
that said parties have neither made nor are in any manner responsible or
liable for any warranty, representation, or guarantee, expressed or implied,
in fact or in law, relative to any prize, including, but not limited to, its
quality, mechanical condition or fitness for a particular purpose.  All taxes
on prize are the responsibility of the winner.  Sponsor reserves the right in
its sole discretion without liability to any person, to cancel or suspend
Contest Three should virus, bugs or other causes beyond the control of the
sponsor corrupt the administration, security or proper play of Contest Three.
Participants entering through the Web must provide a valid email address.
Sponsor is not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry information,
whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming
associated with or utilized in Contest Three or by any technical or human 
error which may occur in the processing of the entries of Contest Three.  
Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, incomplete, mutilated, 
or misdirected entries, nor is sponsor responsible for computer system, phone
lines, hardware, software or program malfunctions, or other errors, failures,
or delays in computer transmissions or network connections that are human or
technical in nature.  ASM reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to
disqualify any individual found tampering with Contest Three.  All entries
remain the property of the entrant.  Persons who are involved with ASM on a
regular basis or have had work published in ASM within the past three (3) 
months are still eligible to be nominated for Contest Three.  ASM reserves 
the right to cancel or modify Contest Three and/or any of its Stages and/or 
any Candidate Criteria without notice.

Candidate Criteria:  Any potential Candidate must fit these criteria:

 -- Has been active on the Internet in some portion, including but not
    limited to Usenet, World Wide Web, Gopher, FTP, Telnet, MUSH, MUD, 
    MOO, and/or IRC, before 12:00am January 1, 2000, or has been active
    on an online service, such as AOL, Compuserve, Prodigy, or others,
    before 12:00am January 1, 2000.  Such activity is considered "online."

 -- The online Transfandom must have benefitted in a positive way because
    of this.  The judging of what is considered positive will be done by
    ASM Editor-In-Chief Philip N. Zeman

 -- The Candidate must be reachable in some fashion.  ASM will not be
    responsible for tracking down Candidates who can not be contacted
    in reasonable ways (which include, but are not limited to, phone,
    E-mail, Postal Mail.)

ASM reserves the right to remove the name of any Candidate at any time
for any reason.

Stage One:  Stage One consists of nomination of Candidates.  No prize
will be awarded at the end of Stage One.  All valid Candidate names will 
compiled into a master list for Stage Two.

Stage Two:  Stage Two will consist of paring down the list of Candidates
into one final winner.  Any future Stages will be described as they are 
unveiled.

Future Stages:  If ASM deems it necessary to add or modify any stages,
ASM reserves the right to do so without notice.

General Conditions:  This drawing is governed by U.S. law.  Prize winners must
claim their prizes by E-mail notification within five days after receipt of
prize notification.  Prize winner may be required to sign and return an
Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Release within 10 days of notification.
If a selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim a prize
or fails to return any Affidavit or Eligibility and Liability Release (if
required), the selected winner will forfeit her/his prize and an alternate
winner will be selected from previous Leaders.  If a prize is won by a minor,
the prize will be awarded to the parent or legal guardian.

Internet:  If for any reason the Internet portion of the program is not capable
of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering,
unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond
the control of ASM which corrupt or affect the administration, security,
fairness, integrity or proper conduct of Contest Three, ASM reserves the
right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers with the
entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend Contest Three.  ASM
assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion,
defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft
or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries.  ASM is
not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone
network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer
equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or entry to be received by ASM on
account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at
any Web site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to
participant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from
participation or downloading any materials in this contest.  CAUTION: ANY
ATTEMPT BY ANY PERSON TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE
LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKE IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL
LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, ASM RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK
DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Winners List:  The Winner's first name, last initial, city, and state will be
printed in a future issue of ASM.  The Winner's E-mail address will be
printed unless requested not to by the Winner.  For answers to questions about
the promotion or to obtain a winners list, send an e-mail message to
"asm_contest@skyjammer.com".  Requests must include the date and title of the
promotion for which a winners list is requested.