It's that time of the year. Time for the existing guest bloggers to ride off into the sunset and make way for a new batch. This will be the fourth year of the site, and already the site has a storied list of alumni:
Year one: Billmon, Steve Gilliard, RonK, Steve Soto
Year two: DemFromCT, DHinMI, Meteor Blades, Theoria, Trapper John
Year three: Armando, DavidNYC, Hunter, Kid Oakland, Plutonium Page
Year four: ???
This is where you guys come in. I make all final determinations, but every single one of the alumni listed above was recommended by the community. My choices will come from the people you recommend.
There are criteria. Nominees...
must be active members of the Daily Kos community
must have at least one year's "service" to the community
must have a thick skin. This gig isn't for the faint of heart
Guest bloggers are tasked with keeping the site humming on weekends (Friday-Sunday) and when I'm not available to blog. Since I'll be going on a lengthy book tour starting March 2006, the load will be heavy in the spring.
Finally, guest bloggers must be willing to put Daily Kos first and above their personal blogs (if they have them). I know that's a lot to ask for, and this will clearly rule out some obvious contributors, but then again, a front-page stint on this site is great marketing for future blogging (and other publishing) endeavours.
But for the sake of the post, I'd love you guys to simply recommend your favorite diarists, people you'd like to see with FP status. We can narrow it down later to those who are willing to abide by the guest blogger rules.
As for the current crop of guest bloggers, they'll be around until the beginning of 2006 to help mentor the new crew and guarantee a smooth transition. So no need to go all weepy on them just yet.
Update: There will be four new guest bloggers. I forgot one more qualification -- 2006 is an election year. At least two of the new guest bloggers must be election geeks.