UWSAG talks to Cathleen Turner
of Graceful Catshark's Cove Awards

Owner: Graceful Catshark's Cove
Winner: UWSAG Top Ten! April, 2003

1. What got you started in website design?
   
   "Originally it was the challenge of a friend who thought I would do well expressing both my voice and my art skills in this new media."
   
   
   
   
   
2. What do you hope to accomplish with your award program?
   
   "It has always been my hope in the web award community to be able to help people just starting out. I try to provide them information I didn’t have when I started. I also want to lend a helping hand any way I can. It is my belief that with a little encouragement and knowledge anyone can have an award winning site of which they can be proud."
   
   
3. What advice would you give other program owners?
   
   "The best advice I could ever give is RELAX. Everyone is bound to make mistakes and those will come. Just relax, learn from your mistakes and enjoy the ride of new experiences you’ll gain reviewing websites. I would also encourage new program owners to NOT BE AFRAID to ask questions and advice from those programs that have been around a while. Most folks in the awards community are very willing to help a new program. Also, never compromise who you are!!! That means always remember what makes your program unique is YOU. Don’t try to copy an established program and thus lose sight of yourself."
   
   
4. What was the biggest problem you faced with your award program?
   
   "The biggest problem I faced was when my health was not doing well and I had tons of applications coming in. I had set my guidelines for the time frame of reviews too short and overwhelmed myself."
   
   
5. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
   
   "I can honestly say, not one thing! I can not begin to express all the knowledge I gained about basic website building which I had never known prior to opening my program. Each success and each mistake taught me so much ~ I am forever grateful for them all."
   
   
6. What plans do you have for the future?
   
   "My future plans are already in the works. I have opened a totally new awards program. Taking the knowledge I gained from the Catshark Awards, I’ve worked hard developing and evolving my new program. It is my hope Gossamer Wings Awards will supercede the Catshark Awards, providing more than just an award, but help in better understanding of what it takes to win awards."
   
   
7. What else do you like to do?
   
   "Just about everything. I tend to be the kind of person who believes life is too short and I don’t want to miss a thing. I believe in going where my heart leads and trying, because even if I fail - at least I will have no regrets or “what if’s” behind me. I spend a great deal of time with my art (graphite, water color & charcoal) as well as creating web graphics, and writing."