My two cents. Although it may not be considered a contest, it still is.If the AOY is culled from the AOM, then in a sense the members are picking a potential AOY.
SYLLABICATION:
contest
PRONUNCIATION:
knst'
NOUN:

1. A struggle for superiority or victory between rivals. 2. A competition, especially one in which entrants perform separately and are rated by judges. See synonyms at conflict .
   VERB:
   Inflected forms: contested , contesting , contests
   (k?n-tst knst')
   TRANSITIVE VERB:
2. To compete or strive for. 2. To call into question and take an active stand against; dispute or challenge: contest a will. See synonyms at oppose .
   INTRANSITIVE VERB:
   To struggle or compete; contend: contested with other bidders for the antique.
   ETYMOLOGY:
   Probably from French conteste, from contester, to dispute, from Old French, to call to witness, from Latin contestr : com-, com- + testis, witness; see trei- in Appendix I.
   OTHER FORMS:
   contestble ADJECTIVE
   con'testaion (kn't-sth?n) NOUN
   contestr NOUN
   NOUN:
3. A trial of skill or ability: competition, meet1. See CONFLICT. 2. A vying with others for victory or supremacy: battle, competition, corrivalry, race, rivalry, strife, striving, struggle, tug of war, war, warfare. See CONFLICT.
   VERB:
4. To strive against (others) for victory: compete, contend, emulate, rival, vie. See CONFLICT. 2. To take a stand against: buck, challenge, dispute, oppose, resist, traverse. See SUPPORT.
   Also if a award is not annouced before it is given (how bizzare!) Then no one would be the wiser I assume.Member Joe could get round trip airline tickets, while Member doe gets a poster. Not fair at all. I really admire your bravery tammync in coming forward in defense. But quite a bit of the explanations do not seem to make sense to me or others.