Show & Tell Competition: I give up

[fishit]

Not a new contest just tired of people entering who do not want to follow basic rules.
Tired of people posting and then backing out of what needs to be done with winning the contest.

Many of the good photographers have dropped out due to long lead times redundant picture entries, etc.
A few of us have tried to keep the contest focused on the main idea but it seems to have failed.
When it stops being fun it is time to stop worrying about the old contest, it was fun at first but the thrill is gone.

Good Luck folks.

[jlben]

Not a new contest just tired of people entering who do not want to follow basic rules.
Tired of people posting and then backing out of what needs to be done with winning the contest.

Many of the good photographers have dropped out due to long lead times redundant picture entries, etc.
A few of us have tried to keep the contest focused on the main idea but it seems to have failed.
When it stops being fun it is time to stop worrying about the old contest, it was fun at first but the thrill is gone.

Good Luck folks.

+1

Groundhog day again and again : viewtopic.php?f=9&t=45838

[fishit]

+1

Groundhog day again and again : http://forum.pbase.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=45838

Yup and not near as funny.

[irislynx]

Dang! Sad! ~I was really enjoying the contests too!!

[christophertravels]

I also enjoy the competitions, it keeps this forum fresh and moving forward.

[jlbrillet]

Hello from Tajikistan,

I have been asked to host the new contest (as second place in the last one).

Can somebody give me access to the "new contest" function?

Take care,

Jean Louis Brillet.

[jojie_alcantara]

Jean, just post in NEW TOPIC. Let them take care of adjusting your post to NEW CONTEST. Just follow basic posting format in Show & Tell. Best of luck.

[matsk]

I can understand Dennis reaction, as one living of your photography the contest can consume too much time and energy.
For us amateurs it is however very valuable with the mix of pro’s, semipro’s and amateurs. Even if you are not among
the ones mentioned in a contest it gives you a scale to calibrate your own work against. Looking into other sites for
critiques and competition it is often too much facebook- type of meaningless comments.
I hope we can keep the mix and that Dennis after some rest will enter the ring again.

Cheers

Mats

[amoxtli]

Perhaps the Show & Tell Competition needs a moderator to keep things moving. Pretty ridiculous that the competition ended on the 9th and nothing no new competition has been posted and it's the 16th.

[sandiwhi]

I've been communicating with Jean Louis and hope he'll have a new contest up soon. Basically told him the same thing, to just post the contest and Pbase will come along after and automate it. Not to wait for the New Contest button. I know he had a subject picked.

I think our problems with this contest started when it was automated. That seems to have created confusion. The button might not appear. People don't understand how to use the automation and what is actually automated. When I first used it, I thought it generated the new contest somehow, and generated the winners post at the end, but it only seems to automate closing the contest exactly one week after it starts, and adding the new winner to the winners page. You still have to post the contest manually other than that. I like that it does that, but wish we had a way to explain to new winners who have never run a contest before, exactly how this all works.

I tried adding some instructions to the content of the contest when I won, so people would know not to enter if they don't want to or won't be able to run the contest if they win. However, the next winner didn't continue adding that information. If I'm running a contest, I notify the winner they've won. Not sure everyone does that either, but it seems like a good idea.

Sandi

[fishit]

I think Sandi is spot on with her over view of the evolution and the problems that have accrued.
Manual forced people to be more involved and peer input kept better focus.
This not to say the automation of this grass root contest was welcomed and for me it worked fine from start to finish last time I used it.
But there have been problems with it not working, most times quickly fixed.

A Moderator maybe a good idea, would have to see if slug and Emily would allow that option.
It was very kind of them to automate this contest. The idea was great but as we see other issues.
Redundant problems and as mentioned like Ground Hog Day, old system had glitches but that seemed to be handled faster.

Getting people to understand that the photographers who enter are vested in what all is needed if you win.
Sandi and other have put a fair amount of time keeping this contesting going, there has to be a solution.
There are pros and cons to auto verse manual versions of the contest, people need to better understand the contest.

That is the major issue, how do we make sure that when you join you are vested in the contest till a winner is chosen.
If you are chosen then you must follow guidelines in a reasonable amount of time.
The question how do we collectively insure a quality contest with committed entrants?

I would like to keep this thing going, one reason I like PBase, perhaps Emily or slug can shed some insight if they are reading this thread.

[sandiwhi]

Dennis and I have talked about this at length. If we could add some basic guidelines to the new contest post (more automation?), so that entrants understand that they should not enter the contest if they don't want to or won't be able to run a contest if they win. That they should be prepared to put up a contest within 24 to 48 hours if they win. Post winners in a timely fashion. And notify the person running the contest if they can't run it, so the contest can be passed to the second place winner.

These seem to be the main issues, besides using rollovers and medium sized pics. Perhaps we could add something like this to the new contest, for all to read before posting their pics? Not everyone reads everything, but hopefully most members will, and we'll have fewer delays.

Do we also want to ask members not to post the same picture repeatedly? I'm guilting of using the same pic twice, and winning twice with it. Well darn, it perfectly fit in both cases and I just coudln't resist. I do try not to post the same photos over and over and over though. Just gets boring for those of us who have participated in the contest for many years. Heck, if you're posting the same pics repeatedly, maybe it's time to get out and get something new to share.

Hate to impose too many rules. Don't want to scare off the newbies. But maybe a very few very basic "guidelines" to assure a rapid turn around for new contests would be helpful.

Just some thoughts...
Sandi

[emily]

Hello Everybody,

We would be very happy to make a few people moderators. Basically, if you're willing to do it, just let me know.

What would probably be more helpful in the long run is a different system for the Competitions. We're working on this (only in the planning stages at this point).

If anybody has any thoughts on what would be ideal for a weekly competition, I would love to read through your thoughts as we plan things out.

-Emily

[amoxtli]

Thanks for your reply Emily. I think to have several moderators would solve the problems of the delays and rule infractions. I would gladly volunteer as a moderator, but am already hosting the Weekly Challenge on the PaD Forum, so some of the regulars here can do that. I would be very interested in seeing the new system for the Competitions. Will you share some of the changes before implementing them? Thank you.

Best Regards,

Walter

[erichmangl]

Hello Everybody,

We would be very happy to make a few people moderators. Basically, if you're willing to do it, just let me know.

What would probably be more helpful in the long run is a different system for the Competitions. We're working on this (only in the planning stages at this point).

If anybody has any thoughts on what would be ideal for a weekly competition, I would love to read through your thoughts as we plan things out.

-Emily

why only for the competitions?
high time that you do something against the power-spammer who ruined the forum for many