Post all comments and questions here about the contest...

[ogorir]

(unrelated to the last page or so)

I was thinking, since these contests are mostly incentives to get the # of forum posts up, and the fact that it dies around here after the contest is over for about 3 weeks, might it not be better to do a longer contest with a higher post count? like... quarterly or bi-annually for 3 mos and a 150 post qualifier or what have you. I think that might keep it active around here more consistently than the flurry of activity then nothing that has happened with the last two.

another way to get people to post more would be to offer a permanent incentive kind of deal, like... every get 50 posts or a qualifying project you 5% off(stackable or non, depends on how much you'd want to police it. the better the incentive, the more people will bend the rules). I don't think you'd need to do much in the way of an incentive to get people to keep posting, though.

[performance]

The last contest lasted two months and required 75 posts. Too long of contest, too much of a commitment, and people lose interest...Participants in the forum receive various discounts from time to time.
We have a pretty good handle on the forum, and are not disappointed with the results. Activity has been rather good anyway and the community is building. Having been here for 3 years, participation has been steadily and solidly building. We do want input, but we have found more interest and more participation in shorter contests, rather than longer ones. When the goal is in sight and could be had by all, its easier to get more participation.

[zoama]

This was my first contest and I liked it... wouldn't change a thing.

[DaveO]

I noticed two very disappointed guys who thought they were included in the contest but in fact were not, because they didn't follow the instructions. I was thinking maybe some kind of "OK, you're in" confirmation via PM or post to each entrant, but that kind of hand-holding would require even more work from the mods. If they can't find or follow the instructions to begin with then they won't follow the "you're in when you get accepted" instruction.

Each entrant editting their original "I'm in!" post with their post count and project count was a great idea. There was a disturbing post about the possibility of revising a starting post count downward to fake the number of posts needed to qualify. Is that a real issue? I'm pretty sure it didn't happen in this past contest (I was watching posts and calculating odds of winning, just for grins) but if it's a threat some additional oversight may be needed.

[performance]

Dave,
Should we count the hanging chads, the dimpled ones or the ones that were double punched?

I think we are all adults (most of us are anyway)...The same rules apply to all, and all have a chance to ask if they don't understand.

Mods can see the original post if its been erased or edited if I remember right.

[67cudafb]

I guess I am one of the people you are talking and you are right I did not read the instructions and follow them, if your gonna be dumb you gotta be tough. I dont blame anyone but myself and I did not try to pull anything or revise any post so I don't get what your saying.

[performance]

Don't feel bad. You are not alone. Every contest there is someone who doesn't read the rules or doesn't ask questions about it.

I don't like to see anyone DQ'd but then again, that's why we have the rules posted. I'd just wish I knew how to make that camel drink.

[DaveO]

The first paragraph of my post is contradictory: at first I was thinking 25 guys signed up correctly, 2 did not; is 2 out of 27, roughly 7.5%, a big enough portion of the population for Everlast to graciously include a feedback loop? Then I answered my own question.

Cuda, in the second paragraph I was wondering out loud if somebody in a future contest could or might revise their count and whether it needed looking after. I was not suggesting you (or anybody else) did.