We've received permission from SKINNER to post our contest in GD

[Eurobabe]

I emailed Skinner directly to see if we could post our contest threads in GD, he checked with other mods and said yes. (We will have to put a disclaimer on the threads to remind the mods that we have permission to do this.)

What do you all think about the prospect of having a wider audience?

[JeffR]

1. Voted yes, but

I don't like the idea that this change is being made on the basis of one stupid incident with a few people in the Lounge. I like the idea of the contest in GD very much, but my inclination would be to post polls in both the Lounge and GD to try to gauge the level of support outside the Group for this change.

Anyone else have any thoughts about this?

ON EDIT: Good of you to do this!

[JeffR]

2. On 2nd thought

Polling the Lounge about this is probably irrelevant, and may just be picking at scabs. But I would be interested in seeing in advance what GD's receptiveness would be.

Does this mean contest threads could make the Greatest Page? That would be cool.

[regnaD kciN]

4. I agree...

I think we need to poll GD, to prevent the sort of future hard feelings that could result in problems there.

I assume this permission applies to the new seasonal contests as well as the monthly ones?

[Eurobabe]

9. You will have to check directly with Skinner on that one

I just asked about our monthly contest.... :O

[regnaD kciN]

11. I would only be in favor...

...if the seasonal contests could be posted in GD, too. Having the monthly contests in GD and confining the seasonal ones to the Lounge would make the latter second-class events, IMHO.

[babylonsister]

5. Just a thought, but if polls were posted in GD and the lounge,

what would happen if the results were different?

[JeffR]

7. My thought was just to see which forum would express enthusiasm

for hosting the contests. But as I said above, I think we really only need to get a feel for GD's receptiveness at this point.

[NV Whino]

3. The only problem I see in GD

is keeping the threads kicked. Things move so fast there. What do Skinner and the mods think of that?

And I do like the idea of having a wider audience.

[Eurobabe]

10. Well, I guess we'd have to keep on it or ask others to comment and kick

like Jeff suggested.

I don't know, I am just wanting more people to see our work... :) We are fabulous!

[ConsAreLiars]

6. If posted in GD, I would recommend having one Master thread

with links to the 3 photo threads which gets kicked and three submissions/voting threads which are allowed to sink. Page 1 GD threads drop off after a half hour or so during the day, and kicking three non-politics threads hundreds of times would easily be seen as obnoxious and intrusive by at least some. Just kicking up the Master Thread would be less likely to offend, as well as being easier to accomplish. Another consideration is that dial-up users can read about the contest and

I tried this with a contest I hosted in the lounge, but old habits of kicking up the 3 entry threads persisted and it didn't work very effectively, so it would probably take some SHOUTING to make this happen. Like "Feel free to comment but DON'T KICK THIS THREAD simply to move it to the front page! However, please kick the Master Thread at <URL> which has links to all three parts of this contest." Plus add a complementary admonition on the Master Thread.

It might help to collectively work out a template for such contests in GD in advance, maybe give it a first trial run with the "Fall" contest.

I like the idea of putting the photos in GD, for the larger exposure and maybe a better chance for better feedback.

[JeffR]

8. That's a good idea

[regnaD kciN]

12. ...which suggests an obvious compromise solution...

...namely, keep the polls in the Lounge but post a "link thread" in GD and keep it kicked. That would be far less potentially annoying to GD zealots, while still giving us wider exposure.

[JeffR]

13. An intriguing idea

though maybe potentially confusing? It seems the sentiment here is to sever the contests from the Lounge. Maybe we need a second poll with this split-the-difference concept as an option?

[regnaD kciN]

14. I guess I'm hoping something can be reached...

...that will allow the same treatment for seasonal as well as monthly contests.

My personal inclination is that, should the decision come down that monthly contests can be in GD, but seasonal contests must remain in the Lounge, to cancel the seasonal contests altogether. The whole point was that the latter would have equal status to our long-running monthly event. Should it be decided that this is not the case, then I'm not inclined to bother with them.

[wildhorses]

15. oh I would like to ask that you guys (we) stay in the Lounge--

I do not know what happened but, I go in there (a lot:blush:) and I love seeing these photo contests. Was it really all that terrible what happened:shrug:

I am in favor of posting these polls in both Lounge and/or GD. If there is a way to cross post that would be good.

You guys deserve all the *ahem* "exposure" you can get:yourock:

[Eurobabe]

16. No, its not that we just want a wider audience...

I think having two threads going in the lounge and GD would be tres confusing. JMHO.

And Reg, I guess I would say let's post a contest in GD first, see what response we get and if we can keep it kicked, then post the seasonal thing in GD if all goes well. I think all we ave to do is prove to Skinner and the mods that we have our act together and they will be fine with it.

[wildhorses]

18. well you are right GD would be the larger base audience

:)

[regnaD kciN]

20. The problem is...

...that the next contest coming up is the seasonal one. Hopefully, it won't be an issue, and we'll get the O.K. (or at least not a turndown) before then.

[Eurobabe]

26. So are we not doing a November contest?

I'm confused.

Fill me in.

[regnaD kciN]

28. Yes, we're doing a November contest...

...or at least superconnected is, but that will be running mid- to late-November. The seasonal contest submissions open on November 1st, and the whole thing should be over before the monthly contest begins.

[JeffR]

17. I PMed Skinner regarding the seasonal contests

I'll post back when I hear something.

ON EDIT: If I hear something. I basically explained that there will now be four seasonal contests in addition to the monthlies, and asked if he could get back to me if he has any problem with this. I can only think if he assented to the regular contests in GD, he wouldn't object to seasonals there. But we shall see.

[regnaD kciN]

19. I PMed him with the same request last night...

I'm hoping that it will be all right or, if not, that he will at least let me post a "link thread" in GD, much like we discussed earlier. Thanks for contacting him as well.

[JeffR]

21. Should have checked with you before I did so

I mentioned that the seasonal contest was coming up November 1, BTW.

[intheflow]

22. What happened in the Lounge?

I don't usually hang out in the Lounge, I usually only go in to specific threads I hear about elsewhere. So what happened?
:shrug:

BTW, I seem to have a dim memory about discussing posting the Photo Contest in GD. Maybe it was when Skinner & the Mods stopped allowing Lounge threads to make it to the GP. I think I remember some in GD were not pleased, but most people seemed to like the invitation to take a "beauty break" amid the force of wills, egos, and bickering that is the norm in GD.

[regnaD kciN]

23. Someone posted a copycat thread...

...of one of the preliminary rounds. Some of us objected, and a flame war ensued, with some Lounge Lizards asserting that photo contests are ridiculous because it takes no talent to take a picture. :crazy: Things went downhill from there, although the finals seem to have proceeded without incident.

Between that and the "should we allow editing of submissions" brouhaha, this has been an unusually stressful contest to host. And, just think: I've got another one to run starting next week! :banghead: At least I'll have a co-host next time around...

[intheflow]

24. Sometimes I wonder about the Lounge Lizards.

It's one of the reasons I don't hang there very often. It lulls you, as a newcomer, into a false sense of security. You think, "Hey! This place is fun! What a nice, zany break from the heavy shit going down in GD, GD-P, and LBN!" And often it is. But every now and then... and especially the longer you hang on DU... you can really see some mean and/or soap-opera-y shit going down. :(

Thank God/dess for the Groups! Even when we disagree in here, for example, I've only seen it get really ugly once. And I've been a regular in here almost since it began in December 2004. So two years and only one locked thread? I think that's pretty cool.

And you know, you get no pity from me about the autumn contest. You invented that beast! :nopity:
;)

[regnaD kciN]

25. True, but...

And you know, you get no pity from me about the autumn contest. You invented that beast!

...at the time, I had no idea that Phantom in the Mist was going to win last month's contest (to be honest, I was convinced superconnected's entry was going to easily win that month -- seriously, once the preliminaries started, she and I each e-mailed the other congratulating them on having the winning entry), and so I wasn't expecting to do two contests back-to-back.

Still, I've hosted contests before, and they're usually no great effort. This last one, however, was another matter...

[superconnected]

27. Personally I think it would be great to put up a dual contest

in the lounge and General Discussion and see the difference in the picks.
and then of course, never use the lounge again.

[Eurobabe]

29. Haha!!! Now that's a good idea.