Photo Contest voting proposal

[rtphokie]

Moving from this thread to get some more input from the board.


This board limits polls to 12 options. This is why we have the current group then final voting process.

Background:
The order photos appear in the group voting shouldn't matter but it does. Looking back over the group polls, the first and last groups tend to get the most votes, the ones in the middle (especially the next to the last group, usually group 3) tend to get the least votes. I cant believe that the photos in these groups are consistently uninteresting to voters. Are voters getting tired of voting in all these polls? Each week we submit a photo, vote in 4 or more group polls and then vote in a final poll. It's almost as much work to participate in the photo contests as it is to run them even if you never enter one.

Another idea:
What would you folks think about doing just 1 round of voting instead of 2? This would require moving the voting process off this board. Instead of posting a group poll, I'd post a link to my website which will display all entries and allow voting in one step. Once voting is complete (folowing the same Monday to Sunday schedule), winners would be posted on the board. We'd still use the board for posting entries, photos would still be hosted by individuals (using photobucket, smugmug, etc) just the voting location would change.

Doing it this way would make voting simpler and faster, less work for me (it takes a minimum of 30 minutes to post all those polls due to board restrictions) and give us the ability to vote on some superlatives as well (best representation of the theme, best use of color, best entry from a Canon camera (just kidding), best entry by a newbie, best entry by a kid, etc.)

What do you folks think? Is this worth trying for a while or are folks happy with the multi week, multi thread voting? I'm happy to do whatever the consensus is.

 

[Gdad]

First Off- I am SO glad you stepped up and volunteered to host the photo contest!

Second- Just my two cents- I am perfectly fine with the way you are running it right now. After all it is just a contest for fun and bragging rights.

But- food for thought- I sometimes participate in a contest on Nikon Café that I think is run very well also. They use an anonymous posting bot to compile the entries into a single thread. Then rather than using a poll- people post their votes in an open thread picking their top 3 pictures. 3 Points for 1st- 2 Points for 2nd – 1 Point for 3rd- Then after the voting period ends the winners are tabulated on these points.

You can see this here if interested- http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/forumdisplay.php?f=95

 

[MICKEY88]

I'd prefer the contest stays the way it is...

if you do one large poll wouldn't the pics in the middle still lose out...

perhaps still take pics in order, but mix up the groups..each week..

such as

group4 group 1 group 3 group 2..

I also prefer to stay on one website

although Gdad's idea is interesting, I personally think I'd be less inclined to participate in voting, it would take more time than simply clicking on a choice, I can't speak for everyone, but if you think people are gettting tired of the polls, I think that would be more tiring..

 

[Golf4food]

I think being able to see at least a thumbnail of all or nearly all entries at once would make voting much easier. I have no problem with using an external website to do it, linked from here, with the initial entries posted here as always.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I'm OK with anything, but I still think it would be better to have an outlandish poll driven single elimination tournament. Just imagine the excitement of telling your kid that a picture of them made it into the sweet sixteen. Or cancelling a weekend away because you've got a photo in the final four and you need to be there to do some serious smack talking.

 

[jann1033]

I think being able to see at least a thumbnail of all or nearly all entries at once would make voting much easier. I have no problem with using an external website to do it, linked from here, with the initial entries posted here as always.

i totally agree with this..it gets annoying if there are a lot of picks and you have to keep scrolling up and down cause you forget just who had the great mickey shot and who had the out of focus one it would be nice to have a photo by the name in the poll... unless i am the only one with such lousy short term memory

 

[Amy]

My opinion:

I'd like to keep the polls here on the DIS, and still do the separate polls leading to one final poll.

I don't like the idea of one big poll - some weeks there are a lot of entries and it'll be too much scrolling to see all the photos, then trying to remember which ones you thought were the best, then finding them again. Thumbnails (as golf4food suggested) would make it a little easier, but with thumbnails you lose out on seeing detail in the photos.

I don't see a problem with just posting the photos to the polls in the order that they were posted to the photo thread. Why make more work for yourself trying to remember which photos you've already posted? And for those people who purposely time their posting so that their photos are or are not up against other photos......well, those people have waaaay too much time on their hands!

IMO, this is just a fun contest; I enjoy seeing how other people photograph the weekly theme. Since there are no prizes other than bragging rights, I don't see what's wrong with the way things are going. Now if Pete hits the lottery and decides to start offering a prize for the winners , THEN maybe consider going to one huge poll or something else. For a fun contest, things are just fine with the basic rules we've already got.

 

[MICKEY88]

My opinion:

Since there are no prizes other than bragging rights, I don't see what's wrong with the way things are going. .

this is funny..every time this topic comes up someone mentions bragging rights as the only prize...yet I have never seen anyone brag about winning the contest..

 

[CheshireVal]

I sort of like it the way it is now. I rarely win the overall contests, but do make it to the final polls sometimes. To me, that's exciting.

Edited to add: Thanks again for taking over the polls!!

 

[MICKEY88]

I like the contest just the way it is,,

however.. in all fairness..if you feel the need to change it to make it more doable for yourself, then do what you must, I think we are all very thankful that you are taking the time to do it, and no one can fault you for trying to simlify your work..


thanks for your time and hard work on this..

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Our 2 cents ...

Keep the polls here on the DIS. We would probably not take the time to vote if they were moved to another site.

No to one big poll.

Thumbnails are a good idea, but maybe with a link to check out the larger picture for those who want to (if you are able).

Keep the photos in the order that they were posted to the photo thread for voting. As someone else mentioned, why make more work for yourself.

Basically our vote - leave it as has always been since it has worked well.

 

[Suburbanmom]

I think I like it the way it is run now. I do not care in what order you post the photos, either. Whatever is easiest for you, if fine with me. I just appreciate your willingness to host the poll. Thanks.

 

[declansdad]

I prefer that it stays here. I have tried to participate in photo contest on other sites but I never think to go to the site. I'm here almost everyday so it make it quite easy.

I also like the idea of two rounds because it keeps the pages to a reasonable length. Not everyone is able to load pages quickly.

 

[Amy]

this is funny..every time this topic comes up someone mentions bragging rights as the only prize...yet I have never seen anyone brag about winning the contest..

Ok, IF I ever win one of these contests again (one of my photos was in a 3-way tie for 1st last fall sometime and that's the only time I ever won), I promise to BRAG, BRAG, BRAG!! How's that?!

 

[steery1]

Keep it the way it is. If its not broke dont fix it.

 

[AndrewWG]

I agree with keeping it how it is. When I take a good enough pic to win, I will win. I don't really think that it is so much a popularity contest on the Dis. I think that most people vote based on which pics they like and not who they like. I know that is what I do anyways.

As far as changing the pics around to have the winners near the winners, etc, I just think that is just adding to your work time on this and they should just be left in the order that they were posted. If you want to mix them all up, that's fine too but I just think that you are adding to your workflow.

One thing that I think should be done (and it may be already so excuse me if I'm wrong on this) is that the top 2 or 3 in each group should make it to the final poll to make it more interesting. How ever many it takes to fill the final poll or get it close to full. The top 2 would probably be best as there will probably be a tie for a few pics after that.

 

[DebºoºS]

Thank you for taking on the contest.
MHO,
I like having the small groups here on the DIS. But I think one final would be easier for everyone. Going offsite with a link for the final vote seems like a good idea. Rather not have the order of appearance tinkered with. It seems to me it would be more work for you with not a lot of benefit for anyone.

 

[rtphokie]

It sounds like most people either don't care or like the old way of grouping them in the order they were received. That's fine by me, we'll stick with that.

One change I will make is posting the top 3 in the final voting thread after voting is over. I'll add EXIF data (f stop, shutter speed, camera make and model, etc.) if available too. Winners are encouraged to reply with any information they'd like to share about the photo. This is an idea from Sha, that was tried successfully in another thread. I know I learned from that thread. Time to add it to the process I think.

Next question, do we stick with the current method of taking the top 2 from each group into final voting or do we take the top 10-12 overall in terms of votes from all the groups? Again, don't worry about the level of effort required for me. It's a matter of changing 2 lines in a script. I just need to know what people want.

 

[Suburbanmom]

My vote is for top 10-12 overall. Thanks, again. I appreciate your hard work.

I love adding the exif info. I've learned a lot through that information too.

 

[JR6ooo4]

I do not like the thumbnail idea. With a thumbnail all you can see is general composition and subject matter. If the competition is for best photo straight out of the camera then you need to see at least and 800 wide or larger view.

While a single pole would be very large... the current method of voting leaves me not caring about the voting results. The winner is not chosen for almost half a month! We have moved on to two more contests by the time voting results are posted.

Mikeeee