How to improve the photo contest

[Decadancin]

Most of the work involved with moving all the photo entries into different brackets can be automated. My bigger concern is trying to get people to vote in 3-5+ polls a month on a regular basis. How would we do that efficiently within just 2-3 weeks? That problem would also grow with any significant increase to the entry count. If we begin to receive 100 entries a month again that could result in 11 polls during a 2-3 week period. I'm afraid that most of the time saved from the improved reduction phase would potentially be lost to an increase in time needed to properly market each poll. I do believe that the final vote in a bracket contest is more exciting and draws more interaction from the community. That has been the case in the past, and I think it was also true in the recent video and photo tie-breaker contests. However, in those cases there was first a reduction phase.



I think you make a great point. The contests are really intended for active members and two weeks is a long time to wait for poll results. Even if we don't go with brackets on a regular basis this is something we should definitely keep in mind.

So, rather than a bracket system, what about just an elimination round? One week of voting on the full finalists that make the cut into the contest, and then say a three day vote off of the top 5 or 6 photos. You could reset the votes to zero after the first elimination and then let the community vote on the best pics from that month. It could add some excitement like the recent tie break vote, also add some more interest.

 

[Angelwolf]

So, rather than a bracket system, what about just an elimination round? One week of voting on the full finalists that make the cut into the contest, and then say a three day vote off of the top 5 or 6 photos. You could reset the votes to zero after the first elimination and then let the community vote on the best pics from that month. It could add some excitement like the recent tie break vote, also add some more interest.

That sounds plausible. But how would you figure out who makes it to the finalist round? Is that something that the population would do, or the admins?

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

Is it possible to have the month's photos as a scrolling banner across the home page for better visibility and exposure?

If you will be requiring more activity and participation for the process to work you'll need more exposure. It'd be great to have a changing banner of chameleon photos be the first thing you see when you log in. Good photos will catch the eye and elicit a vote from more people.

 

[Angelwolf]

Is it possible to have the month's photos as a scrolling banner across the home page for better visibility and exposure?

If you will be requiring more activity and participation for the process to work you'll need more exposure. It'd be great to have a changing banner of chameleon photos be the first thing you see when you log in. Good photos will catch the eye and elicit a vote from more people.

Great suggestion, but I fear that will just create more work.

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

Great suggestion, but I fear that will just create more work.

I guess it just depends on whether it equates to more or less time than the current process. I think it would be a great way to get a better voter turn out every month. Imagine just having to click on the photo you like to vote on it.

If the bracket system or even single elimination process is going to work you need consistent voter turn out. I don't think high enough numbers of people are actively searching out the contest every month. At least not compared to the active general membership.

 

[Angelwolf]

I guess it just depends on whether it equates to more or less time than the current process. I think it would be a great way to get a better voter turn out every month. Imagine just having to click on the photo you like to vote on it.

If the bracket system or even single elimination process is going to work you need consistent voter turn out. I don't think high enough numbers of people are actively searching out the contest every month. At least not compared to the active general membership.

Perhaps a banner that announces the voting period, then. Click the banner and it will take you to the voting page.

 

[Decadancin]

We had a slide show feature that used to scroll through all the entries. Prior to the software upgrade I used to love that feature. Now you need to click on each to see it and I don't like it as much. I'm searching through @Brad 's closet right now to see if I can locate the old code and secretly restore that feature. So far all I've found in here is spare misting parts and some 8 tracks.

 

[Angelwolf]

We had a slide show feature that used to scroll through all the entries. Prior to the software upgrade I used to love that feature. Now you need to click on each to see it and I don't like it as much. I'm searching through @Brad 's closet right now to see if I can locate the old code and secretly restore that feature. So far all I've found in here is spare misting parts and some 8 tracks.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

I'm just curious, did anything ever come of this? July is a done deal and Ponders has it in the bag, not that I'm knocking her because I'm not. She has a great photo up. It just seems there is no point in bothering with the contest anymore, the fun is gone.

 

[Tortdad]

I'm just curious, did anything ever come of this? July is a done deal and Ponders has it in the bag, not that I'm knocking her because I'm not. She has a great photo up. It just seems there is no point in bothering with the contest anymore, the fun is gone.

Why is that? I'm a brand new member and this was my 1st time voting. I enjoyed looking at the pictures.... voting and looking later to see who won. What's wrong with the current system other than it appears the veterans hear are bored with the contest? Is the same person winning over and over again? I look forward to being able to submit pictures of my own later on.

 

[Angelwolf]

I think we have all been busy, @OldChamKeeper. Personally, I now understand how difficult it is to find "worthy" pictures. Since we started this thread, I have been looking at the pictures in a new light. Emphasis MOST DEFINITELY needs to be made, regarding the end goal of the contest -- the calendar. It seems to have become a place to "show off" your cham. So many of the pictures are just horrible, from a photographer's stand point. It's nothing personal to anyone else. It's just that it's become painfully obvious that no one knows what the true purpose of the contest. (Or they just don't care.) @Brad . I feel your pain!

 

[jamest0o0]

Totally agree with this^

Honestly on a side note I like the idea of showing off Chams. This Ponders person has a unique looking cham, so I'd vote for him. I'm here to see some cool Chams, not just someone with a fancy camera. I get that it's about the quality of the photo and not the chameleon(and it makes sense for a calendar, no complaint here) but that is personally why it doesn't appeal to me all that much, other than a fun little thing to do if I think to. I see a lot of great photos that would be more or less typical looking chameleons in person. I just want to see a cham that blows me away, that I haven't seen before. Of course I don't mean to offend or anything like that, just sharing my whole take on the photo contest.

 

[Tortdad]

So as an newbie on the outside looking in there's not much I can do to help strewn line the process since I don't know anything about it. I would guess from reading this that you get lots of photos that don't qualify. Perhaps putting in a little extra code work now could save time later. When someone hits that submit button have a prompt come up asking a few questions like...

You only get to submit 1 picture a month, are you sure this is the one you want?
Do you feel this picture is clandar worthy?
Is this picture no more than x picels wide air x tall?

If yes to all press submit


As far as the same people winning over and over again. I like how you get locked out for 30 days after getting first place but we should take it a little further. Some people have an entire spectacular collection, along with a good camera and photo skills. You don't want to limit those people to only winning once a year but perhaps quantify it by saying once you've won 1st place that you cannot submit a picture of the same animal for the rest of the year.

For me, if I'm buying a calendar, I want good photos but I also want to see 12 different animals, not the same one in different poses. Also make it that if you've taken 1st place twice in a year you are no longer eligible for 1st place. You are free to continue to submit but if your picture is voted 1st place after winning 2x already you are automatically dropped down to 3rd place so you can still collect a price but 2nd place moves to first and 3rd place moves to 2nd.

 

[Angelwolf]

@Tortdad has some good points, but they seem to me as though they would add to the work of the admins. The goal is to try to decrease the amount of work/time involved. Perhaps limiting the entries to Established Members and up? Then you have a little time on the forum and some understanding of what we would be looking for, calendar-wise. Similar to the way you are only able to post ads and such, after you have been on the forums for a while and moved up in "membership status".

 

[Tortdad]

It depends on how the code is written for this board. It could all be automatic. Would mean more code writing now but less work once it's up and running.

I love the theme idea, we do that on my tortoise board. My favorite them is always the "goofy look". Having a mod deadicated to this event is also a good idea.

 

[Brad]

Thank you everyone for continuing to think of ways to improve the contest. No major decisions have been made but I think we have done a great job so far exploring the options. Instead of waiting to do everything at once I will start implementing a few of the smaller suggestions that are not directly involved with the reduction phase.

As far as the same people winning over and over again. I like how you get locked out for 30 days after getting first place but we should take it a little further. Some people have an entire spectacular collection, along with a good camera and photo skills. You don't want to limit those people to only winning once a year but perhaps quantify it by saying once you've won 1st place that you cannot submit a picture of the same animal for the rest of the year.

In addition to requiring that 1st place winners sit out the following contest, the original rules also included some kind of restriction on the number of times per year a specific animal could win. It's been many years so I don't remember all the details. That rule was eventually removed after hearing feedback from the community. Many members only had one chameleon and I think some wanted to participate more. At the time the contests were much smaller than they are today. It might be worth reconsidering such a restriction but 1 win per animal per year might be too strict for those with only 1 chameleon.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

. It might be worth reconsidering such a restriction but 1 win per animal per year might be too strict for those with only 1 chameleon.

Honestly I think a member shouldn't be allowed to win gold more than once a year. The lizard notwithstanding.

 

[Brad]

In addition to requiring that 1st place winners sit out the following contest, the original rules also included some kind of restriction on the number of times per year a specific animal could win. It's been many years so I don't remember all the details. That rule was eventually removed after hearing feedback from the community. Many members only had one chameleon and I think some wanted to participate more. At the time the contests were much smaller than they are today. It might be worth reconsidering such a restriction but 1 win per animal per year might be too strict for those with only 1 chameleon.

Actually, I just reviewed the rules and that item is still there:

"No specific chameleon may win more than two times in the same given year. This is to help provide variety to the set of contest winners."

 

[Brad]

Honestly I think a member shouldn't be allowed to win gold more than once a year. The lizard notwithstanding.

With the current restrictions a single member can potentially win 6 times in one year. I'm open to reducing that, but I'm not sure about 1 per year. What do you think about 3 per year?

 

[OldChamKeeper]

With the current restrictions a single member can potentially win 6 times in one year. I'm open to reducing that, but I'm not sure about 1 per year. What do you think about 3 per year?

Three a year results in the same issue.

One thing you need is a reduction in entries, that was the goal of this topic. Since we now have so many people entering monthly this is one way of reducing the photos, even if it is only by one person a month. It also encourages people to participate. This month is a good example, Ponders has the contest in the bag so there is no point in entering. If she enters another beauty like that next month the same issue arises. Then people lose interest in the contest all together since its a foregone conclusion who wins. One gold per year also deals with the "popularity contest" issue where a person begs all their friends to vote for them. I say give it a try for 12 months and see what information we collect as a result.