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Feedback on the Cocktail Contest

A couple of you had a negative reaction to our creating a cocktail contest on Questionland. The contest appeared to be advertising posing as a valid question for the community, and as such may be interpreted as being underhanded and spammy.

I'll explain our motives and then allow you all to tell me what you think.

There were three reasons why we wanted to do contests:

1. We thought it would be fun for the community to engage in something competitive and have the opportunity to win something. We had originally thought of this being an art contest for a local cafe or a style contest for one of the local "antique" clothing stores. But a cocktail seemed like an equally good way to start and one that most people could contribute to.

2. We wanted to connect the online participation on Questionland with the real life Seattle where people actually go to local places in person and maybe meet one another. We think this is consistent with the goals of Questionland as a local community supporting the local scene.

3. On to the subject of money. Let me emphasize that Havana did not pay to host this contest nor was there any backroom advertising trades. They simply agreed to host the event. They are innocent of any potential subversive advertising. In fact there was nothing intentionally subversive about this. It's just a potential future source of sponsorship for local businesses and so it's advertising in the same way that someone might sponsor a category or event. This just has a prize for the community as well.

So are you into contests? As always, we'd love to hear your ideas.

Nancy asked in Questionland FAQs about 1 year ago | Report

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6 Answers

  • Hey_girl_hey_small
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    Reposting from the contest section:

    Good lord, people need to get a grip.

    If you don't want to participate in the contest, DON'T.

    If you don't want to read the contest questions, DON'T.

    This is much ado about nothing.

    Fnarf and kitchnsync need to remove the bunch from their panties.

    Havana is a great local business that routinely engages in in community events. I don't see this as any different than the guest experts and specials sections.

    Dan Williams answered in Questionland FAQs about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Labcoat_small
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    A technical point about this contest:

    Since number of votes received is the only explicit selection criteria for a winner, then there is a bias against those who post closer to the deadline.

    Obviously the drinks will be judged with a little more depth than that, but to be fair, if votes are to be considered, shouldn't they be restricted until the deadline of the contest or controlled for in some other manner?

    Danger answered in Questionland FAQs about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Image00666_small
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    Yeah, I did have a negative reaction to it. Now that you have explained it, it seems like a good idea. We've already had several happy hours, but it couldn't hurt to have another organized by the site admins themselves.


    With that said, when the question originally went up, it was from "Havana something or other" not "The Mushroom." And the icon was Havana's logo, not a shroom. It looked a little more commercial.

    For the record, I went commando today.

    kitschnsync answered in Questionland FAQs about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Finn3goof_small
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    Count me in.

    Tom answered in Questionland FAQs about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Gold-head_small
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    See, now I feel mortified that I made you feel bad. I'm sorry.

    Fnarf answered in Questionland FAQs about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Sacri_ordines_by_charism_small
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    Rev.Enant

    1. Contests = good.
    Opportunities to compete, and to win stuff (especially cash during the Great Recession)= we likey like Mikey.
    2. Face time = I totally recognize that it's for some people, and not for others. Putting the option out there is nice.
    3. If Havana has/had no stake in the outcome other than 'hostess', would it have been possible to not mention them (and The Stranger for that matter) until AFTER the entrants have made their recipe pitches? Certainly the contest could have been "your drink will be featured in a seattle bar for a month" ?

    Ultimately, I mildly agree with this being a shade-of-grey version of spam and yet I don't think this was about whether we like contests or not. We like contests. But the Qland format keeps getting tinkered with (some good, so not so good), and some of us are invariably going to go all "get off my lawn you damn kids" with changes.
    Fnarf's spot-on when he posted 'We ARE the content'

    It would have played much better being a QLAND blog-only posting, perhaps?

    Rev.Enant answered in Questionland FAQs about 1 year ago | Report
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