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MEMBERSHIP DRIVE CONTEST!!! (OH, AND YOUR OPINIONS ON CHANGES...) |      |
| » CATEGORY: Daily Blog | BY:
tgbob « |
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| » POSTED ON: 8/26/2009 8:43:56 PM | MOOD:
contemplative « |
Well, it's been a long, hard process, but after all this time, a slew of large updates have been made to this site, and it is now at a point where I have implemented almost all, if not, all of the changes I set out to make. So, once again, I would like to ask you, the users of this site, what your current impressions are of the site overall, and what changes you would like to see made, if any. I'm not going to be specific with what types of responses I'm looking for, as I've done in past surveys and such. Just tell me what you would like to see, what needs changed, what is broken, or just shout your glorious praises if everything is perfect for you!
Also at this time, I would like to tell everybody about the long-awaited membership drive contest! Of course, the main purpose is to increase membership to the site, but more importantly, I want an increase in "active" membership. It's no use having hundreds of members if only a handful participate! So, not only will rewards for new members count in determining the winner of this contest, but if the new members you refer to this site become active participants in the site, you will receive bonus points counting towards your overall score. Plus, if the members you recruit go on to recruit other people, you will also receive some secondary bonus points. Below are contest rules and other information.
CONTEST RULES
SCORING:
Recruiting a member: 5 points
Members recruited by a member you recruited: 3 points
Member you recruited posts in forum or comments: 1 point
Members recruited by a member you recruited posts in forum or comments: 1/2 point
Who is eligible for this contest?
1) All current members (with one exception) are eligible to participate in this contest.
2) Any member that is recruited by an eligible member during this contest is eligible to participate.
Who is NOT eligible for this contest?
1) T.G.Bob... obviously, it wouldn't be fair for me to participate in this contest, as I am making the rules, own the site, and could be accused of having an unfair advantage, modifying the results for my own purposes, etc., so I am making myself ineligible to participate in this contest in any fashion, other than score tabulation and judge on others' eligibility and actions.
2) New members who signup during the contest period, but are not listed as being referred by an existing member at the time of their signup are not eligible. Why not make these people eligible? The main reason for their ineligibility is this: I don't want people who may have really been referred to this site not give credit to the person who referred them in order to give themselves a better chance of winning. It would be too easy for "BOB" to tell "JIM" about the site, then for "JIM" to signup and not put "BOB"'s name in the refer box. Then, "JIM" could go on, refer several people to the site, and "BOB" would not get any credit for having referred "JIM" in the first place. So, the reasoning, in summary, is to keep things fair... to give people who do refer members to this site the credit they deserve, and to keep people from preventing rewards for those who got them to the site in the first place.
3) In conjunction with rules 1 and 2, since I (T.G.Bob) am not an eligible participant in this contest, my username cannot be used as the referring member in this contest, so any member that uses me as the referring member is ineligible.
When does the contest begin/end?
The contest begins September 1st, and will last the entire month through the end of September 30th.
How will I know where I stand in the scoring?
I will be creating a special page to monitor unofficial scoring results, and post official standings during Saturday evenings throughout the month of September.
Any particular rules on posting for new members in regards to scoring?
For the posts to the forum and comments to be counted in scoring, they have to be "contributing" and "on-topic" posts. T.G.Bob has the final say on whether a post counts or not, but the general rule is this: if it is a "TTT (to the top)" post, or something arbitrary, like "I agree" and nothing else, it won't be counted. Gibberish won't count, either, so don't just type garbage in the post. As long as you participate in the discussions at hand, all of your posts should count.
What are the prizes?
The top prize is a $100 gift card to the restaurant of your choice. Runner-up will receive a $50 gift card to the restaurant of your choice. I may have some additional prizes if participation in the contest exceeds my expectations, so I will let you know if any additional prizes are added to the pool.
What other rules are there?
The thing I must stress, above all, is spread the word LEGALLY. No unsolicited emails, SPAM, or any other form of false communication may be used to advertise the site, and if word reaches me that a member, new or recruited, used such means to advertise, they will be disqualified and possibly banned from the site. I don't mind posting a bulletin to your MySpace or Facebook buddies, as long as the messages do not conflict with the policies of those sites, the messages are sent to people you know, and no false information is sent on these messages. I'd like this to be mostly word of mouth advertisement, but if you use these forms of communication to interact with your friends, just obey the rules on those sites.
Lastly, when it comes to final decisions regarding rules, eligibility, and anything else to do with the contest, I have the absolute final say. If you may have questions about why I ruled a certain way in regards to a decision I made, I will be more than happy to answer it, and it may be that I made a mistake with something, in which case, I will correct the mistake, but if I say that a decision stands, that decision is not up for debate. Any detrimental comments made against me, this site, any member of the site, or anything else in regards to this contest, whether posted on this site or a different site, will not be tolerated and I reserve the right to cancel your membership or ban you from the site.
Sorry if I sound so harsh above, but I'm just trying to cover my butt here! :) This is something I'm doing to hopefully get some more participation here, and am paying for the prizes out of pocket, and I don't want somebody who may get angry at the way I'm doing things trying to sue me over not winning a $100 gift card. As I'm sure my friends will agree with, I am a fair and honest person, and will not run this contest in a way where I go out of my way to screw somebody over. The winner and runner-up will win it fair and square.
So, hope you will enjoy this contest. Start spreading the word on September 1st (or just tell your friends to hold off on signing up until then), and enjoy! Good luck to all!
-- TG
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OPINIONS: 4 PEOPLE APPROVED, WHILE 2 PEOPLE DISAPPROVED