September Contest Nominations

[WallyLlama]

That's very gracious of Brandye and not a surprise... one of the reasons she was a solid, credible contributor was that her motivation was truly "helping others." She did not post to satisfy her ego or to win popularity contests.

Sometimes the BEST advice isn't very popular.

We had something like this contest a long time ago and, in my opinion, it contributed little to the health of the forum. (I say that in spite of the fact that I "won" it once so there's no "sour grapes" involved!) In fact, there was a fair amount of bitterness and backstabbing during those contests. That has been wonderfully absent since those contests were "forgotten" by moderation. In some cases, the winners stopped posting after winning. I'm not sure that's totally a coincidence.

I see nothing to be gained by a contest based on the principle that some members are "more worthy" and somehow "lucky."

I disagree strongly with the statement that talk is cheap on this or any forum. It is "talk" that helps others with problems and it is the genuine words of appreciation from those who've been helped that makes it work. This board's recent history has included some compassionate and thoughtful contributors who do not need to be bribed to post. I "vote" to keep it that way and nominate no one (or everyone).

[BigKahuna]

I personally think that a prize like that is a nice reward...

[ItalStall]

As an old time lurker and some-time poster I thought I would break my silence on something not too "life-critical" ...

A little fun and recognition of members thoughtful input has to be a good thing surely?

I do agree that we should not be trying to place some hierarchy of value on contributions, so pulling a winner from a hat of nominations seems like a fun, but not too serious, way to go.

As long as the "fun contest" is treated by everyone as just that - fun and nothing more - I say go ahead.

[ravi]

this is very good suggessiom