So You Want To Run a Contest?

[DezzyBee]

Hello, one and all!

Today we're having a little lesson, a lesson on being a Contest Host! This is a very time consuming and frustrating position sometimes, but with the right motivation and training anyone can do it!!!!!

First of all, as stated in the contest rules all contests must be approve by someone of the admin staff. This includes me, as the head admin as well.

In order to initiate the approval process you must fill out the following form and PM it to your favorite staff member! Eventually each staff will have a speciality of type of contest they can approve, but for now just PM them to me!

Your Name:
Contest Name: (ie. DezzyBee's Spelling Bee!)
Contest Type: (Artistic, Graphic Arts, Literature (specify type), etc.)
Judges: (If you have specific members you've already requested to judge the contest, state their names.)
Submission requirements: (for example, if it's a literature contest, is there a specific subject? amount of words? If it's an art contest is there anything specific that the piece needs to qualify? A certain color palette perhaps?)
Prizes: (List the number of available prizes, what they are, if there's and specifications for the prize (aka only a certain subject of art or something you can do) and if there's places available (1st place, 2nd, 3rd, etc)
Time Frame: When would you like the contest to start? How long would you like it open for?

[DezzyBee]

So that's how you get your contest on the board! Now lets discuss running the contest, and some terms I'm employing.

Contest Host: This is the person hosting the contest, aka YOU. They provide the information, requirements and prizes.

Judges: These people judge the contest and make a decision on who wins the prize and runner ups! There are three types of judgement teams.
+Panel - These are 2-4 people chosen by the Contest Host or who have volunteered via Open Judgement to help the Contest Host judge. They may not participate in the contest unless otherwise spoken.
+Member Poll - After the closing deadline, a poll will open where the members can vote on submissions. The highest vote wins the contest. This is best for a Grand Prize Only scenario.
+Contest Host Judge - The Contest Host judges and chooses the winner themselves. This is usually used if the contest is meant for something specifically for the host (a logo or something for example.)

Support Admin - This is the admin that approved the contest idea, they're basically there to make sure the contest doesn't turn sour. The Host is still purely in charge of moderating the contest, however the admin is there to help them if members get rude, or posts need to be deleted.

[DezzyBee]

Contest Etiquette

While there are the normal etiquette rules for the contestants; respect, no flaming, no arguing with the judges, etc. There's also things that people running contests should do/be aware of.

When you decide to run a contest you take on the responsibility of making sure everything runs smoothly, contestant's questions are answered, and that prizes are doled out in an appropriate and fair, timely manner.

I've been on both ends of the spectrum; the contestant and the host. I've made prizes, and I've won prizes in the past... and I have to say one of my worst experiences was a poetry contest I entered when I was 15-ish IRL. There was a cash grand prize, prizes for 2nd-5th and then consolation prizes for the rest. First of all, the organizers weren't so organized. They had no clue that so many local poets would enter, they only had two separate categories for age group (a 18+ section and a 17 and under section), and it was a mix of subjects...

I'm a firm believer that you can't judge poetry without having a specific subject or goal in mind, or even one solid poetry type throughout. Everyone's going to write something so different and beautiful if they can go all across the board. Anyway, the contest was a month long, and over 600 people entered total across both age groups. It took them another 4 weeks to decide, and to my surprise I won 3rd place in my age bracket! WOOHOO!! I won like a $30 gift certificate to a local venue or something of the sort. I don't quite remember... mostly because I didn't get it until the end of summer. If the contest ended in late May, was decided by June, why did it take until September to get it? And by then the place was closed for the season... and by the time they opened in spring, the gift certificate was expired.

Now obviously, something like that won't happen to us. Most likely there's not money involved in our various prizes, and even when we had close to that amount of active people, we never had 600+ in a contest (thank the Goddess). But even so, there's some things to be aware of as the prizegiver of a contest.

• It is your responsibility to make sure the prize gets to the rightful owner. Get whatever extra contact information you might need in order to discuss their prize with them (if it's an art piece, etc) and make sure they know your own limitations.
• If for some reason there's a delay in the process, let the prize winner know. I'm sure most will be understanding that you need to take a day or two off due to the death of your precious pet fish Guppy McFishypants. We're not heartless.
• Set a time frame. If you decide on May 1st, unless it's a detailed or intricate prize that you have to work on with the winner, it shouldn't take a month to get it to them barring internet/computer/etc issues. As I said above though, if you ARE having problems let the winner (or an admin know and we'll let them know.)
• All that said, if there is MONEY or a PHYSICAL OBJECT included in your prize list (for example sometimes I will actually give a gift certificate or a physical print of something) MAKE SURE IT GETS TO THEM. Addresses, emails exchanged, etc are good tracking methods but if you're willing to work out shipping costs/absorb them, get some insurance and ALWAYS get a tracking code. I make a point of taking pictures of the print/object beforehand, and sending them to the person in question so that they can know RIGHT AWAY if there are any defects when it gets to them.
• If you have multiple prizes on the line, make sure you let everyone involved know where you are in the creation process of all of them. If you're working on the 1st prize winner's first, make sure 2nd-3rd place know that so they don't get impatient.