Criteria for the Weekly Contest

One of the members in my club thought it would be interesting for me to share my opinion on the main message board, so here it goes:

I have been saying there needs to be some guidelines in determining the winners of the weekly contest. The poems on the board and the weekly contest winners are some of the first poems people see when coming to P&Q. If that is suppose to be a representation of our best poetry, it's a mockery!

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A few of the categories we should have in which contestants recieve points or have points deducted.

The number of votes a poem recieves should also be taken in to consideration.
Since everyone is entitled to a vote, it shouldn't matter if you are friend or family.

........And that is why we should have guidelines because then it doesn't matter who nominated your poem if it must meet certain criteria. I still think it is discrimination to discount a nomination because it was made by a friend or family member. You should be able to vote for the poem you think is one of the best, no matter who wrote it. How is it fair for someone else to say why they think you voted for any poem? This is why I have boycotted the contest.

Since one of our members once compared the contest to the presidential election, I must point out that Hillary Clinton's friends and family can vote for her!!

"The poems on the board and the weekly contest winners are some of the first poems people see when coming to P&Q."

^I agree Rachel....a little like "curb appeal"

"Spelling
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^the winners should at least be held to the standards of using proper grammer and using spell check or looking up a word they are unsure of....

"This is weak, I asked the main post be posted......I could care less whether you or anyone else boycotts the process of the contest, you are only doing the other members a terrible injustice and disservice, but that's what makes the world go round...."

^^^^^Bob , why in the world would you want people to be hurt by someone's private conversation?....I for one am not boycotting anything...and will vote for whom I think has the better poem of the week...regardless of "eligibility"

Rachel,

The problems that you have pointed out are indeed valid and they are problems that we have been addressing for a while now.

As Bob stated there is a list drawn up weekly that involves alot of work. This is a list of poems that are disqualified for various reasons.

We are working hard to to keep the contest fair and fun for everyone involved.

^This is weak, I asked the main post be posted......I could care less whether you or anyone else boycotts the process of the contest, you are only doing the other members a terrible injustice and disservice, but that's what makes the world go round....^

Well, I may have misunderstood you but I think it will still be interesting to hear other people's opinions on the issue.

Sherry Lynn, Thank you for your response.

Bob, I am not trying to anyone an injustice. Contests have rules and regulations or guidelines. One of the guidelines should not be if the judges think you voted for a poem because it was written by a friend or family member. If I think someone wrote one of the best poems regardless of my relationship with them, I should be able to vote for it. Since I have been told that my vote may be discounted, I chose not to participate at all and instead leave my opinions in a comment to the author. When this becomes a real contest, then I will participate. I could care less that you could care less Bob, watch that blood pressure of yours!

Rachel: We do not discourage you from voting on family members or friends, however; when you or anyone for that matter, votes continuly on the same person every single week and doesn't expand their reading/voting base, then we do take that into consideration. We are trying to make the contest more diverse with more people that are not getting recgonized, and how can we do that when we have people voting continuly for the same people week after week just because they are family or friends. It makes no sense to take advantage of the tools we have provided. That's just my two cents.

^Let me ask you this......seriously and honestly

if I have 24 motorcycle club members join this site and everytime I write a poem, regardless whether it sucks or not (and I can write some sucky stuff), and all of them give me a five and nominate me, is that really fair, especially if it's stands out like a sore thumb that that's what they are doing?^

That is very true Bob cause then it is more of a popularity contest. No that would not be fair and I see your point!

Thanks for your feedback Joe. For me in particular, I think my mother is one of the best poets on the site and all of you who have read her poems know it too. Her poems flow well, contain excellent word choice, she doesn't force her rhymes or use a lot of filler words, she can actually spell.......she writes quality poems.I just didn't want anyone to feel like I was voting for her because she's my mom. That doesn't mean I would vote for her every single week. That just wouldn't be fair. I understand the point of going outside your box because I am sure there are many undiscovered poems that are worth a read or nomination. Thanks for the feedback guys!

Aww how cute...

A mini potrayal of the real life events...This really is a microchosm of society...Isn't it?

Sarcasm aside, I would say that I agree in respects to the mockery of the weekly contests and how they are truly judged. However, I do discount your efforts at reaching your ill advised conclusion.

I think you need to understand that this is a website, and sadly people use their poems as means to an end, by that I mean to bolster their reptutation and their names as poets.

Shameless self promotion is rife in these parts, but you yourself display it as well, by stating that family members should vote for your poems...Excuse me, but that makes no sense...Why?

Why ask for poetry to be judged by those biased from the very beginning?

Voting is nothing more needless in my opinion, but I guess in this site is used as politics...Lol.

"I think you need to understand that this is a website, and sadly people use their poems as means to an end, by that I mean to bolster their reptutation and their names as poets. "

^lol noir....here on P&Q? that's too funny...lmao

No this is true that is the only reason i joined P&Q.

*does a strange glare*

Lol noir....here on P&Q? that's too funny...lmao"

Lol...This is P&Q after all, where plagerisers are still lurking and the most popular on the board threads and or club, will get their poems read and voted...Lol.

Where else but P&Q...Lol.

^ well said Illu...as always....

^Shameless self promotion is rife in these parts, but you yourself display it as well, by stating that family members should vote for your poems...Excuse me, but that makes no sense...Why?^

^Why ask for poetry to be judged by those biased from the very beginning?^

Apparently you didn't read my post and that would be the reason you had trouble making sense of it unless you have a language barrier...... I never stated family members should vote for my poems. I said if I want to vote for a poem written by a family member, I should be able to. Just because you are related doesn't mean you are bias!

I would also like to add that you don't see me on the Request to r/r/c threads. I do not solicit people to read, comment or vote on any of my poems. I was merely pointing out a few of the many flaws of our weekly contest.

^However, I do discount your efforts at reaching your ill advised conclusion. ^

I believe you are the one ill advised. And who are you to discount anything anybody says? No need to be rude!

Thank you to all the moderators for their feedback. It is appreciated.

^We need to nominate based on quality, not friendships^

Exactly! But how is one to say a reason another has voted for a poem? Guidelines would weed these types of votes out because the poem would have to meet certain criteria.

^Hillary reminds me of a particular Aunt of mine and I definitely wouldn't back her if she were in the ol' horse race!^

I just used her as an example and she looks way too old to be racing!

This is still a new thing and it takes alot of work...

Let's sit back and see how it works out. So far it seems to be the best thing that has happened as far as the contest in a very long time

^When a senior member nominates a poem maybe they should have to fill out something (like we have to do when we praise a comment) saying exactly why we are nominating it...how it made us feel...content..etc.^

Hellon, that is an excellent idea!

^If the judges believe that the poem with the most votes is definitely NOT the best poem, then it could be announced as the "Most Popular Poem" and the poem they believe to be the best could be announced as "Best Poem".^
This is an excellent idea!!!

^Being serious, I do believe that a penalty should be introduced for bad spelling and poor grammer, provided it is recognised that there are some instances where poor grammar can be important to the poem.^

This is also a good idea. People could at least take the time to do a spell check!

^Misspelled words and poor use of words can be easily corrected all it takes is a PM. It would be sad if a really good poem was rejected on those grounds alone^

True but again, misspelled words can easily be corrected by doing a spell check.

Ok