Contest Update?

[vodid]

Wondering how many submissions there were, and eager to read what the members penned. When will the submissions be posted for a full vote?

[back alley]

patience grasshopper...

[hoot]

It might be plausible to disallow voting for your own submission. That way those of us who have contributed will get a chance to earnestly read and rate the other submissions.

[JoeFriday]

I was planning to use the Chicago voting method.. early and often!

[Duncan Ross]

I was planning to use the Chicago voting method.. early and often!

How about the Florida voting method. Makes it much more exciting!

[cp_ste.croix]

is there going to be a restriction on ip addresses? i hope so. A new Bessa might tempt me towards unethicality... :)

[ddutchison]

Ah, the complications of being nice in a sometimes not so nice world.

If possible, it might be a good idea to restrict eligible voters to people who were members of RFF on or before the deadline (in other words, if you joined RFF after May 31st, your vote on this one would not be counted). While I have the utmost trust in the members of the RFF community, this contest has been widely publicized, and the prize is a substantial one.

I also like the idea of encouraging contributors to vote for their favorite essay - other than their own. Since there will only be 10 members lucky enough to be in this position, perhaps their votes could be most simply entered by emailing them to Jorg. Since they will all have some skill in writing, their reasons might make interesting reading as well.

[jlw]

I also like the idea of encouraging contributors to vote for their favorite essay - other than their own.

Why? This would be a bit like saying, "You may vote for any candidate EXCEPT the one you most want to win." Not exactly democracy in action.

Or to put it another way: Suppose that Joe Finalist honestly feels that his essay IS the best of those entered? Why should he alone be disqualified from voting his preference?

Besides, I suspect there's a game-theory issue lurking here: If nine of the ten finalists vote for an essay OTHER than their own (thus canceling out each other's votes) then wouldn't the tenth gain a slight potential advantage if he refrained from voting at all? Iin which case, why would ANY contestant want to vote if he couldn't be sure that ALL the other contestants had voted?

[ddutchison]

... I suspect there's a game-theory issue lurking here...

I see your point, it is a restriction on free voting (as well as an unnecessary complication for the admins).

As to game theory. A brief conversation with any of the poor souls who's lot it has been to teach me mathematics would convince you that this was the farthest thing from my mind. :)

[MP Guy]

i am still reading and selecting. I have had to send some to joe for review as well since I have so many. its hard selecting 10. but once I do, it will be posted for you guys to vote.

[hoot]

it might be a good idea to restrict eligible voters to people who were members of RFF on or before the deadline (in other words, if you joined RFF after May 31st, your vote on this one would not be counted).That's a very good idea, which I think should be seriously considered.

If nine of the ten finalists vote for an essay OTHER than their own (thus canceling out each other's votes) then wouldn't the tenth gain a slight potential advantage if he refrained from voting at all? Iin which case, why would ANY contestant want to vote if he couldn't be sure that ALL the other contestants had voted?That's a valid argument, too. I suppose another solution would be to let everyone *except* the 10 lucky finalists place a vote.