Re: 2 1/2 weeks to go.......

["James Purchase" <jpurch@interlog.com>]

"We'll have to see by the numbers at the end, but I will probably recommend
that we combine sizes for the three non-garden categories."

Ya, that's cool, I suppose. The only thing is that we have all these prizes
to give away and I'd rather that we spread them around to as many people as
possible rather than giving one person multiple items. I also remember Karen
saying something about the need to follow thru and award a Prize in any
category where there was an entry, regardless of what we as organizers or
the judges think of the particular entry (or I guess, how many entries are
in a particular category, as long as there is at least one). As I remember,
the discussion was about whether or not it would be necessary to award
prizes in categories where none of the entered aquascapes were very nice -
Karen said that it WAS. You have a Contest, you accept what is entered and
deal with it. It might seem to some that we are playing favourites if we
adjust the rules or categories so late in the game.

The judges are responsible for the awarding of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
prizes in each category which has sufficient entries to be judged. If there
are spare prizes after they have done that - we will decide who they go to,
not the judges. (Either doubling up on items, like the CO2 regulator + CO2
reactor, or in awarding "Honorable Mentions" or some such thing.)

Thoughts on this, anyone???

---------------
> 3. If we DON'T get the full subscription of 250 entries by the 30th,
should
> we consider extending the deadline to the 15th of October????? Would it
even
> matter?

Tough call.  What would be a reasonable MINIMUM?  50?  I
think there's a good chance we'll make that by the deadline.  Personally,
I think it would be very cool to be able to have it closed, possibly
judged by the AGA Convention on November 3rd, so we could show some sort
of preview at the convention.
------------

I would hope that we will get more than 50 entries, and am worried what part
the address mix-ups may have played in this, if any. I just know that the
latest cock-up, the September 2000 FAMA notice, isn't my fault. I've checked
the original I sent them contains the correct URL. The mistake is their's,
not ours.

But if all we get is 50 entries, after ALL THIS WORK, it will probably be
the first and last time this is held.

I have no problem with you making an announcement at the November
convention, let's just see how the time line works for that. But remember
that our official announcement date remains November 30th. I don't think its
fair for us to change too many rules in mid-stream.

----------
One thing I catch myself thinking is "Oh, better not put the All-Glass
tank in such and such category, because the guy from Singapore might win
and then it'd be a real bitch to send it to that country".  This is why
I'm trying to keep the rest of you guys sheltered from the actual entries
as much as possible.  I think it would be good to choose the prizes based
on the particular category AND the statistics within the category (i.e.
looks like > 284 liter aquatic gardens will be the most competitive, so
perhaps we put the big tank as the prize for this, maybe the CO2 reg as
the 1st prize for the medium size garden, etc...).
-------------

Pretty much my feelings - I'd like to see the winning entries AND know where
the person lives, before we decide upon a particular item to award as a
Prize. I think that as a general rule, more expensive prizes should go to
First Place than to Second or Third, but the number of total entries within
any particular category has to be considered as well. The more competition
there is within a category, the nicer the prizes should be.

James Purchase
Toronto

  ------------------
  To unsubscribe from this list, e-mail majordomo@thekrib.com
  with "unsubscribe aga-contest" in the body of the message.
  To subscribe to the digest version, add "subscribe aga-contest-digest"
  in the same message.
  Old messages are available at http://lists.thekrib.com/aga-contest
  When asked, log in as username is "aga-contest", and password "lookie-loo".