A Note to All Members Creating New Contests! Required Reading!

HorseFeathers

Frazzled
11 Years
Apr 2, 2008
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Southern Maine
Lately, Rio_lindo_97 and I have noticed that many of the new contests being made are not following the rules that Nifty laid down when he first started this section. (See below.) Many are "random" contests; some are "not really contests" at all. We would also like to remind you that this is an Online Poultry Show (hereafter known as OPS) section, and that contests that do not relate to poultry will be moved to the appropriate section of the forum. This is not aimed at anyone in particular; many members have forgotten or not read the rules. Please make sure your contest adheres to the rules below and happy posting!

Contest Guidelines

1) Each "contest" will be in its own thread.

2) The thread / topic titles will be in the format of "Category - Contest End Date." For example: "Buff Orpington - Contest Ends 4/1/08." Make sure to include an ending date for your contest in your thread title.

3) Categories for the contests are limited to photos of poultry only. Threads about other animals will be moved. You can theme your contest following a real-life poultry show category or make up a "fun" contest. Fun contest categories like the "Ugliest Chicken Contest," theme contests (holidays, roosters only, etc. etc. etc.), altered photo contests, etc., are fine.

4) Contests should be judged and have winners posted. Prizes are not necessary. Threads that just ask members to post pictures of their birds, without judging involved, will be moved to the appropriate section of the forum.

5) Pictures on the forum must be a maximum of 300 kb and no more than 800 pixels wide. If you really need to show off your bird, use a thumbnail to link to a larger picture.

(The rest of this thread is conveniently stickied at the top of OPS).

The following is to help people understand more about the OPS.

Judging:
When there is a contest that needs judges, signing up to be one may be a great way to contribute to the OPS. But take into consideration that when you agree to VOLUNTEER to be a judge, you are making a comitment to the contestants and the creater of the contest, that you will enter your results. Do not sign up to be a judge if you know you will not have time to look over the pics, or you do not have a computer at the time your results must be entered. If you are looking to be a judge, you can search the shows and see which contest needs judges. Then you can PM the creator of the contest and ask him if there are still openings. Remember, if you find out you cannot be home the day your results must be entered, inform the creator of the contest immediately so that he/she can find a replacement.

OPS Courtesy
These aren't rules, per se, but they might help you get along with other members better as you make your way around OPS.
1. If someone already has a contest up, don't create another one with the same subject! Read through the first two pages and see if any contests of the sort you are thinking about creating are already running. If it's already ended, go ahead. But, for example, don't go ahead and start a Silkie Contest if there's already one running. Wait until it ends.
2. Be sure to follow the rules the contest creator has laid down before entering a contest. For example, if there is a form to be filled out, fill it out!
3. If you enter a bird in a contest and are told that unfortunately it cannot be judged (for example, if you enter a Silkie in a D'uccle contest) then please edit your post and remove the photo. It is hard to be a judge and it takes a good chunk of time to scroll through all those pics, especially if you have dial-up!
4. This applies both to contest creators AND judges: don't bite off more than you can chew! Nothing's more agonizing than a contest left hanging, whether the creator forgot about it or they're waiting for that one judge to reply. If you have too many contests on your plate, not only will you be overwhelmed, you also might forget.
5. Above all, you should be as courteous here as in other sections of the board. Whether your bird wins or loses a contest, you can be a winner by being polite and congratulating other members if they win a contest.

How to make an attractive contest: (pointers)
-Make a catchy name! If your contest is about frizzles, you might as well call it “The Shizzle Frizzle Contest!”
-Always put the date of when the contest starts and when it is going to end.
-If someone donates a prize, be sure to say it on the subject. Everyone loves prizes, and will be sure to attract almost every person who sees it.

So far, our subject looks like this: The Shizzle Frizzle Contest! 1/11-2/3 Prize donated!

Your Format
You always want to make your format look organized and tidy.
Here is an example of how a contest could be formatted so that it is easy to read through and understand:

Introduction [1]
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Rules [2]
*******
********* ****
*** ***
***** ****
***** **** ****




Categories (optional) [3]
********
******
****** ***
********
**********


Facts (optional) [4]
**** ******* *********** *********** ********* ******
******* ************ ********** *********************
**** ******* *********** *********** ********* ******
******* ************ ********** *********************


Example (optional) [5]
****** *****
********* ****
********** *****



*******

Miscellaneous [6]

********** ************* ********* *******
************* ************
******** ************************** *******
******************** *********

1] The introduction is were you state what the contest is about.
A simple way to start it is by just saying ‘Welcome!’

2] The rules are a requirement. You can make any rules you want to suit your contest. It all depends on how you want to do it.

3] The categories are optional. Depending on the contest you are making, you may or may not have to use categories. Categories are a different classes in wich the pics will be divided in. For example: You made a D’uccle contest, you can make each category a different color variety. Then the judges will choose the best out of each category. Then, you can have a ‘Best of Show’ and choose the best picture of all the categories.

4] The facts are optional. This is where you can state facts about the type of poultry (or particular breed) your contest is about. This will highten desirability for your contest.

5] The example is optional. The examples show everyone how their pics should be entered. This will make it a lot easier to judge as you will not have to organize everything yourself.

6] This is were you can say that you are needing judges, what the prize is, who are the judges, etc.



We hope this helped, and that this will make OPC a better place,
HorseFeathers and Rio_Lindo_97


Happy posting!​
 
Last edited:
Thanks, Horsefeathers and Rio!

I have moved a few threads to the appropriate section. Going forward, here is what I will do as I have time.
1) move threads out as needed
2) request a title suitable to the rules (ie., ending date)

I probably won't move most, but let them run their course.

If you see a problem with a contest, please use the report button and a mod or admin will take care of it as needed.
 
I absolutely love these contests. My only concern with them is that some are offering prizes and nobody has judged the shows.
If you are going to have a contest and tell people that there will be a judging and winners announced then please judge your show and announce the winners.
If you are looking only to have people post their pictures then please post in the appropriate area. Thanks.
 

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