Contest Procedure: How Everything Works

**Adam** · 09-08-2006, 07:55 PM

General Procedure for the PentaxForums.com Monthly Photo Contests

Every month, PentaxForums.com will host an organized photo contest for its members. All members are invited to participate!

The overall structure for each contest will be as follows:

1. On the first day of every month, a sticky thread with that month's contest theme will be posted within the main contest forum. The thread containing the old theme will be unstuck.
2. Each contest participant will submit his/her photo in a separate thread in the submission forum. Until voting begins, the threads containing entries will not be publicly visible. In addition to using the forum attachment system to post photos, users may also link to photos from their online photo albums (i.e. from PBase or Flickr). Threads should be titled uniformely- please see this post for guidelines.
3. At the end of the month, all current submissions will be moved into the voting forum and a public voting poll will be created. The results will be hidden until voting is over. All original submission threads will be visible.
4. After two weeks of voting, the winning entry and the runner-up will be announced and the poll will be closed. The two winning photos will be moved into the winners' showcase, while all other entries will be moved into the previous submissions forum. The winning entry will also be recognized on the site homepage. We ask that if your photo is a winning entry, you do not delete it from online albums without prior notice, so that we're sure it remains visible in the Showcase.

While voting is in progress, specific comments are allowed in the submission threads themselves, but not in the poll. However, general commenting (that doesn't mention what you voted for) is indeed allowed in the poll thread.

The complete contest rules and restrictions can be found in this thread: Official Contest Rules

Please enjoy our photo contests, and good luck to everyone! In the distant future, we may also award prizes to winners

Sticky updated as of December, 2008.

vievetrick · 09-08-2006, 08:00 PM

Okay I am a little slow what do you mean buy this
-You'll attach your submission in the submission forum at http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/f...splay.php?f=21 (other members will not be able to view your thread)

carpents · 09-08-2006, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by Mo

Well, the eagerly-requested contest section is now here!

We will have photo contests every two weeks- the basic structure will be as follows:

-I post a theme (yes, suggestions will be taken)

Are the shots time-driven as well? (I.e. they must be taken within the two weeks?)

Originally Posted by Mo

-You'll attach your submission in the submission forum at http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/f...splay.php?f=21 (other members will not be able to view your thread)

Are you going to be able to vote for as many/few pictures as you want? Is the voting a 1st-2nd-3rd or is it one vote for one picture sort of thing? Are the votes public or anonymous?
I also think we might want to set up disclaimers for ownership of the photos themselves. I vote to make the ownership/copyright stay with the photographer at all times.

Also, how about keeping the entries anonymous? Like the monthly Pentax Challenge on dpreview - no posting your entry beforehand because it could sway the voters.

**Adam** · 09-08-2006, 08:10 PM

vievetrick, this is so that members can't see what's been submitted until the voting begins. (I believe that also answers your last question, carpents)

carpents, you'll be able to vote for 1, possibly 2 pics. The voting will be anonymous (only I will be able to see who voted to prevent possible cheating).

Obviously, ownership remains with the original photographer

I hope that clarifies things up a bit...

carpents · 09-08-2006, 08:24 PM

About the anonymous thing, my question was more in regard to making sure people don't post on their pbase site, or at dpreview, or somewhere that other people can identify the picture as theirs. This doesn't have to be mandatory, but maybe recommended?

Also, how many entries can each person have?

**Adam** · 09-08-2006, 08:34 PM

One entry per person per contest will be the limit.

And yeah, I also recommend that the photo you submit not be published or posted anywhere else on the web

*photo_mom* · 09-09-2006, 06:26 AM

Hi Mo!

This looks to be a neat way of running the challenge. It also looks to be an administrative nightmare to you! With keeping up this forum and the challenge, you've taken on a fulltime job it seems!!

OT: I REALLY like how you can see the previous thread entries while editing your own post. That is one thing that drives me crazy about DPR. I either have to have two tabs open so I can see the previous posts to remind myself about what's been said and what I'm mentioning or constantly use the back button.

One of the questions Sean (carpents) asked was about whether there was a time constraint. Does the photo have to be taken within the 2 weeks that posting is allowed?

My question is: The title of the challenge is 'bi-monthly.' After 2 weeks of posting and during the week of voting will a new theme be posted?

**Adam** · 09-09-2006, 10:02 AM

No, the photo can be taken at any time, not within the 2 weeks.

And yes, a new theme will be posted every 2 weeks

Heh, it does look like an administrative nightmare, but I've found a few moderators who can help me with thread managment

Tom Lusk · 09-09-2006, 11:25 AM

Bi-monthly is every two months...

I assume this contest is bi-weekly or semi-monthly?

Sorry- as an editor, I couldn't resist!

**Adam** · 09-09-2006, 12:20 PM

I guess I meant bi-weekly. I'll fix that

foxglove · 09-10-2006, 06:36 PM

Let's see if I understand any of this.

If I reply to the submission thread, attaching an entry (however that's done - I'll work on that!), it will only be visible to you (Mo) and me.

The contest runs for two weeks... so are the dates for the "September" contest 9 through 23 Sept? If the contests are bi-weekly, there isn't really a September, October or any month-related contest. I suppose that's just semantics, but I'm confused by it...

Being the end of summer, I've posted most of my best insect macros already on my PBase account. Are you planning to stick to the "not posted anywhere identifiable" rule or can I just ask everyone not to look at my pbase gallery? Not that anyone would in the first place...

Thanks for sorting out my various confusions!

Julie

**Adam** · 09-10-2006, 06:49 PM

Let's start with your first question and work our way down

- Don't reply to the submission thread. Rather, post your photo in a new thread here: http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/f...splay.php?f=21 . To attach photos, scroll down to "thread options" when posting a new thread, and click on the "manage attachments" button. Then, select the file from your PC (or enter the .jpg's URL from pbase) and click "upload."

-Yeah, each contest will run for 2 weeks. This first one, however, will run through all of September. Future topic threads will be entitled October Contest #1, October Contest #2, November Contest #1, November Contest #2, and so on.

-That's just a recommendation, not a scrict rule

You'll be allowed to post those pics.

I hope these answers help!

little laker · 09-11-2006, 01:10 AM

For a very affordable prize I'd be willing to donate 1 or 2 of my best photo's (If other members are as well) to use in a poster, or something like that.

foxglove · 09-11-2006, 08:09 AM

Originally Posted by Mo

...
I hope these answers help!

I hope so, too!

I'm a learn by doing kind of person, it should become clear once I try it. Thanks for the detailed instructions!
Julie

*HogRider* · 09-11-2006, 09:09 AM

Couple of questions:

Are those pictures posted anonymously? When they are up for voting will people know who posted it? If so, it would probably advised to not a have a signature or the Copyright thing on it.

Is there a size limitation (pixels and KB?)

Oh and BTW, just as with others a lot of the pictures I like have been posted either on my page or some forum somewhere at one time.

Thanks