We NEED a new contest...

1. 84

   Johnrr631992posted 10 years ago

   A few months ago a contest was announced that it would be approaching, and then put off.. The last contest I remember was the review a product contest, and I remember winning one of the daily prizes. I would prefer a new contest, as on top of my busy writing schedule already, eventually I will run out of things to write about, and would like a challenge to compete in..

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      Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I agree! It's time we get our creative juices flowing again and earn some money in the process.

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      Billie Kelpinposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I agree as well.  The one article that I'm really proud of and that generates the most in response and views is one that I created because of the one contest I entered.  I think hubpages could make it easier on the staff by not having daily winners. (Maybe that would make it harder for them.  I don't know).  I wouldn't even mind paying a small entry fee, like $15.  There could be more place winners.  Gold, silver, bronze, (aluminum alloy - I don't care).  The competition of cold hard cash would be GREAT! and would produce great articles and that benefits everyone!  This is a great suggestion Johnrr and I'm glad you started the discussion.  If this doesn't work, maybe I'll run one off of my website (tee hee).

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         DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I would not be in favor of an entry fee.  There are probably many more hubbers here besides myself who find themselves in pinched financial circumstances, and a fee would prevent those people from entering the contests...and yes, even at "just" $15.  You'd be surprised how much difference that amount makes at the grocery store, or the gas station.

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2. 84

   rebekahELLEposted 10 years ago

   I don't know about contests, but if you want topics to write about, you can always check out the link at the top of the forums about promising topics for the week.  You can also set up your own hub challenge from those topics.
   The thing about contests is the amount of low quality hubs that are entered.  People write in a hurry to enter daily and the hubs don't always show effort and quality.

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   1. 84

      Johnrr631992posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I understand where you are coming from, but typically the winners are always chosen of the best hubs that are submitted for the contest, which typically will discourage those who write bad rushed hubs.. At the same time, I have tried out the weekly topic forums over the last few years, but the contests always get me more involved. I have participated in essentially every contest in the last 3 years, and I believe its been to long since we've had one.. Especially since one was planned, but got put off due to site updates.

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         susi10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I'd love a contest, it would make writing high quality hubs very exciting! We should all form a petition or something so the HP staff might consider it! So, maybe if a Hubber wanted a contest they could say so here.

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      ktrappposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      If they would eliminate the random daily drawing winner feature and make all winning entries based upon quality and other contest guidelines then I would think it would discourage rushed Hubs from being entered.

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         Barbara Kayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         ktrapp, I agree. I never tried to publish every day. Instead I tried to write the best hub I could. I never won though. If it was all based on quality, we could get a bunch of good hubs on here to help the site.

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         Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I also agree with this suggestion. I don;t think the daily drawing is necessary. With the elimination of the random daily prizes the payout for the other prizes could be bigger such as a weekly prize and three grand prizes.

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3. 84

   Johnrr631992posted 10 years ago

   I would also like to point out, most of the comments are coming in about the fact that work is rushed on the contest. The last contest that was supposed to be posted was based off of articles that were essentially flawlessly written. So work that would be rushed would not have won anything anyways. I believe that a contest based on these guidelines, or if HubPages specified that the contest needs to be done to a certain level of quality that may present people with the task of writing better articles.. My initial statement stands that I believe that some sort of contest should come back soon, it has been to long, and I know a handful of members that joined HubPages around contest times, and were excited to see that feature. I also know that this will get people motivated to continue writing EVEN if their numbers are down, and they were beginning to get discouraged as I have also been seeing lately in a lot of questions, and on the forums with people wanting to move their articles to new sites.

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      Barbara Kayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      +1

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      DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That's true, Johnrrr631, but a plethora of rushed articles would also make a heavier workload for staff to sort and eliminate the chaff--so I agree with eliminating the daily prize.

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4. 81

   Mark Ewbieposted 10 years ago

   How can anyone make a sensible quality judgement that is accurate?
   
   They can't.  Therefore any contest becomes either favoritism or a lottery.
   
   Just a thought.

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      DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      If you base quality on properly constructed sentences, good grammar, and an obvious understanding of the English language, that is one set of criteria not based on subjective factors.
      If the next criterion is about thorough coverage  and knowledge  (or good research) of  the subject at hand, that, too, is quantifiable without prejudice.
      Once those are passed, it then becomes about how well the piece meets the style guidelines of Hub Pages itself.  Those judgments are made daily in the vetting that allows for the featured/not featured status notifications.
      So, in the end, the winner is the one who has met all 3 of these sets of criteria...hardly a "popularity contest." (IMO)

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         Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         OK, I'll bow to your knowledge on this

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         Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I agree. I think the new QAP thingy which HP now has may allow for better quality articles being accepted into the contest.

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