I'm finding more & more that contests are being abandoned I was hoping that there may be a solution to this in the future. It seems that digitalpoint contests have become popular enough amongst designers & new CH's that it would justify creating a separate sub-domain dedicated to it & with better security measures. The top 3 reasons for contest abandonment that I am finding is: 1.) CH ran out of or spent the funds budgeted for the winning designer. 2.) CH scrapped / Stole one of the designs without paying for it (Violating copyright laws & international treaties). 3.) CH didn't see anything they wanted & or failed to provide good directional feedback to achieve the results needed for a selection. The above may not be all the cases, but it seems to be the majority. Granted, there are some scamming (Self proclaimed) designers that steal others work & try to sell it as their own here too, so I'm not just picking on the CH's. However, as a designer myself, I find it a bit frustrating to enter say 8 contests & only 1 of all 8 is real . I figured if enough REAL designers spoke out on this thread that maybe Digitalpoint would start developing a site specifically for design contests & possibly charge CH's a small fee to host a contest (Like some of the other design sites do). This would eliminate allot of the Fake contests (Not all, But allot) & provide digitalpoint with additional revenue streams. What does everyone else think about this?
I agree every word you said.There are a lot of fake contest which steals our time.I think administration should do something about it immediately.
I am going to start up a few contests soon once I can actually start a thread. I would not like to be penalized though when I just want to start an honest contest thread..
Agree. Scams, abandoned contests, and a few winners. Its not good, but i dont see DP charging $ in near future. Charging $$ on a yearly basis for all DP users is another good idea, just to divide the waters. just my 2 cents.
I think you will find the scammers are every where on DP and not just in competitions .... am I right ? So what should be adressed first ? ~ Domain Thiefs. ~ Site Scams. ~ eBook Scams. ~ Freebies Scams. ~ Article Scammers. Do you know what I mean, if they start adding sub forums or options in one area on the forum then they will need to cover the other areas as well, personally I don't think comp's are as big as an issue as the domain thiefs or site selling scammers. Common sense needs to be used and the correct use of iTraders and feed back on members.
yea, but contests are a little different - we do things for creator of contest and we NEED to trust, that the contest will end someday. Even if it doesn't we can't even give a contest creator a negative iTrader or something like that. I think that would be a good way to deal with it. If you signed up for contest You have a right to give a itrader to contest creator if it didn't end. Ofcourse the DP forum need to install some additional plugin, because posting "I'm in" then would be strange. For example Contest creator creates thread, defining how many people can enter content. And at the user side will be shown a button "I'm signing in for This contest", if contest doesn't end - then negative itrader given, if contest ends and there's a winner it should be submitted to a moderator to acceptation or something. that kind of vision - what do You think?
I don't mean necessarily a Sub-Forum, more like a Sub-domain (e.g. contests.digitalpoint.com) with a completely different CMS (Content management system) powering it. You figure an average of 20+ new contests are posted each day & at least 1,000+ members that randomly submit design concepts here & there (Whenever time permits). I'm being conservative with the numbers, I'm sure it's more than that, However with those numbers alone, it justifies an additional income stream potential for digitalpoint. Not to mention the potential to retain more repeat/referral members by adding a more secure community for designers & contest holders, which would, in addition protect the designer more as well as protect the contest holder more, Both. It's a win / win. I Just think its time for digitalpoint to start thinking about expansionism now that they have reached a point of Branded presence on the web. Sure they have several avenues of security they can better, I'm simply focusing on an avenue that will generate additional income & higher retention rates as well for them, which additionally is why I come to these forums in the first place. The more secure the CH & the designer feel, the more business they will do here (Just like any business), as well as refer others & be willing to pay a little for the added security & abundant creative designers (already on hand). - just me venting a bit more -
Yeah I know what everyone's saying, but competitions isn't the most active component here and isn't the major concern for rorts and scams, the main scams are within Domain sales, web site sales, content sales and the like. So I think they'd be focused on first - competitions also revolve around time and time loss where as the others are talking about big dollars.
some contests are a bit of fun as well. Like mine for an example. Guessing a number. yes, it is a long running one but most are having fin with their guesses. But I will deliver the prize when someone actually guesses the right number. Col
Another problem is perfectionists, they want near-perfection. That's impossible practically. They shouldn't be holding contests and wasting people's time either IMHO. Then there are timewasters, that hold contests and then decide that maybe they don't want the thing that they held the contest for and run away without paying.Nobody should start a contest unless they are absolutely sure that they want the graphic/logo etc and WILL pay up. There was thread similar to this a few days ago to this effect.
True what you have said. I also find that a lot of designers win for 2 minute logos when you obviously can see what others have put, anyway I guess it is what the CH likes. I agree with the stolen designs as well, people think they can just google and image, attach to their 2 minute reflection text and call it their own!
I have held a few contests (paid for each - and twice for one) and have found that the biggest problem is people stealing designs. One thing you can get them to do is sign a design agreement that notes that the designs are original etc and noting where they downloaded any images. It does not stop it completely, but anyone that steals designs will baulk at signing something like this. On the subject of fees, Dp has never asked for fees for a simple reason, I feel: that is, they would not have as many people on the boards. If they charged for competitions, then should they also charge for domain sales, services, content providing etc. Where do you suggest they draw the line. There are plenty of forums that do charge for comps and i find that there are not as many designers that go to them, as most people that design here also come here for other things web related. One thing I can suggest is that 2 infringement points be given for anyone that is reported as pulling out of a comp without paying. Then people can only do it a number of times before being banned. Also, before entering, check previous posts for comps run before and see if they have paid/check itrader. As for the comment above on a 2 minute design, if someone takes the time to read what I am after and can produce something that fits this in less than 2 minutes, good on them. I will pay for that anytime. Those with the talent and experience can do this and enter as many comps as possible. Makes for better comps in my opinion.
Also, If they are a new member just don't enter. If they have been here for a while then i'm sure they will pay.