Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on April 9, 2013 at 5:42am

I'm assuming they're doing it via Facebook for the cross-promotional aspect, not to exclude anyone. 

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Permalink Reply by Habanera Hal on April 9, 2013 at 6:23am

But they ARE excluding those of us who want to keep our privacy.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on April 9, 2013 at 6:34am

Any contest is going to have some exclusions.

Not saying it's good or bad either way or trying to be contrarian. It is what it is.

The builder's contests exclude those who are members but don't build. Or members who don't have time to build an entry.

Someone's always going to be left out. Sucks, but what can be done? If they want to promote the site outside of the site, Facebook is the go-to place to do it. 

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Permalink Reply by Habanera Hal on April 9, 2013 at 8:01am

"If they want to promote the site outside of the site, Facebook is the go-to place to do it."

I thought the purpose of the contest was to thank all the loyal followers of CBN.  By promoting the contest outside, that doesn't fare well with those who have been here for years and choose not to display their private lives for all to see on other media. 

And in actuality, this isn't a contest (there is no skill involved, like a builder's challenge), it's a sweepstakes, and by making it such it's open to anyone whether they have any interest in CBGs or not. Anyone can easily have all their friends and relatives who do have a Facebook account bomb the site with multiple entries.  I'm willing to bet the "winner" won't even be a CBN member.

 

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on April 9, 2013 at 9:03am

i  gotta agree with  both of you  . 

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on April 11, 2013 at 2:22am

That's why the other name for The Social Network is...

American Idle.

;-)

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Permalink Reply by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker on April 9, 2013 at 2:37pm

This reminds me of a recent interaction with my almost 4-year-old son. His preschool was having a contest involving the eating of green vegetables... broccoli, peas, etc. The kids who got enough checkmarks on their veggy cards would get prizes. My son said "But I don't like any of those things!" I said "If you want to take part in this contest, you have to follow the rules." He cried about it for a while, but by God if he didn't try some broccoli tonight. He hopefully has learned a little something about making choices, and dealing responsibly with the consequences thereof.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on April 10, 2013 at 3:29am

Broccoli...be careful, the next thing you know he'll be sneaking spinach behind closed doors. :)>

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Permalink Reply by Habanera Hal on April 10, 2013 at 3:52am

Sorry, Ben, but I don't see how a preschool trying to influence behavior changes in children to promote healthy eating habits relates to your "contest".  Again, I thought the purpose of the promotion was to thank the people who helped Shane and you build the Nation (and your businesses), not to promote an invasive force that adds little to the CBG community. 

By making it a requirement to have a Facebook account, you have probably disgruntled a fair number of members who have supported you in the past. But it's your game, your ball, so do what you will.  I won't be entering the sweepstakes because, by choice, I don't have a Facebook account.  Also, by choice, I don't eat broccoli.

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Permalink Reply by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker on April 10, 2013 at 4:25am

Love it, hate it or ignore it, Facebook is one of the most powerful online forces at present, and an invaluable tool for reaching new people. That is one of the purposes of this contest, to try to reach new people and keep Cigar Box Nation and the whole handmade music movement growing and vibrant. Another purpose is to do something fun, get people talking about CBN and get some buzz going on and off the site. Another purpose is to help promote Shane's new CD as well as to encourage people to learn to play their instruments, not just build them.

The intention of this contest was never stated as being a thank you reward for loyal users of the site. While that is a nice idea, defining the terms of the contest would be very hard (what is loyal? What is long-term? What level of activity/posting/videos/photos/etc would be required? How would we even measure these things effectively?), and would likely bring around a whole new round of disgruntled-ness and related forum posts.

I have found in the last 15 years of being involved in admin roles on internet sites that it is impossible to make everyone happy every time. All you can do is try your best and aim for a reasonable subset and go with it. I am sorry that this time the subset didn't include some of you who refuse to use Facebook. While the choices we made about the contest are of course intentional, having people feel excluded, unloved or offended was not.  Hopefully, we can all pull through this.

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Permalink Reply by Clock The Wolf on April 9, 2013 at 11:16pm

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on April 10, 2013 at 4:54am

hal ,  ..  as  i  told  a few   people  in   chat  ,  you  have to  look at this  for what it really  is  ..  it's a CD promo   , and a site   promo   with  door  prizes .

it's advertising  that actually  gives something  back  .

shane  is  taking money  and  product  out  of  his own pocket to  give away as   prizes . i'm sure  not all  of  us can afford to  give away  5 guitars  and more  . .  so there is something to  be said about that .

 

excluded  ?  hardly.   .. you  just  got  free advertising .    bringing more  people to  this site   that may even  buy     from  you  .    its a promo  for  you     and everyone here too  .

you  may not   win a guitar  ,  but   it  may  help  you  sell    some  .    and it didnt cost you anything  .

 

shane and ben  can't  win a guitar  either ,    but you are getting the same benifit   out of it that  they are  .  advertising!  .

and they paid   for it  for you  . ;-)

  try  and look  at  it like  that  .

;-)

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