Roderick Robertson
Thoughts on Running a Web Contest
Greg Stafford surprised me one day after I published Issue 3, and suggested a Contest - Guess the Name of Jotorang, and Win a Prize."Hey, cool" says I. So Greg and I chatted back and forth, determining what to do. We agreed on a copy of "History of the Heortling People" as the prize. Then I messed up by the numbers. here are some thoughts on where I went wrong...
- Don't have a "First Right Answer Wins" type of contest. That may work for local Radio stations, but not so much in an international community, where people may be asleep, at work, or sitting in front of the computer when you post the question.
- Let the contest run for a few days before announcing the winner (and answer, if it's a "Guess the Answer" type question.
- Put all correct answers in a hat and draw winners randomly.
- Don't write the contest announcement when the cats have been keeping you awake the night before. This prevents you from putting the wrong date on the day of the contest. Write to Contest rules and announcements in plenty of time before you need to post them.
- Post teasers weeks, and then days, before the contest. Describe the prize of the contest, when the rules will be available, etc.. Prep the ground!