On the fly contest rule amendment

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Permalink Reply by Helen Jo Shewmaker on June 16, 2011 at 11:39am

Never mind...I found the rules.

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Permalink Reply by Vendetta Swain on June 21, 2011 at 1:24pm

I'm a new member (my second day) and I decided to submit one of my very few butter cream cakes (I prefer fondant).  It's one I am most proud of.

 

I can't imagine cheating.  I just want other cake decorators to see my cake and (hopefully) like it enough to say something nice and make it a favorite.  THAT would be 'the icing on the cake.'

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Permalink Reply by JJ Becker on June 21, 2011 at 6:53pm

You know in order for a contest like this to be truly objective we ought to be able to view the photos without seeing who posted them.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Linton on June 21, 2011 at 7:32pm

I hope that the new guideines help but, I too have entered a contest  and it just didn't feel right.  I have stopped entering them for many of the reasons stated. I was wondering if there were any rules about professional decorators vs. non-professional bakers and the contests? Aloy of the pics I've seen look as though they are in bakery coolers. Just wondering!

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Permalink Reply by Eileen S on June 21, 2011 at 7:50pm

JJ - we're such a small site, and the prizes aren't exactly "big money", so we keep it pretty casual.  I know Theresa Happe and Brian (Cake Fan) are working on finding a new platform for the site so we can maybe do contests a little differently in the future, but for now we're kind of stuck with the capabilities we have on this one. :)

 

Melissa - right now we lump the amateurs and the professionals together, but we did have an amateur contest not too long ago.  It's hard to get a gauge on that kind of thing because you may have someone who cakes from home with an impressive skill-set and has been doing it for 20 years but is a hobby-baker and therefore not technically a "professional", and professionals who just "do the norm", so it's all subjective anyway. 

 

We used to go strictly on member votes, but found that many times people were soliciting outside votes so we went to narrowing down the top 10 based on member votes and letting outside judges make the final call by rating the cakes individually and tallying scores.

 

Hope that clears a few things up!!

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Permalink Reply by JJ Becker on June 21, 2011 at 8:15pm

Word, it's not about the prizes, I get that.  I've dealt with this same type of issue on other forums I'm involved with.  Ultimately you'll find that the best way to decide contest winners in many cases is to eliminate member voting entirely, and have either a panel of judges, or the individual member who sponsors the contest decide on the winner.  

Eileen S said:

JJ - we're such a small site, and the prizes aren't exactly "big money", so we keep it pretty casual.  I know Theresa Happe and Brian (Cake Fan) are working on finding a new platform for the site so we can maybe do contests a little differently in the future, but for now we're kind of stuck with the capabilities we have on this one. :)

 

Melissa - right now we lump the amateurs and the professionals together, but we did have an amateur contest not too long ago.  It's hard to get a gauge on that kind of thing because you may have someone who cakes from home with an impressive skill-set and has been doing it for 20 years but is a hobby-baker and therefore not technically a "professional", and professionals who just "do the norm", so it's all subjective anyway. 

 

We used to go strictly on member votes, but found that many times people were soliciting outside votes so we went to narrowing down the top 10 based on member votes and letting outside judges make the final call by rating the cakes individually and tallying scores.

 

Hope that clears a few things up!!

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Permalink Reply by Eileen S on June 21, 2011 at 8:41pm

What I'm most concerned about on this particular contest is that people aren't going to have the patience to flip through the 700+ cakes and truly pick the best ones. I don't think we anticipated such a large amount of entries.  I think in the future we may need to limit each decorator to no more than 2 entries or something.  Some contests we get maybe 100 entries, and then other times (like this one) we're inundated.  Always learning!

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Becker on June 22, 2011 at 12:35am

Story of example:

 

I am a singer.  I am a fairly good singer, so I'm told. I've earned quite a bit a ash in my time singing in bands, on local TV.  For several years I was a "local celebrity."  I still laugh at that title.

 

I was in a contest once that burned me out quick on this type of voting.  I sang my heart out - I knew I would be in the top three finalist.  This other guy wowed even me!  He nailed it right on.  I thought to myself, if I lose, it will be to him and he deserves it.  Well, I find out after we all compete it's a win by applause contest.  ??????????  For $100 which at that time (30 years ago, in small town USA was a lot of cash) - I can't believe that much money was riding on applause.  So, in short, who ever brings the most friends wins.  I never take friends to these things -ever.

 

Anyway, back on topic.  Neither me or the better guy won.  A promise on all that is holy, this dude who honestly could not carry a tune AT ALL won.  Again, ??????????. He was flat, he squealed, he lost breath.  Not a singer at all.  Not even good enough for back up in a small church choir that is begging for help.

 

I never competed there again.  The establishment ended up getting a bad rep.  (yay, I whisper to myself).

 

I honest to God do not mind losing - to someone better than me.  I have a huge issue with losing to someone who simply brings more applause (aka friends joining to vote) than I do.

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Becker on June 22, 2011 at 12:36am

Honestly, I don't have the patience to thumb through 100 pics.  LOL... I really don't.  Let along 700+.

Eileen S said:

What I'm most concerned about on this particular contest is that people aren't going to have the patience to flip through the 700+ cakes and truly pick the best ones. I don't think we anticipated such a large amount of entries.  I think in the future we may need to limit each decorator to no more than 2 entries or something.  Some contests we get maybe 100 entries, and then other times (like this one) we're inundated.  Always learning!

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Permalink Reply by jeri c on June 22, 2011 at 2:46am

I like the idea of limiting each person to a certain number of entries.  It is mind boggling to look at them all!

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Permalink Reply by Theresa Happe on June 22, 2011 at 7:47am

I agree. The number of entries is out of control now. I'm going to limit it for the next contest.

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Permalink Reply by Linda Wolff on September 2, 2011 at 11:59pm

I know this is an older post, but I agree 100% with what you are saying JJ. It seems like this is the only way to keep all voting totally objective. Very good point.

JJ Becker said:

You know in order for a contest like this to be truly objective we ought to be able to view the photos without seeing who posted them.

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