Hotboat of the month - keep it, or kick it to the curb?

[HB Vic]

I'll be honest, I want to kick it to the curb. Why you ask? because it really is becoming a problem. Why do you ask? lol, because people are offended when I ask them why do they have multiple accounts registered under a single IP address. Now, before you instantly think "cheater", think again. Many times office buildings have static IP addresses. So you and everyone on your floor technically fall under the same cyberworld address. From the outside world, no one can tell if its you or your co-worker who is logged in to the free porn site. And guess what, neither can we. One of the things we failed to mention when we started the contest was, our motivation for the contest. I'm sure everyone assumed WMC and Wendi just love digging in to their piggy bank to buy those bad ass coolers every month and just give them away. Well that's not exactly 100% true. The true motivation is we do the contest to bring people to the site. To get them motivated to hopefully start a thread, and to continue posting, just like every other boating site. So when I'm told I "I got my friends, relatives, and co-workers to vote for me", well that isn't really what we want. Sure it'll get you a free cooler, but what does it do for us?? Not much really. If they are gonna vote for you, we want them to be active on the site. I'm not talking cyberstalker active, but I certainly don't want them making one or two posts then disappearing forever. So.....you tell me, fair? or not fair? Keep the contest?? or kick it to the curb??

[Wendi]

We really want everyone's feedback on this. I like Hotboat of the Month. And I think it is good to get family and friends to vote, But we really want them to stay and enjoy the site like we all do. I can see getting a few people to help out that probably will never come back. But seriously we have 89 users under 1 IP address where are those users today? I think we need to re-vamp Hotboat of the Month nonetheless. Maybe not having this be a member vote but having a panel of 3-4 judges that are boating enthusiasts that would enjoy reading about your boat, hearing the back story, how long you've owned the boat, what upgrades you've done, etc. and looking at all the different pictures you have submitted (exterior, interior, engine, drive, etc). We want you to submit your story and your Hotboat!! This goes out to all boats out there. I like seeing the winners and them enjoying their custom made cooler. But if it is going to be abused and you plan to cheat then this contest is not for you. I vote KEEP IT!!

[GotHalos]

I say you change it to members must have 100+ min. posts before they can vote.

[Menace Marine]

Keep it. It's cool to see the boats and the people that win are proud of that. If its a cost issue try getting someone to sponsor the prize for the winner.

[28eliminator]

I say you change it to members must have 100+ min. posts before they can vote.

^^^^^ this^^^^^

[Mrs.K034]

I say you change it to members must have 100+ min. posts before they can vote.

I agree 100% with you on this!! Or set minimum per month. Either way, great solution.

[454 blue boat]

I say you change it to members must have 100+ min. posts before they can vote.

Im not sure this is all cool either I'm a new member here Im on all the other boards that I can find And have lots of posts and pics of things I do and share everything I do so if you did that I wouldn't of been able to voted on the Aug. one that I did do just saying . Is it set up for only members right now that can vote and not a open deal ???

[Wendi]

Keep it. It's cool to see the boats and the people that win are proud of that. If its a cost issue try getting someone to sponsor the prize for the winner.

No cost factor at all we enjoy doing this and seeing the members that have won showing off their cooler! The past few months we've noticed multiple members under one IP address and none of those members have ever come back to the site. We want this to bring more members that want to participate and enjoy the site like we do. I think 100 plus posts is a bit much. But please continue with your feedback we really appreciate it!!

[Wendi]

Im not sure this is all cool either I'm a new member here Im on all the other boards that I can find And have lots of posts and pics of things I do and share everything I do so if you did that I wouldn't of been able to voted on the Aug. one that I did do just saying . Is it set up for only members right now that can vote and not a open deal ???

Right now it is an open deal and each voter has to have minimum two
Posts in order to participate.

[SBS933]

I like it, Crap I gotta post more so I don't get boned out of the voting. I say keep it and it's a good idea to devert fraud voting. FK it's just a contest.