MeFites' Choice Contest For December

December 1, 2012 7:53 AM

December is the Fantastic Post MeFites Choice Contest run by you, the users. Sign up to offer prizes. Use the fantastic flag to vote for your favorites.

For whatever reason the post-US-Thanksgiving post didn't get a lot of uptake but we'd like to build on SpaceManStix's good idea with more more suggestions offered by cribcage and other MeFites. I outlined the details in this comment and will re-outline them here.

We were thinking of a weekly tabulation sort of thing. MeFites could sign up to offer something for prizes. This is for FPPs on the Blue only. At least one award per week. Weeks grouped as follows

Dec 1-7
Dec 8-14
Dec 15-21
Dec 22-31

Please sign up on the wiki to offer prizes. Hit us up on the contact form if you need help with wiki editing. People are also more than welcome to offer subjective "My favorite X" sorts of posts, but we'll start here. Small print is below

Must be a MeFite as of November 30 to win.
Each MeFite can win once for the month.
Winners will be determined by a counting of fantastic flags; we'll try to announce them in a timely fashion
MeFites who agree to provide prizes also agree to ship prizes. Contact us if the cost of postage is an issue.

posted by jessamyn to MetaFilter-Related at 7:53 AM (59 comments total)

Ooh, neat! Hmmm.

(Is anyone else awake yet?)
posted by rtha at 8:23 AM on December 1, 2012

RIGHTEOUS.

Seriously, MetaFilter is the best of the web.
posted by batmonkey at 8:43 AM on December 1, 2012

Ah, Democracy! AKA The System Most Likely To Allow Me To Ruin Everything. I am excited about this! I will etch a glass as a prize.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:53 AM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

(Is anyone else awake yet?)

Wide awake in Texas and reading the posts down here. I will be a prizegiver, as this is great.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:56 AM on December 1, 2012

I'm wide awake most of the time, due to a 6 hour time difference with the fiancee (have to video chat around her work schedule), insomnia, and medications.

So am thinking "Ah. I'll put some 'Use Libraries and Learn Stuff' mugs up as a prize". As in a variation on the "Keep Calm and Carry On" meme. And I go to the wiki. And two people have put up prizes already. The first of which is a pair of ... library mugs. The second of which is a variation on ... Keep Calm and Carry On. Great minds think alike, or something :)

So am offering up a mystery book. I have three ... unusual ... books sitting here, and will send the one most tailored IMHO to the winner, according to their MeFi profile. It would have been some small taxidermy, but there's all kind of regulations on posting that stuff :(
posted by Wordshore at 8:59 AM on December 1, 2012

Ooh, what fun!
I can't even figure out how to word this question, so I'll just leave it up for interpretation...what time zone?
posted by iamkimiam at 9:16 AM on December 1, 2012

I plan on making a post about Kim Jong-Un , and getting all of 4chan to sign up and vote for it.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:17 AM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is awesome. Thanks!
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:28 AM on December 1, 2012

For time zone: US/Pacific time.
Start date: first week's voting is already open right now.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:41 AM on December 1, 2012

And you can vote as much as you want with a single account (please no voting with sock accounts) - flag freely.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:45 AM on December 1, 2012

Can the collection of prizes build up for any given week or weeks so the winner gets more than one thing?
posted by ambient2 at 10:27 AM on December 1, 2012

I think it is working like this:
Prize-givers sign up to give as many prizes as they like for whichever week(s) they like.
If a given week has more than one prize listed, the winner that week gets them all.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:34 AM on December 1, 2012

Each MeFite can win once for the month.

Rather, there is no MeFite such that that MeFite cannot win at all for the month.
posted by kenko at 10:37 AM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yay this is awesome
posted by insectosaurus at 10:58 AM on December 1, 2012

This rules.
posted by shelleycat at 11:13 AM on December 1, 2012

Nice! Good luck, everyone!
posted by zarq at 11:41 AM on December 1, 2012

I really like this idea. Are any prior winners excluded? In the last contest, people who won the top award previously were not eligible. Perhaps all prior winners should be excluded, to shake things up a bit? Though I would like an oversized MetaFilter stein =)
posted by filthy light thief at 12:26 PM on December 1, 2012

Yay! I am glad that this is happening. I agree that another Best Post Contest so soon after the last one is a bit much, but this is a great way to inspire people to do awesome posts and keep that feeling of goodwill going.
posted by librarylis at 12:52 PM on December 1, 2012

If a given week has more than one prize listed, the winner that week gets them all.

Yeah. If someone wants to give a prize that is specifically a second prize, runner up prize or something else, they can indicate that on the wiki page. And anyone who has won before is allowed to win this time, once.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:03 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thanks, mods. Speaking as somebody who hasn't participated in these contests (by posting), I have really enjoyed them as a reader. Thanks in advance for the back-end work required.
posted by cribcage at 1:08 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Hopefully there should be a whole lot less back-end work this time, what with the crowd-sourced vote-by-fantasticking conceit. I've volunteered to record a bad song for one of the winners to compensate for all that savings.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:39 PM on December 1, 2012

Nice. I will be adding some Steam-delivered game goodies!
posted by adrianhon at 2:50 PM on December 1, 2012

An metafilter, you come up with yet more ways to empty my closets.
posted by The Whelk at 3:39 PM on December 1, 2012

Just warning you guys, I'm going to be gunning for that accapella pop song SO HARD.
posted by The Whelk at 3:47 PM on December 1, 2012

So, for the prizes, should we simply edit the wiki ourselves, or pass that information on to someone else?
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:17 PM on December 1, 2012

You can edit it yourself, or let us know if you want to run anything by us first.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 4:34 PM on December 1, 2012

Oh, okay. I just signed up, and I don't have a problem adding a gift. But I didn't want to just be tossing things in if we're trying to keep it a bit more structured.
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:37 PM on December 1, 2012

Sure, and thank you for asking!
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 4:48 PM on December 1, 2012

The prize is ME, ladies... or men who swing that way and promise to only look, not touch.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:43 PM on December 1, 2012

cortex: "I've volunteered to record a bad song for one of the winners to compensate for all that savings."

LIES

*weepysob*
posted by Rhaomi at 10:14 PM on December 1, 2012

I swear to god I will record your Man Of track at some point. I worked on it a bit in August and got into a better place than I've been, so it'll happen. I want to do a not-shitty job of it, is the thing. Hugs.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:44 PM on December 1, 2012

I must say that all the Lofi Computer tracks more than made up for it in the meantime. <3
posted by Rhaomi at 11:13 PM on December 1, 2012

cortex, I'm thinking, given the time of year, it should be a really bad holiday song rather than just any old pop song.

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" would be awesome! Adam Sandler's Hannukah song, too.

Or...Oh, my. "Dominic the Donkey" might just be too cruel.
posted by misha at 8:48 AM on December 2, 2012

I think this should go on the sidebar.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 4:09 PM on December 2, 2012

Excellent point, I put it there.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:48 PM on December 2, 2012

How will those who offered up prizes know where to send them? Will we need to MeMail the winner at the end of the contest period?
posted by fireoyster at 1:20 AM on December 3, 2012

Okay, baffled. What the Cthulhu is a bucket of c*cks (tho' am not entirely sure I want to know)? Is this a MetaFilter inside-thing?
posted by Wordshore at 5:37 AM on December 3, 2012

How will those who offered up prizes know where to send them? Will we need to MeMail the winner at the end of the contest period?

We'll be announcing them here at the end of the time periods and then letting users get in touch with the winners to arrange shipping.

Bucket of cocks is sort of in in joke here, more of an internet meme really I think (first mention here in 2004), though hasn't made its way to the wiki yet. Maybe someone could rectify that? I don't remember where it came from. I have no idea how taz is going to make good on that offer.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:31 AM on December 3, 2012

"Bucket of cocks is sort of in in joke here, more of an internet meme really I think (first mention here in 2004), though hasn't made its way to the wiki yet. Maybe someone could rectify that?"

giggle
posted by iamkimiam at 9:09 AM on December 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

I have no idea how taz is going to make good on that offer.

Strictly speaking, taz has offered a bucket of c*cks, which might well be a bucket of cacks (baby shoes), or, if the wildcard character is replacing an arbitrary number of characters, a bucket of clocks, checks, chopsticks, or cowlicks.

Also, since the offer is contingent on "taste, temperament, location, and availability", perhaps only MeFites who are antediluvian cybernetic postmodernist fishmongers residing near Gamma Cassiopeiae are eligible to receive said bucket...
posted by beryllium at 10:56 AM on December 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

If someone wants to give a prize that is specifically a second prize, runner up prize or something else, they can indicate that on the wiki page.

Oh; just spotted that. (Edits wiki) okay, made the prize I'm in for the runner-up prize. So, there's going to be at least* two different prize winners for this week alone. Woooooo.

If other people who have so far offered prizes want to do the one-prize-per-individual-winner thing and don't want to edit the wiki, say and will edit your bit accordingly.

* - more prizes means more MeFites winning stuff. It would be most splendid if there was several different winners per week, if you're still contemplating donating.
posted by Wordshore at 11:54 AM on December 3, 2012

Rectify that?

I hardly know it!
posted by notyou at 6:58 PM on December 3, 2012

"I've volunteered to record a bad song for one of the winners to compensate for all that savings."
posted by cortex

Roddys O-face - the christmas album! perfect!
posted by marienbad at 2:21 PM on December 4, 2012

Just wondering, is the "timely fashion" of announcing winners going to occur at the end of each week, or in January?
posted by filthy light thief at 5:04 AM on December 5, 2012

End of each week, otherwise people couldn't know that they were not eligible to win for a next week. We'll tabulate at the official end of the week, announce something in this thread, and repeat.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:28 AM on December 5, 2012

Thanks for the information. And if you chose to wait until the end of the month, I don't think it would be an issue, as you could either run the tabulations at once and disqualify the person from the following weeks, or see if they fared better in another week and rank from the most fantastic flags down. But weekly also works. I wanted to mentally wind down at lunch, but clearly that hasn't happened.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:39 AM on December 5, 2012

The first week ends tomorrow, Dec 7, I assume at 11:59pm Pacific time that day.

I was just thinking about how this will work -- it might be most fair to wait a couple of days to close the voting, because otherwise, posts that are posted on Dec 7 will only have part of one day to accumulate flags.

So maybe we can close the post-eligibility week on Dec 7, but close the voting Sunday night, announce results Monday?
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:58 AM on December 6, 2012

Beware of the FPP with infant mammals in adorable mini gifs interspersed with a political stance on the mortgage crisis in the euro - ooh, look a flash game about My Little Pony - kind of strategy to play to the popular vote.
posted by infini at 1:00 PM on December 6, 2012

So maybe we can close the post-eligibility week on Dec 7, but close the voting Sunday night, announce results Monday?

That's probably the most fair.

Beware of the

The whole idea is to figure out what people are enjoying, so pandering is fine.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:01 PM on December 6, 2012

You have just set the bar for my next FPP, how to make a coherent post with pink unicorns releasing a stream of glitter from their backsides. I think it might be hamburger but I'm not really sure... feels like a design challenge.
posted by infini at 1:06 PM on December 6, 2012

Is it ethical to flag one's own FPP in this scenario?


You have just set the bar for my next FPP, how to make a coherent post with pink unicorns releasing a stream of glitter from their backsides. I think it might be hamburger but I'm not really sure... feels like a design challenge.

Ha! I posted Robot Unicorn Attack to the Blue last year! But I was not the first!
posted by zarq at 3:29 PM on December 6, 2012

Is it ethical to flag one's own FPP in this scenario?

No.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:44 PM on December 6, 2012

Okie doke.
posted by zarq at 4:08 PM on December 6, 2012

I'll be honest, I haven't flagged a single post, because I so rarely think of flagging any post as fantastic, but instead have used it on comments. But if voting is open through Sunday, I'll cast a few votes this weekend.


ooh, look a flash game about My Little Pony - kind of strategy to play to the popular vote.

I wonder if there has been much of pandering to the broad MeFi preferences. I also wonder how many attempt to post to the preferences of the mods in the past Best Post Contests.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:59 AM on December 7, 2012

A shameless attempt at pandering on my part, from October.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 2:34 PM on December 7, 2012

Voting closes tonight for the first week. Prizes galore.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:29 AM on December 9, 2012

(drumrolls...)
posted by Wordshore at 6:51 AM on December 10, 2012

The whole idea is to figure out what people are enjoying, so pandering is fine.

I am obviously so obsolete, outdated and out of it that I fail at pandering.
posted by infini at 7:43 AM on December 10, 2012

Blam!
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:41 AM on December 10, 2012