Smaller Indiana

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In the style of Hollywood disaster flicks, October saw the coincidental release of two contests intended to highlight Indiana’s best blogs. One competition, sponsored by Linking Indiana, features sixty-seven candidates divided into ten categories. Despite its name, the Top 50 Indiana Blogs program currently lists 189 entries and will take nominations through Tuesday, October 27. Both of these battles rely on public voting over the web. Both projects are great examples of how not to run an online contest.

A Battle of Unimpressive Equals

An Unfortunate Sampling


The legitimacy of any championship series rests in part upon the quality of the contenders. If the hopefuls seem evenly matched or fairly segmented by the contest organizers, the event seems equitable and worthwhile. If some players have an unfair advantage or others appear to be laughablyunqualified, the entire endeavor comes under scrutiny. Hoosier blog contests might not be as important as baseball or the supreme court, but most people won’t enjoy a game if others do not follow the rules. For additional information on this phenomenon, speak with any younger sibling.

Read the rest on Turning Left Against Traffic.

Tags: 50, bloggers, blogging, blogs, competition, contest, indiana, linking, ning, smaller

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Matthew A. Griffith Comment by Matthew A. Griffith on October 30, 2009 at 12:08pm
I agree with Tony Scelzo. Lost in all these petty posts is the notion that blogs are supposed to be informative, helpful and, hopefully, respectful and considerate ways to exchange information and ideas. That's why I blog.

I appreciate Kyle Lacy's efforts, however imperfect they seem to some people, to encourage quality blogging that adds value.
Tony Scelzo Comment by Tony Scelzo on October 30, 2009 at 9:35am
I have been watching these contest from afar and a little amazed at some of the petty posts about legitimacy fo the contests. I think the organizers here were trying to help bring general awareness to the talent of Indiana. It seems some times we punish people who take the iniative to start things? Why? I was talking to a VC firm about a Indiana and they commented what ever good came out of Indiana. Now is the time to support the innovation and front runners. I definitely appreciate all the talented bloggers and applaud the organizers. Thanks Guys for daring to lead.
Kyle Lacy Comment by Kyle Lacy on October 30, 2009 at 6:36am
I'm liking this already. Let's keep this brainstorming going and no more hating. :-)

@PK Just use the search bar to find the blog but I do agree... next time it needs to be organized. We didn't expect to get 230 blogs with borderline 400 comments.
Jason Bean Comment by Jason Bean on October 29, 2009 at 11:06pm
Or, all the candidates listed on a single, front-page. Forget the thumbnails, they're unneeded (and in my site's case over a year out of date). You're going to vote for the blog you already read and like hopefully, so you know which one you're looking for, click on it and vote.
PK Koduri Comment by PK Koduri on October 29, 2009 at 10:57pm
For some reason I always had a problem with web based voting where one has to scroll through multiple pages to find the one that you would like to vote for. And then there is the issue of headstart - those that receive votes very early continue to stay at the top with newer ones relegated to page 3,4, or 5... you get the point. Wouldn't it be nice to have a random sample of contestants presented every time someone came to your website? or at least have a tab that features a random list of candidate blogs?
Jason Bean Comment by Jason Bean on October 29, 2009 at 10:26pm
This is who I always thought Doug looked like. WOLFMAN DOUG!

Douglas Karr Comment by Douglas Karr on October 29, 2009 at 10:15pm
Awesome PK! :)
PK Koduri Comment by PK Koduri on October 29, 2009 at 8:27pm
Since we are playing celebrity lookalike, here is one for Doug;

Douglas Karr Comment by Douglas Karr on October 29, 2009 at 7:15pm
Every great movie needs a soundtrack... I think that's where Robbie "aka Scott Stapp" Slaughter fits the bill!

Cindy Hartman Comment by Cindy Hartman on October 29, 2009 at 4:18pm
Oops ... one more thing ... I have been watching the voting, reading all the "Hey! vote for me!" posts and even checking out some blogs I never read before ... that's been fun, and I believe the entire intent of the contests.

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