Your Preferred Monthly Photo Competitions Format - A Poll

[gayet]

We probably wont see many new competitors but don't you think those who have contributed previously will enter a few more shots? I hope so! Maybe it's time to do a bit more promoting here

I would disagree with that one. I haven't entered the comps, mainly because I do very little 'landscape' stuff but more macro/other. There hasn't really been an opportunity for those as has been noted - lanscapes tend to overwhelm anything else in the competitions. Now I might have a chance of thinking I have something good enough to show.

[Stibb]

Well, that's great. Hopefully more will follow

[eggs]

Yes - the discussion has been on where the photo was taken, not on where the photographer lives. The only reason the origin of the photographer was mentioned was because of the advantage that they gain under the current system.
I also believe there is a lot more chance of increasing participation under option 1.
It was tongue in cheek to suggest some would only submit to 2 comps if there was another they could also contribute to.

The new artistic-macro category is also a good addition

[Son of a Beach]

To make it clear, does "Landscape - other states" mean that if those states consistently get enough entries, they can have their own comp like Tasmania does, and the "other states" comp is for states without their own state based comp?

yes.

PS. The intention is to not have any bias/prejudice for/against any state/region (can I fit in any more slashes?), apart from separating out those states that consistently get enough entries to warrant their own competition. Ie, moving from a historical basis for the current Tas-only competition to a demand-meeting basis for any state to have its own competition. I would guess that both Victoria and New South Wales could each have enough entries to warrant their own competition within another year or two.

[eggs]

If the current "Where-am-I AUS" game is any indication, the current distribution is:
NSW...............232
Queensland........59
Victoria............46
South Australia...32
Northern Territory..27
ACT...............18
WA................17
Other..............3

So I suspect the chief other state is NSW, but doubt that any others are up there at the moment.

[Stibb]

Distribution of what?
Unique participants? If it is, I wonder how current that is

[gayet]

I think you will find it is distribution of state of origin of the photos - where each photo was taken, not the state of origin of the photographer. And it would be showing current statistics as at the time the summary was posted; i.e. around 10am on Friday 16 Sept 2011.
eggs please correct me if I am wrong, but a logical analysis of the subject would strongly suggest that.

[eggs]

Yes - it is the distribution of photos posted with the intention of others guessing where they are, or where the photography was when they took them.
As such it is a rough proxy for the distribution one might expect in a photo competition.

And it also highlights the movements of individuals - for instance my contributions have been a roughly even spread across Qld, NT, Vic & SA, although I have quite a few possibilities for NSW as well. Many contributors are clearly focussed on NSW.
There have been 44 people who have participated in posting the 435 photos in the game.

[Son of a Beach]

A new competition format has been configured and should come into effect the next time the competitions roll over for the month (ie, the Tuesday 20th).

Approximately half of you will be disappointed that it's not the format you voted for, but that's life. You can't please all of the people all of the time. However, I think it's the best choice for now. It may be changed again in future, but probably not for some time.

(BTW, the chosen format was my least preferred of the 3 in the final poll.)

[eggs]

Your efforts are much appreciated Nik.

And the provision of any competition is a bonus.
Thanks
Brian

[Son of a Beach]

The new format is now in place, and the announcement and subsequent posts have been split off to their own announcement topic here, the first post is included below, and this topic will now be locked. Further comments should be added to the announcement topic linked above.

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The new photo competitions format is along the lines of the most highly voted for option in the final poll. Ie:

• Landscape Australia
• Landscape Tasmania
• Landscape Other States
• Non-Landscape

However, the actual titles used are slightly different and re-arranged to be:

• Landscape
• Non-Landscape
• Tasmania
• Other States

NB: The "Tasmania" and "Other States" competitions can accept either landscape or non-landscape entries, although it is expected that they will be dominated by landscape entries, and that in general all non-landscape entries will be entered in the non-state-specific "Non-Landscape" competition.

The "Landscape" and "Non-Landscape" competitions are both Australia-wide (entries from all states and territories, as well as New Zealand subjects are acceptable). These two competitions automatically get a new rule added to them stating that entries must be Landscape or Non-Landscape photos, respectively (as decided by the voters).

Most people will now be able to enter three competitions each month with no states being included in more competitions than the others, and with the possibility for each state to be broken out into its own competition in future if it consistently gets enough entries to warrant it.

Having a 'premium' Australia-wide competition (ie, "Landscape") also allows for the future possibility of offering prizes for winners if it ever looks like that might be something we could support. (Offering prizes for 4 competitions per month would probably not be feasible, but picking the popular Australia-wide Landscape competition as a premium competition, might make it possible to offer prizes for this one competition per month in the future).

This format also allows for the continuation of the current 2 calendar formats that we publish: Tasmania and Australia (with the Australia calendar sourcing photos from the "Landscape" competition, or possibly both the "Landscape" and "Non-Landscape" competitions).