So we will leave this open for more suggestions till the start of the new yr.
So far we have gathered these 3 as the top suggestions to vote on:

1) Leave it as it is.

2) Top 3 sit out the next X months. (We can decide that together or have another vote)

3) You can only place in the Top 3 X times a year MAX. (again the X)

please keep posting suggestions and we will keep a list going.

thank you

I have been lurking this thread. And I think that I should come out of my "bigfoot" cave and say something.

I am sorry if I stirred anything up with my previous thread, considering that

AMB wrote:

improve some of the recent negative attitude towards the system.

I would like to CLARIFY, I was not being negative, and if it came off that way, I didn't mean it like that. Typing/text can be lost in translation in so many ways.

Let me begin what I would like to say with, that I love Husky of the Month. I love it's entirety, and the fact that a great portion is for charity, and that it reminds me that I shouldn't loose faith in humanity just yet.

I merely was suggesting that HOTM, needed some new light. Everyone has already sung this song in a few different ways now in this thread, with wonderful suggestions, even though it seems some of them aren't possible without switching to another program sadly.

I didn't want to stir up trouble. I expected it to turn gears, which is what it did in the long run though, so I guess I made my point.

If you see my words as rude or mean or negative, they aren't intended that way. I am a blunt speaker who uses strange terminology for the most part, so just read what I type with happy thoughts please.

I felt like in the end the thread made me out to look like the bad guy and swept under the rug. But that is a whole different fruit in the pie, and I am not getting into that right now.

All I was trying to do was get some gears turning for change before I decided if I was leaving or just taking some time away to cool off... It looks like it has, and I am happy to see people coming together to think up some stuff.

I don't think it made you look like a bad guy.  It just made you look like somebody who needed some attention and some time to vent, and it worked.  

We are all glad you are still around.

2) Top 3 sit out the next X months. (We can decide that together or have another vote)

I think this one is best, or leave it as is. Sometimes people truly do have great photos, and yeah maybe they are in it more then 3 times but I'd rather see those great high quality photos in the calendar, over some cell phone blurred pics. Just saying..

I stated that it was really not an attention seeking thread. I just felt like I was wasting my time sharing my dog with people that didn't want to say anything. So I felt like I needed to take my sharing elsewhere. It may have ended up feeling like I was seeking attention in the end, but that is not how it initially started.

I guess it just goes to show when you spend most of your time alone, with no one to talk to, and then when you seek out people to talk to, then you feel shunned, then you feel more alone than you did before... it hurts. It really does. And I just wanted people to see what I felt.

I think a lot of it has to do with this forum being a lot slower then most. I don't even update my dogs scrapbook anymore because I know people don't comment on it. I don't even come on here much anymore between school and work, but I do participate in SS, Card Exchange and HOTM. It's just a lot of not taking things personally..

lillith87 wrote:

AMB wrote:

improve some of the recent negative attitude towards the system.

I would like to CLARIFY, I was not being negative, and if it came off that way, I didn't mean it like that. Typing/text can be lost in translation in so many ways.

I wasn't referring to you personally either; there were several people on that thread who expressed their distaste for how the system was run. So I simply decided to make a thread for suggestions on the matter. Maybe negativity wasn't the most tactful word to use, but I digress.

I don't really have any opinion on it either way (again I made some suggestions but don't really care if they're implemented or not) so I'll be happy with whatever the rest of you decide is the best for these forums.

The voting for ones own dog is something that really surprised me to read here and in the other thread. ONE of the reasons for HOTM is for the "fun"...and yet we have people voting for their own dog. That kinda tells me that something that was intended for fun, has in fact turned into more of a competition. Im not criticizing ones who have done it, I'm really not, I'm just genuinely surprised its been done. That being said, I also understand (through reading it in this thread) the complexity of making it impossible for people to do that, however, "Chris" (Tika) stated in the other thread that he is privy to whom votes for whom, so my suggestion would be that once a polls is closed, Chris (or whomever else is privy to that information) goes over the results to insure that person didnt win by voting for themselves (besides tie breaker votes) ...Since not only the participation, but the amount of votes is relatively small, I don't think its an overwhelming task. It wont do much good for the people who have spouses who are also members, haha, but atleast there is something in the way of checks and balances.

Also, tie breakers...there should be proper tie breakers each month. Last month, the tie breaker for third place, in my opinion, wasnt handled well at all and was unfair to Rocio and Lucy. I realize time was of the essence to get the calendar done, but it was also the last chance to get on this years calendar...a proper tie breaker would have been nice.

I think everyone is taking this way too seriously....it's a dog picture competition. Chill people.

Firstly,

I'd like to add this hasn't been forgotten.

As Jenn said we are planning to have a long poll, ideally giving the forum the ability to vote on the direction to take HOTM in terms of winners.... The only hold up is/was really the holidays. It's a busy time of year for us all and we are just trying to define what we want the options to be for the poll and vote.

The trick is trying to find options we deem as fair, while still being easy to monitor and follow. As said before our mods volunteer their time, so something that requires a lot of work, maintenance, or supervision is not a solutions we are looking for...


It's a fun competition..... That's really it... It shouldn't require a lot of work to do or cause any problems.




That being said while defining the options for the poll I've run into a bit of a problem. This is supposed to be a FUN competition we have on the forum, and yet most of the suggestions have been about excluding, or limiting the ability to participate in it.

Things like "If you won last month, or even top 3ed, you shouldn't be allowed to enter again for X months" seems sad to me personally. Regardless of the winner, I don't like the idea of people being excluded from the fun for any length of time.

Let's be honest here... HOTM comes down to who generally has their camera around at THAT moment, or who the better photographer is, more than it comes down to collusion or self voting.



That's not to say that I don't get where this notion is coming from. Seeing the same dogs win HOTM multiple times a year can be a little tedious....



My Proposal is this:

A Demerit System


Placing in the top 3 of a HOTM would earn you demerit points. It could either be a standard value or based on your placement in the top 3.

All other people who entered who didn't place in the top 3 wouldn't receive any such points.


Essentially these "demerit" points would counteract the votes you would receive for the next few months. So you could place in the top 3 of HOTM two weeks in a row, but because of the demerit points it would be highly unlikely and would require a lot more votes then normal to do so.


Demerit points could degrade over time (You lose some of your demerit points every month if you have any), and once a year (let's say January) they would completely reset.


I should be able to make a spread sheet that would take care of 90% of the math and automation required for this..... I could post it in a drop box so everyone could see where they stand on any given month.


For me this would solve the problem with people being excluded from HOTM, as you could enter every month, you could even win a number of months in a row, though your chances of doing that would be extremely low.

Only after 3 months of not placing in the top 3, for example, would your demerits be reset and you would be eligible for the full amount of votes you received for your photo.

This also, somewhat, eliminates voting for yourself, Sure it could still be the deciding factor, but it's far less likely to do anything when 6 of the votes for your photo already don't count anyways.



As with anything I would need some feed back from you, on if this is something you think would work for HOTM....

There will still be a vote for how we proceed with HOTM, but if this sounds like an acceptable option to actually vote on less us know.


I'll try and post a bare bones example when I get a second if you didn't or can't follow my ramblings.

~Chris~

I still have yet to be able to post in HOTM, due to post count, but I have been following this thread and I am liking this demerit idea. I personally like to see all the photos of pups, and i don't agree with excluding people. Especially if the theme idea is kept up with....sometimes a particular theme just doesn't fit with someones lifestyle, but then what if a theme they really want to post for comes up? But they can't because they won the previous month?

It might also encourage more people entering and allow for more variation.


Just my two cents on a topic that I have been lurking

Kiersten, that's partly why we started the HOTM chat thread. That way folks who are ineligible can still participate, they're just not considered in the voting. The reason it's set up the way it is right now is because the same people won almost every month, and then we started having a problem with very new members winning and then disappearing without ever posting a new topic.

Ok a very rough example of what I'm talking about.


User names would have to be used instead of dog names, and I only used dogs names as an example.... I also just randomly though of dogs names for this example.... If I miss spelt your dog's name or didn't use your dog in the example that isn't the point....






This first image just shows which dogs placed in the top 3 every month for a full year.... I just randomly entered 90% of the numbers. Please don't read anything into it that isn't there.






The second picture shows how the demerit point system could work.

Every time you place in the top 3, you get 6 demerit points. What these points do is make it harder to win HOTM by reducing the number of votes you get for your photo by the number of demerit points you currently have.

Because Tika, Ripley, and Ghost were top 3 in January they all get 6 demerit points towards them in February.


If Tika entered HOTM again in February and 7 people voted for her picture she would really only have 1 vote, making it much harder for her to win 2 months in a row.





In February Tika, Ripley, and Ghost, all don't make it into the top 3.

Instead Koda, Hailey, and link win top 3 honors in HOTM Giving them the 6 demerit points instead.

Tika, Ripley, and Ghost, lose two of their demerit points simply because it is a new month making it easier for them to win next month, but still harder than anyone who hasn't placed yet.



In March Tika, Hailey, and Maya win top 3 honors.

Even with their demerits Tika and Hailey were able to place in the top 3 again. adding six more points to their demerits next month. Tika would have 8 votes that didn't count (2 left over + the new 6) while Hailey would have 10 votes (the new 6 + the left over 4). It would be a long time before either of them would be able to win again for a bunch of months.


Maya got her first 6 demerit points for next month.

everyone else lost 2 of their points if they had them.





It takes 3 full months after placing in the top 3 before you are back to neutral and able to have zero demerit points. Ripley is a decent example of this.





This is a simple spread sheet I made which does 90% of the work and keeps track of everything based on the user account. It would take a bit of management, but nothing excessive... Just a bit to get it off the ground.


It's not the simplest solution, but it does (at least in my mind) address most of the concerns I hear regarding changing HOTM at all and makes it so it is impossible for the same 3 people to win every month.


~Chris~

Chris, I like this idea. The basic idea stays the same but everyone can continue to participate every month, so more pics in general to choose from and seems to make it more fair, so that we can have different winners every month. I give a big paws up to this idea....

I really like your idea Chris and think that would solve what I view as an issue for the HOTM.

Oh and I never realized (and yes I did read the rules) that you shouldn't vote for your own, so I will no longer do that. I really truly did not do it as a benefit to myself but as an honest vote to who I thought should win.

Jen said this awhile back, but I don't see why HOTM can't be ran like every other forum's photo contest. Like my car related forum does XOTM and only one person wins for best photo. No themes or anything just a photo of your vehicle/dog doing something cool and you are only allowed to win once a year. As someone stated, when things are holiday driven it makes it more difficult to have a submission as my dogs do not let me dress them up (I really love the dogs that do though). If this not a consideration than I totally back demerit point system.

I think the demerits is a good idea. I think 6 is a little much, but I also think all this hullabaloo over HOTM is a little silly.

Dietra-the only issue I see with your suggestion is in thinking about the calender. I love the calender (regardless of if my dog is in it or not) and would like to see it continue. I think just one picture per month wouldn't be as fun. And that's also why the themes are good so that they relatively match up to the month the photos will end up representing.

I did think about that as well but my Xterra forum does a calendar with the winners too and I don't really see an issue with it. You just have to make the pic bigger within the layout. I'm just throwing it out there, I know some people like to see more than just one fur baby and that's totally fine.

I like the demerits setup, thought 6 was a little high also. Ps also did not realize you were not allowed to vote for your pup. I votes for B a couple times over the past two years cause I thought they were good. Most were a tie that was close but still not close enough. Oh well still got the calendaer even if he was not in ln this year. But I also know I was a little byay for some posts and votes too. Win some lose some but understand that we dont want the same dogs over and over either.

Leave It As It Is.

Reiterate "NO VOTING FOR YOUR OWN DOG."

You guys are way too serious for something that is supposed to be fun.

Fully agreed.

But, at the same time, some folk called for more seriousness in light of their gripes and it is good that the administration is responding.

I feel very turned off by the whole thing now, but that's just me.

seattlesibe wrote:

Fully agreed.

But, at the same time, some folk called for more seriousness in light of their gripes and it is good that the administration is responding.  

I feel very turned off by the whole thing now, but that's just me.  

Aw, shoot - isn't there a "ditto" emoticon???

jalepeno wrote:

Leave It As It Is.

Reiterate "NO VOTING FOR YOUR OWN DOG."

I agree with this. Since so many people didnt know they shouldnt vote for their own dog, maybe the statement on the actual voting page each month. That way, as new members become eligible to participate, they too will know.

aljones wrote:

seattlesibe wrote:

Fully agreed.

But, at the same time, some folk called for more seriousness in light of their gripes and it is good that the administration is responding.  

I feel very turned off by the whole thing now, but that's just me.  

Aw, shoot - isn't there a "ditto" emoticon???

Yup... need a ditto emoticon

I like it just the way it is. And yes, I am guilty of once voting for my own dog. Did not know that it was verboten