PDA

View Full Version : Looking for some contest ideas!


Rob Williams
02-17-2008, 05:19 PM
Techgage turns 3 on March 1 and to celebrate, we will be holding a total of five contests to help show our appreciation to all of our visitors who've helped make the site what it is today.

As you might be aware from our previous contests, we like to be a little unique with our offerings. As with our content, we like to be different from others, and contests is one area where we like to break from the usual "post here" scheme. Those are fine for the most part (and God knows we need help here), but it's uncreative and a cheap way to get forum participation.

Last year, we held a variety of contests that went well... all gaming related. One contest in particular interested me quite a bit, "Guess the Game". This was a contest where 20 pictures of games were displayed, and then you had to guess all 20 (or as much as possible) in order to be entered into the contest.

I am contemplating bringing that one back, because it was fun to put together, and from what I could tell, fun for the entrants as well. I do have plans to make it so that not ALL the titles have to be guessed to enter, because last year we had very few (two, actually) guess all 20, so we are going to turn the "hardcore" dial down a bit.

That said, we are in the process of dreaming up contest ideas for the other ones we will be holding, and would love some input from you guys. During the month, we will be holding a total of five contests, with four running on a one-per-week basis and the other "grand" contest running the entire month. The mini-contests will have a variety of prizes, while the "grand" contest will have something very desirable. I won't delve into what the prizes are until the beginning of the month, however.

So as it stands, we are looking for ideas for both the smaller contests and the grand contest. Keep in mind, these are ideas that should encourage as much participation as possible, not something that only you would enter. For the grand contest especially, we want as many people to enter as possible since it's a rather nice prize.

At any rate, please feel free to post ideas here in this thread, or e-mail me them if you prefer [rob dot williams at ourdomain]. Don't be offended if we don't use your idea... I happen to be one of the fussiest people alive. If we do use your idea, I'll be sure to send you some <3 in some form or another.

Thanks all!

Merlin
02-17-2008, 07:49 PM
Maybe a new Techgage Logo?
Not a thing wrong with the present logo, just like the last contest was for gamers only, this idea may attract everyone.

Just a thought

Merlin

slugbug
02-18-2008, 01:56 AM
How about a Techgage trivia challenge? Ask Questions about Techgage and entrants have to submit their answers to participate.

THUMPer
02-18-2008, 09:50 AM
contest to get more posts than Rob

Rob Williams
02-18-2008, 02:50 PM
Logo idea... We are not looking for a new logo, so that contest would be a waste of everyones time. Plus, if we were to want a new logo, it would have to be created via professional means, which we don't expect anyone to bother with.

Trivia challenge... We actually have something kind of like that. GeekGirl is working on something similar... not exactly a trivia contest, but one that makes you use your brain regardless.

More posts than Rob... Never!

THUMPer
02-18-2008, 03:48 PM
bake sale?

Rob Williams
02-18-2008, 04:02 PM
Sweet. Greg could whip up a batch of his special brownies.

THUMPer
02-18-2008, 04:23 PM
i can make some mud pies

werty316
02-18-2008, 09:01 PM
I'm game for whatever you bring to the table Rob and I have a feeling that one of the big prizes could be a brand spankin' new HD3870 X2 :) Its either that or there is an itch I can't seem to find :p

Rob Williams
02-18-2008, 10:16 PM
Haha, not sure about the HD3870 X2 as a prize, but don't worry, the prizes we have lined up will be most drool-worthy.

Merlin
02-18-2008, 10:30 PM
How about a contest to see who comes up with the best contest?

Or how about this....

We go out and get people to join Techgage, and the ones joining..... state who invited them.
And the winner is the one with the most people joined.

Ha, put that in your hat, Bainbridge scholars....

Merlin wins the contest of best contest.

Rob Williams
02-18-2008, 11:00 PM
Hah, I'd rather people post here because they want to, not because we force them to ;-)

/me puts whip aside.

BlackAndy
02-19-2008, 10:05 AM
How about a contest involving pictures of a Techgage staff member being hit with a giant ham bone, or various other things I've seen Greg hit with over the years...:p Or maybe a picture of another staff member playing flip cup at a party with a bunch of cute girls around him...

Or we could just be silly and do something like best/funniest ghetto case mods or creative ideas on how to use old computer parts instead of trashing them... i.e. making sculptures out of old video cards...
Thoughts?
-Andy

moon111
02-19-2008, 10:42 AM
How about a modding design contest? Just draw your favorite concept.

Rob Williams
02-19-2008, 02:33 PM
Or maybe a picture of another staff member playing flip cup at a party with a bunch of cute girls around him...

Someone had a camera?!

Or we could just be silly and do something like best/funniest ghetto case mods or creative ideas on how to use old computer parts instead of trashing them... i.e. making sculptures out of old video cards...

We are kind of thinking of something like that. Last year we had the ugliest case contest which went rather well, so we might bring it back each year... or as long as people continue to have ugly cases.

How about a modding design contest? Just draw your favorite concept.

These kinds of contests are tough because they limit the amount of people who can participate... not everyone is a good modder, but there are many with ghetto cases, for example. It's a tough one... we need contests that will attract as many people as possible while being unique.

It's a tough one...

DarkSynergy
02-19-2008, 02:42 PM
Or we could just be silly and do something like best/funniest ghetto case mods or creative ideas on how to use old computer parts instead of trashing them...


I have an old PIII slot CPU that I use for a business card holder. I just place the cards in between the fins. Works well. An idea like this is a fun one and I don't recall every seeing anyone else try a contest like this.

THUMPer
02-20-2008, 04:11 PM
trivia is the best way to go for the internets.
if it was the RL we could have a chili cook off.

Rob Williams
02-20-2008, 06:31 PM
I'll bring the Beano!

I believe we've come to the final decision for our "big" contest... and instead of having a traditional contest, we are going to hold a survey instead.

There are numerous reasons why this is a better choice for us, but the main one is that we can easily see what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong, and how much bigger my breasts need to be to attract more traffic.

In the end, it's a simple way to enter a contest and would be valuable for the site as well, so that we can continue working towards building something everyone benefits from.

barone
02-21-2008, 12:42 AM
I like the idea for a survey as the grand prize contest.
The ideas suggested in this thread so far are kind of hard to implement like you said because they would only be good for a certain number of people (like designing a concept)

For a small contest, we should have a thread where we can post humor-related technology videos like from youtube.. and the funniest video voted by the mods wins... (example would be those MAC vs PC commercials)

trivia is the best way to go for the internets.
if it was the RL we could have a chili cook off.

or we can meet at a neutral location for a chili cook off

THUMPer
02-22-2008, 12:09 PM
what about
"Name that Hardware!"

http://media.hardwareanalysis.com/articles/small/11168.jpg

Make and Model of motherboard!

THUMPer
02-22-2008, 01:17 PM
ok name this!!!

http://i28.tinypic.com/esoo7o.jpg

DarkSynergy
02-22-2008, 01:59 PM
Gigabyte iRAM.

THUMPer
02-22-2008, 03:24 PM
HAX!!

DarkSynergy
02-22-2008, 04:50 PM
HAX!!

Perhaps finding something other than a one of a kind piece of hardware would make things a bit more difficult.

Getting this thread back on track, lets get some more ideas!

CoolZone
02-22-2008, 06:00 PM
i'm really looking forward for the next competitions at Techgage!
They are the best between all other sites!

Rob Williams
02-25-2008, 04:59 PM
Thanks so far for all the ideas folks, it's appreciated it. I am unsure if we will use any of these, but they might help spawn other ideas. As it stands, we know what the first weeks contest will be, and the grand prize contest will be the survey, so that's all figured out.

The contests are going to be good though, I am bleeding excitement ;-)