Cichlid Bowl I: The Official Thread

[tom]

In October I mentioned the Cichlid Bowl and said I'd formalize rules, etc before the December contest, so here it is:

What's Cichlid Bowl I?

It's the first annual photo shoot-off among the past year's (or half-year, in this case) Photo Contest contestants. It'll happen in January.

How are the contestants selected?

Winners of each of the bimonthly contests (three, including the winner of the December contest, which will get underway later today), plus contestants with the three highest rated non-winning photographs will vie for top honors.

As of now, past winners Woot and Blair are automatically in. Highest non-winning top three photos--as voted on by you--are those by Solace (4.4), squidfish (4.2) and Cathy Hill (3.8). Only Woot and Blair are guaranteed spots in the Bowl, pending the results of the December contest.

In short, there will be six contestants in CB I.

Do the contestants enter the photos that earned them entry into CB I or do they take new photos?

Contestants must submit all new, previously unpublished photos.

When will we know who's going to compete in CB I?

Shortly after the announcement of the winner of the December contest.

The winners of the three contests and the top three others with the highest rated photographs will be contacted by PM. Because they are not obligated to enter, they will have one week to accept or decline. If no reply, then the next highest vote-getter is in (assuming he or she accepts), and so forth. In sum, there will be six contestants regardless for CB I.

How will the voting be done for CB I?

Same as in any other Photo Contest

Is this like, bigger than the Super Bowl?

Yes. Although admittedly we won't have Janet Jackson entertaining us.

OK, enough yap: What's the Prize?

Bragging rights is the biggie, of course.

Besides that, the winner gets the following three items delivered to his or her door:


* An Eheim 2217 Canister Filter

* Choice of an Emperor 400 Power Filter or an AquaClear 500

* A Jager 250 Watt heater

Who's sponsoring CB I?

Cichlidforums.com

Is that it? Can I go now?

Yep, that's it. But make sure you come back and vote!

Thanks!

Posted also in The Lounge

[jennigypsy]

oh WOW!!!!!!
...I could really use a new filter....better get shooting :)

[Seedy]

what?!?!? REal prizes????Did someone (TOM) win the Mexican Lottery or something?:jaw: :eek: :D

[tom]

Seedy..um...I think we've always had prizes for contests .:hmm:






We've just not always actually given them.:rofl2:

[cathyhill]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tom
[b]Contestants must submit all new, previously unpublished photos.


Just for clarification purposes...is the previously unpublished photos only on the cichlid forums or web wide?

[tom]

Originally posted by cathyhill
[QUOTE]Originally posted by tom
[b]Contestants must submit all new, previously unpublished photos.


Just for clarification purposes...is the previously unpublished photos only on the cichlid forums or web wide?

Cathy, I don't know how I missed this for five days, but I did.

By "previously unpublished," I mean web-wide.
-------------------------------------------------------------

General note to all: The winner of the December contest and the six photographers to be invited to participate in CB I will be posted today. If the results are not posted before 2:00 PM EST, please look for them this evening. The results will be posted today.

[tom]

Official rules and dates and stuff regarding CB I will be posted as an announcement on every forum either late tonight or early tomorrow (Jan 5).

Preliminary schedule has entries submitted by Jan 20 and the contest winner announced on Jan 31.

Again, invited to participate are the following members:

Blair
Woot
Rybatron
Cathy Hill
Squidfish
Solace

Participants will be PMed the password for photo upload when the rules are posted.

Thanks

[tom]

Another reminder that the deadline for photo submissions is Jan 20.

[tom]

Please note that another prize option has been added. The winner of the Cichlid Bowl now may choose either the "Starter package" originally offered or the Eheim 2028 Pro II canister filter.

Again, prizes are selected based on the comments of the community-at-large; contests are not sponsored or endorsed by any manufacturer, distributor, or any other commercial interest.

[Woot]

Good luck everyone.

BTW I got my camera up and going again (was just abattery went bad). So I will be able to give you guys a run for your money. :rofl:

[tom]

There will be seven photos/contestants and not six. Here's why:

One of the six members with auto invites PMed me to say that he could not enter the contest owing to a camera malfunction. I then acknowledged and PMed the next photographer (photographers in this case, as there was a tie for the next spot), one of whom acknowledged and then was added as a contestant (agez). Later, the original invitee PMed me to say that the camera would be ok after all and could he still enter. I said he could.

So you will see seven photographs instead of six.

[Glaive]

It's getting to be as complex as a day time soap Tom :D

[tom]

Rule 8 from the announcement:

The winning photograph will be that which receives the highest rating by CichlidForums members. The rating numbers will be visible to all voters throughout the contest. In the event of a tie, a panel of three CichlidForums members--one of whom will be a moderator--will cast the deciding ballots. (The three members have not yet been asked to act as tie-breakers; they will be named before the regular voting takes place.)

The three were asked and accepted well over a week ago. They are Finz, punkypuffer, and cich1. Finz is the obvious moderator choice, and was kind enough (as he always has been with a variety of tasks) to accept.

The two other members were asked based on their interest in all three of the previous contests as reflected in their comments in the contest gallery. That is not to say, of course, that they are more interested than many others. But certainly they are not less interested. Equally important, this board benefits by having members previously not engaged in any "official" capacity get involved.

Thanks, Finz, punky, and cich1 for your time and support. (Hopefully, you won't have a tie to break :D)

[tom]

Originally posted by Glaive
It's getting to be as complex as a day time soap Tom :D

I'll re-phrase:

There are 7 photos, not 6. :D

[Glaive]

Thank you Tom that helps :D

Right on Cich Punky and Finz!

[jennigypsy]

cool guys!

[tom]

Voting is now open.

As always, there are no set criteria; vote for the photos according to your own standards. You may rate one or all the photos.

A note: It seems to me only logical that there can be only one " the best" (five stars) among the group for a given voter. Moreover, if you rate all (or several) the same, you're basically nullifying your vote. (But, hey, it's your vote.)

Important: If the system doesn't allow you to vote, and you haven't yet voted, please PM me.

Finally: Remember that the winning photograph is that with the highest numerical score--period--at the end of the voting in the wee hours of Jan 30.

[Glaive]

For those of you who ignore the photo contest I would say it is your loss.

I am currently looking over the seven entrants for the bowl and all I have to say is wow you folks really did an amazing job. This is going to be very tough.

Again excelent job entrants and the rest of you go join the contest site, link at the top middle of any forum page.

[jonah]

I've already voted.

[cich1]

me too.come on guys and gals don't let the photo contest slip away from us because of non particapation.

[punkypuffer]

doing great! 24 votes so far... we can get more than that people!

[OwassoFish]

I voted. Great pics by everyone. Hadn't been many votes since yesterday so thought I'd give this a bump.

[tom]

A reminder that voting closes tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:59 pm.

If you're registered and haven't been able to vote, please try again and PM me if you still can't vote.

Thanks

[tom]

Those viewing the voting last night no doubt noticed a tie between the two photographs that had been running neck and neck for most of the week. (Actually, only 0.3 points separated four photos for most of the voting.) A tie is the result.

We now go to the tie-breaker.

The winner will be announced as scheduled on Monday, January 31.

[tom]

After a tie-breaker that was also a split decision, the winner of Cichlid Bowl 1 is Blair's "Pursuit Predator"; the Runner-up is Squidfish's "Spawning Time."

Blair wins his choice of the Starter Package or the Eheim 2028 Pro II.

Congratulations to Blair!

Congratulations and a thank-you also to Squidifish, Woot, Rybatron, Cathy Hill, Solace, and Agez for providing us with terrific photos and the closest of contests.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote; you represent in great part why this site is here.





Pursuit Predator

http://www.cichlidforums.com/postimages/2005-01-31/87670-001.jpg




Spawning Time

http://www.cichlidforums.com/postimages/2005-01-31/87670-002.jpg

[tom]

(I'll post this over to the Lounge as a separate thread.)