Call for Restructuring OzBargain Monthly Awards

easternculture on 15/05/2015 - 21:28
Last edited 15/05/2015 - 21:41

As per my comment here, i suggested the restructuring of ozbargain annual awards to make it less predictable and fairer for the ozbargain community.

An example would be:

  • One award per 3 months
  • Maximum of 3 awards per year
  • Creating more categories for the awards such as most helpful comment or best freebie etc

The current predictability of who wins the monthly awards may discourage some members to post deals so hopefully a new system most likely encourage more members to contribute to the ozbargain community.

What are your opinions?

Poll Options

  • 51
    Lets do it scotty
  • 23
    Nah, I'm happy the way it is
  • 16
    Don't really care
  • 2
    Where is the candy
  • 30
    Whatever jv wants
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Comments

  • pyramid on 15/05/2015 - 22:03
    +1

    Here are the default winners JV, EC, TA, TRENT etc. But they do deserve it cause they do all hard work and share it here.

    • easternculture on 15/05/2015 - 22:08
      -3

      not EC lol. Ive never won a monthly award

      • pyramid on 15/05/2015 - 22:09
        -1

        I thought you are winning so many awards..:D

      • anonymous01 on 17/05/2015 - 07:24
        +2

        Lately you have been winning a lot of negative votes.

    • pointless martyr on 16/05/2015 - 02:37
      +1

      Lol …you should add another poll option "jaded OP should just give up" seriously…prizes for most iherb referral credits?…..puhleese!

  • [Deactivated] on 15/05/2015 - 22:14
    +3

    Sure. Whatever helps my odds of winning some awards! Those ideas sounds fair.

    ;)

  • inherentchoice on 15/05/2015 - 22:24
    +19

    OzBargain is getting a bargain by having 'employees' like TA who work for $100 per month with little to no job security.

    Now even their meagre wage is under threat.

    • gimli on 17/05/2015 - 14:18

      Haha, that perhaps is true. .
      But then it would be more correct in saying "employees" who work for free.

      I think most contributors contribute because they like the ozbargain community, find it useful and like to give something back. Also it is nice to see lots of plusses on something you post.

  • Employeescotty @ OzBargain on 15/05/2015 - 22:54
    +16

    Currently it's "fair" as the best posters win. Unless you are talking about the "playground fairness" where everyone gets a turn. We might not call it an award in that case :)

    On the other hand, if we take away the financial incentives (like we don't really have that 18 months ago) but just offer virtual awards — like a congratulation card digitally signed by me — how is that going to change the situation here?

    Anyway. Keep the suggestions coming and we get 2 weeks to decide.

    • easternculture on 15/05/2015 - 23:10
      +3

      Currently it's "fair" as the best posters win.

      i dont disagree on this , but lately ive noticed that the focus has been on

      • Quantity: X member has posted the most number of deals with disregard to quality of the deals
      • Number of Votes: X member has posted most number of deals to reach the front page, with disregard to voters potentially being biased i.e. voting for poster rather than deal

      A member also noted here

      So last year TA won he used to post the most number of deals, this year it's because he doesn't fit that, so it's now for getting the most number of deals to the front page. Sure.

      Does this mean that awards have become Mod biased too?

      • Employeescotty @ OzBargain on 15/05/2015 - 23:13
        +5

        Does this mean that awards have become Mod biased too?

        No. Last year he won BOTH most number of deals and the most number of deals on the front page. I guess you can say his "achievement" is just so much in front of everyone else. I can understand that other people want to have a turn. In fact the most popular deals & competitions of the month are mostly won by different people.

        • easternculture on 15/05/2015 - 23:20
          -5

          Out of curiosity, how does the ozbargain team decide/vote for the awards

          No. Last year he won BOTH most number of deals and the most number of deals on the front page. I guess you can say his "achievement" is just so much in front of everyone else.

          Totally agree with this. TA is an asset. SO was theearth before he moved to buckscoop

        • Employeescotty @ OzBargain on 15/05/2015 - 23:57

          @easternculture:

          how does the ozbargain team decide/vote for the awards

          Currently based on the stats generated. The monthly stats published by neil — we actually get a Markdown version of that every month.

          The plan going forward is definitely opening up more different prizes so the outstanding members get their awards, and there will still be some left so others can have a chance.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/05/2015 - 23:48

      Currently it's "fair"

      Soz, Scotty.. if that was said in response to my "those ideas sound fair" comment earlier, I meant that entirely tongue in cheek lol :)

      • Employeescotty @ OzBargain on 16/05/2015 - 00:03
        +1

        Nah. I was responding to EC's original post where he stated.

        restructuring of ozbargain annual awards to make it less predictable and fairer

        Tongue in cheek for my part as well regarding to fairness. For a totally fair system the hardworking and only the hardworking gets the reward however our society does not work this way, and when we say "fairness" we actually meant everyone should get a chance.

  • GnarlyKnuckles on 15/05/2015 - 23:37
    +1

    I have a related but different question about the negative 'awards' (stats) published each month. An experienced poster will simply pull/can their comment (request that a mod delete their post as soon as they realise it's gonna go down in history as one of the most negged ever; or for that month or whatever) if they don't request its deletion. So given that, is it really fair to publicly memorialise the posts of newer users as "the most negged post this month", basically because they probably didnae realise they could have simply requested its removal before that happened?

    • Employeescotty @ OzBargain on 16/05/2015 - 00:11

      I don't have the stats, but "experienced OP requesting their own deals unpublished" is actually quite rare. For the monthly stats we only publish the most negged deal, and that's usually posted by reps that's borderline spamming. March, April.

      For reps deals we do not allow them to simply request removal, as negative votes actually impact store rep's posting frequency & store's performance ban. See this and this.

      • GnarlyKnuckles on 16/05/2015 - 00:32

        I did not say "experienced OP requesting their own deals unpublished".

        "For the monthly stats we only publish the most negged deal…"

        From memory, I don't think that is correct. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing "Comment with the highest number of negative votes" published in the monthly stats write-up.

        I'll check back though, humble apologies if I'm wrong.

        • Associatedneil @ OzBargain on 16/05/2015 - 00:36
          +4

          When I first starting compiling the monthly stats posts, I was running the SQL queries directly on the DB (or a copy of the DB). For the early ones, I believe I may have forgot to make sure they were published comments. I later fixed that up but now Scott made me a page which outputs most of the stats which is way easier. I probably need to take a Udemy SQL refresher course.

        • GnarlyKnuckles on 16/05/2015 - 00:43
          +1

          @neil:
          I'm not talking about potential 'errors of old'; what I'm saying is that the comment with the most negs currently gets published every month in the 'stats' post… UNLESS the poster of that comment is savy enough/cares enough to 'withdraw' it in time (i.e. asks admin to 'unpublish' it) … in which case it is kinda… 'erased from history'. That 'opt out'/rewrite history' type of system means that it's a bit misrepresentative to publish a statistic of the 'most negged comment'.

        • Associatedneil @ OzBargain on 16/05/2015 - 01:09

          @GnarlyKnuckles:

          That 'opt out'/rewrite history' type of system means that it's a bit misrepresentative to publish a statistic of the 'most negged comment'.

          The stat is the most negatively voted published comment. I just looked through the monthly stats posts of the most negged comment from all of them and no one has requested removal after publishing the stats so the stats stand correct. In any case, these are indicative stats and not should be taken as scientific results.;)

        • MMM on 17/05/2015 - 18:07

          @neil: Its all ball bearings nowadays, you might need a refresher course… Chevy Chase Fletch lives:)

  • frondono on 16/05/2015 - 07:25
    +1

    bla, blah, blah. blah, bla, blah, give me a prize I'm the best

    • tyler.durden on 17/05/2015 - 21:47

      what do u win?

      • GnarlyKnuckles on 22/05/2015 - 03:10
        -1

        "what do u win?"

        I've never looked into it, but one of the above posts suggests that the most prolific poster each month 'wins' $100. A small amount for the current 'main poster' I spose, given that at least 20 hours (probably a lot more) seem to be being regularly expended each month.

        When the 'winners' of these prizes start to see that as affirmation that they are essentially part of the OzB staff though, that seems to sometimes create a problem.

        For example, they may erroneously feel that they are 'entitled' to act as an OzB representative, and portray themselves as one, when contacting companies that are the subject of posted deals (for example, Woolies). Or, they may (equally as erroneously) decide that it is a good idea to use their influence to encourage OzB users to publicly and overtly voice displeasure (i.e. exert pressure) "en masse" (by way of negative sentiments posted on the company's FB page) against a company that has actually given a great deal to the community; essentially because they are upset that the 'deal' is being wound back. Of course I'm alluding to Delivery Hero here.

        These are my humble opinions. The actual systems/criteria by which the awards/prizes are allocated are fine I think, but I suggest that the recipients of said awards/prizes should not misinterpret them as affirmation that they are some sort of "honourary staff-member". The awards/prizes (no matter how often they are 'won') should not be regarded as a 'green-light' to contact any businesses on behalf of the OzB community (or seemingly as an 'OzB representative'), without prior consultation with the actual site originators/coordinators.

        Similarly, re Delivery Hero my personal opinion is that it was misguided (some would say it smacked of blatant ingratitude) to incite the OzB community to 'bite the hand that fed it', quite literally, via negative posts on their FB page simply because DH decided to wind back an 'unprecedentedly' (if that is even a word?!?) awesome/long-standing 'deal'. The implied frame-of-mind seems to be that DH should have provided an unsustainably awesome discount to OzB users, forever. Or am I misunderstanding something there?

  • MMM on 17/05/2015 - 17:57
    +2

    There are Awards? I'm just here for the bargains… Who, what or fair really don't care.

  • tyler.durden on 17/05/2015 - 21:38

    Is this the true intention of the thread?

    http://goo.gl/37MB7N

  • tyler.durden on 17/05/2015 - 21:43
    -1

    Just curious
    but what do you win?

    What the prizes?

  • BlazinPast on 17/05/2015 - 22:43

    I've been following the awards since they came out and haven't really had an issue with it. The awards should be to the one most deserving and it's TRENT. I do think TA does post repetitive deals such as Delivery Hero which is simply a race for who can post it first or the '50 free android apps', '50 free udemy courses', '50 free ebooks'. I feel like those do get the cheap upvotes despite my doubts of anyone reading any of these books or courses. I don't blame him for doing it, it does seem like people are interested in it and it does take dedication to take the time to post these deals. Personally, I prefer TRENT's deals as they are much more miscellaneous and cover a larger scope of deals.

    I don't see why TA/TRENT should be disqualified for the next few months because they are ahead of the competition though. EC, you are definitely the 3rd best no question, you post very good deals too, but I guess it's unfortunate those 2 are ahead of you. I think TA edges you out as he does post some excellent deals on top of some of his 'filler' posts and spends a lot of time finding these deals.

    • GnarlyKnuckles on 18/05/2015 - 02:10

      "… despite my doubts of anyone reading any of these books"

      I reckon plenty actually read at least some of the free ebooks scored via these posts, due to the wide subject variety of them. I personally have read around 100 of the 'real' books I've scored (mostly non-fiction/reference books, but also about 20 of the fiction books/historical novels); but notably, I've acquired at least 100 of the children's books/picture-books, which I read to my son at bed-time. I'm guessing quite a few fellow OzB'ers have also found a heap of the kids books useful for this purpose.

      I suspect you're probably right about the Udemy courses (though even those are probably acquired with the sincerest of intentions), and perhaps even the android apps for the most part. But I'd be happy to stand corrected on this. Has anyone out there ever actually completed an Udemy course that they genuinely found very useful (or led to paid employment)? Or on android apps front… can anyone cite any particular ones that were 'great scores'/ subsequently actually used frequently/ were genuinely useful?

      • tyler.durden on 18/05/2015 - 09:04
        +1

        You are wrong..

        I find udemy courses very useful and good…
        though some posts contains the same free courses again and again.

        Not everyone needs to do udemy for employment.
        Some are interested in it for the knowledge and people who are lifelong learners..

        Android free apps are always good, whether they are good or not.

        Free ebooks are always good, but I don't have time to read most of them.
        I just collect them for reference sake, in case I need knowledge on something.

        So each to their own.

      • donga100 on 18/05/2015 - 15:32
        +1

        Not Udemy but I completed a Coursera course that I have since used on a couple of projects at work and is recognised by my management.

  • inherentchoice on 18/05/2015 - 12:15
    +3

    Correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds like some people are just jealous.

    • tyler.durden on 18/05/2015 - 12:32

      Or…

      http://goo.gl/37MB7N

    • easternculture on 18/05/2015 - 19:41
      +1

      why would i be jealous, i still post bargains (#3 poster according to stats) and never won a prize.

      i do it for the community

      Just would like to see other people win prizes.

      • tightarse on 20/05/2015 - 23:46
        +4

        OzBargainer of the year in 2013 is a fairly significant achievement EC, and one you should be extremely proud of. Your contribution to the community has never been questioned, nor has it gone unnoticed. Keep up the great work.

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/126862

  • GnarlyKnuckles on 19/05/2015 - 01:05
    +10

    The 'prizes' I have already 'won' via this site include (but are not limited to):

    1. Two (or was it 3?) boxes full of food/stuff from "PawPaw" (delivered) that ended up being totally free when they cancelled their 'year-deal'.

    2. Two 32GB micro-SD cards that were free after $20 'cash-back' from Norton.

    3. Twenty (or was it 30?) '3-packs' of bonds socks for 66 cents per 3-pack.

    4. A "serious amount" (that's all I'm willing to divulge on this particular deal) of jerky, when due to a pricing (erm) 'anomaly' combined with 'creative stacking' it was able to be ordered for less than $25 per kilo (50g packs, zero postage; [yet another] 'first order'!)

    5. Free high quality kids sunglasses, with a grouse wee 'maintenance kit', delivered from Canada for nix.

    6. A (erm) 'great deal' of Coke, delivered for about 10 cents per can. Sorted for many moons.

    7. About $500 back from a bit over $1000 worth of purchases at 'small businesses' around my area (including some petrol stations/ supermarkets/ delis/ etc.), in November 2014; really fun times. Please come back "AMEX Shop Small"; WE LOVE YOU.

    8. A-bit-over 100,000 QFF points acquired for nix via three credit-cards that were subsequently easy to cancel (one of which I actually retained after they offered to waive another 'annual fee').

    9. A laughably enormous mountain of 'Slazenger' clothes (T-shirts, 3/4 duds, comfy slip-on shoes, etc.), not to mention packets of razor-blades (soccer-themed?), gardening gloves, all bought for about 5% of usual cost, and distributed to numerous grateful friends/relatives; all for a grand total of about $100.

    10. $200 to spend at Woolies (or Dan Murphies, etc. etc.), for a cost of $150. Another great AMEX statement credit thingy.

    There have been many more… these are just the first ten that sprang to mind.

    I consider scores like this my 'prizes'; I don't need or expect anything more from this site.

  • [Deactivated] on 21/05/2015 - 09:57

    Here I was thinking OzB was about saving money, turns out it's a lot more…..

    • GnarlyKnuckles on 22/05/2015 - 03:34
      +2

      "… turns out it's a lot more…"

      Some threads rapidly come to resemble soap-operas Clarky… others develop into thought-provoking philosophical debates… then there's the genuinely informative/factual threads.

      They're all entertaining.

      At least for the seasoned users though, I suspect the site ceases to be about "saving money", and more about sharing and/or acquiring useful information. After all, at some point we realise we have everything we need, and no more space to store any new 'bargains' even if we wanted them!

      ;P

  • sysplex on 23/05/2015 - 12:21
    +3

    So, 5 years 9 months 19 days ago, I posted this deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/15161 - Woohoo, 99 votes! Scotty kindly posted me a USB stick (2GB?) for my efforts as I won the Ozbargain <something> of the <something> Award that month. Back then, I don't think there was any formal awards as such, and my posts are averaging 1 per year :)

    What I'm not liking in this thread is that members feel successful members be made ineligible for further awards. No one should be excluded from awards because of their success or competitiveness. It's up to other individuals to post top deals and pull-off the award(s) for themselves. I'm quite happy for award winners to keep feeding me exceptional deals day in, day out. I don't want these guys taking a back seat because they're disqualified.

    • donga100 on 23/05/2015 - 16:28

      Wow, that was a good deal. Wish I could give it a + vote to get you to 100.

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