LONGECITY

The contest ends may 8th. After that there are 10 finalists chosen based on the number of votes. We are currently tied in 15th place.
We really need to vote as much as possible now to get into the finals.

According to the official rules, the vote count only weighs 10% in the judges' decision in picking the 10 finalists:

10. Judging to Determine the Ten (10) Finalists: All Entries will be judged by the Sponsor-selected panel of Judges, based on the following judging criteria: originality/creativity – 70%, relevance to theme – 20%, and the amount of "Love It" votes during Voting Sweepstakes Period – 10%, to determine the 10 Finalists. In the event of a tie, tied Entrants will be re-judged by the Judges, based 100% on originality/creativity, to determine the potential Finalist(s). Judges' decisions are final with respect to all matters relating to the Contest. No information regarding Entries or judging will be disclosed to any third party not involved in the conduct of the Contest.

If past experience (i.e., the Amex contest) is any guide, the judges probably won't pick what in their perspective would seem like a boring science-related entry. Even if they do pick the microscope, I doubt that voters besides ourselves will vote for our entry for the same reason that the judges will likely find it unappealing. Of course, I hope I'm wrong, but the odds don't seem to be in our favor.
Edited by Florin Clapa, 21 April 2011 - 02:21 AM.

The contest ends may 8th. After that there are 10 finalists chosen based on the number of votes. We are currently tied in 15th place.
We really need to vote as much as possible now to get into the finals.

According to the official rules, the vote count only weighs 10% in the judges' decision in picking the 10 finalists:

10. Judging to Determine the Ten (10) Finalists: All Entries will be judged by the Sponsor-selected panel of Judges, based on the following judging criteria: originality/creativity – 70%, relevance to theme – 20%, and the amount of "Love It" votes during Voting Sweepstakes Period – 10%, to determine the 10 Finalists. In the event of a tie, tied Entrants will be re-judged by the Judges, based 100% on originality/creativity, to determine the potential Finalist(s). Judges' decisions are final with respect to all matters relating to the Contest. No information regarding Entries or judging will be disclosed to any third party not involved in the conduct of the Contest.

If past experience (i.e., the Amex contest) is any guide, the judges probably won't pick what in their perspective would seem like a boring science-related entry. Even if they do pick the microscope, I doubt that voters besides ourselves will vote for our entry for the same reason that the judges will likely find it unappealing. Of course, I hope I'm wrong, but the odds don't seem to be in our favor.

I think people are smarter than that. The judges are people who are probably high up in the company and you have to be fairy intelligent to run a company effectively. Who say's Science is boring to most people? Many people find science fascinating they just don't take the time to learn the specifics themselves.

Moved up two slots, now in 13th place, and listed first on all pages. Mind (and everyone else) yes, all you have to do is "Love it", and you can vote ONCE PER DAY so please continue to vote daily to push us forward.

Florin, agreed with your point, but this could be an interesting bet to hedge (particularly since its free for us to do so). If we continue to gain momentum over the next week and end in the top 10, we can hopefully make it to the finals. I think "Tools of discovery" certainly represents the theme, and is something I love. Obviously given the rules, the contest comes down to whatever an arbitrary group of judges decide. However, there is something to be said about support a project which claims all winnings go to research, versus simply giving it to parents who wrapped their baby in tin foil.

Florin, agreed with your point, but this could be an interesting bet to hedge (particularly since its free for us to do so).

I'll continue voting everyday as I've done before, but since the chances of winning are so low, I wouldn't want to see people getting their hopes up and spending too much time promoting this either.

If we continue to gain momentum over the next week and end in the top 10, we can hopefully make it to the finals. I think "Tools of discovery" certainly represents the theme, and is something I love. Obviously given the rules, the contest comes down to whatever an arbitrary group of judges decide.

Since the amount of votes will count for so little when the judges pick the 10 finalists, I don't see how momentum would make much of a difference.

However, there is something to be said about support a project which claims all winnings go to research, versus simply giving it to parents who wrapped their baby in tin foil.

Since this isn't a charity contest, I don't see how promising to give the money away would help all that much.

Another big problem is that the microscope has no human interest aspect to it as every current winner does. The entry's chances would increase if someone was actually using the microscope (complete with a wrapped lab coat while holding a wrapped burrito perhaps), but it's probably too late to fix it.
Edited by Florin Clapa, 22 April 2011 - 01:35 AM.

I disagree with your assessments on all points. We are in 13th place out of almost 1,000 entries, and now within striking distance of 8th place. My impression of cost to benefit considerations, weighted by risks of failure, says that this is a far better opportunity for us to win money than anything else currently presented (If you need support for a proposal where we're already in the ~95th percentile in a major category of evaluation, I would be happy to support it). I do not think these contests are ever anything people should assume we will win, but the name of the game IS promoting it and I think the likelihood of winning is well within the realm of feasibility.

Regarding the voting, you have to put yourself in the perspective of the company. The reason the judges decide is because the company wants to retain control, but that does NOT mean they ignore the support of the people (in fact you will note that it is the community who chooses the grand prize winner, not the judges). If something is getting hot right near the end of the contest then they will certainly have their eye on it, and if we could continue gaining momentum we could probably place top five anyways. I think that momentum is ALL the difference.

No this is not a charity contest, but it IS a contest. Agreed that improvements could have been made designing the entry (a person using the microscope holding a burrito would have been a great idea), but that would have come at the price of time. Three of the top four voted entries were started before mine, and six of the top twelve were started before or at the same time as mine. Being on the front page FIRST makes it very easier to gain votes from people outside of your network early on and throughout. We've been fighting to get to the front page in all three categories (most loved of all time, most loved this week, most viewed), and we have now accomplished just that. We are almost there!

I think we are in a great position to get more people involved, powerhouse these last two weeks of the contest, and get the attention of the judges. Maybe promising to give the money away will not help, but it is something that no one else is offering, which makes this entry unique.

THE POINT IS, WE ONLY NEED TO GET TO THE FINALS. The community then decides who wins the $10,000 prize, and at thousands strong, the longevity network can step up. Why wouldn't you want to see people spending too much time promoting it? I think this is one of the best opportunities we've had in a while to bring in external funds. More importantly, there is also value in the visibility to be gained for our cause when Chipotle starts promoting the winner.

PLEASE VOTE DAILY http://gold.chipotle...howentry/757031

We're in 12th place right now!! We only need 6 more votes to get into the top 10 finals! Even then we have to keep voting to secure our place. Please remember to vote every single day, it's easy to forget even I forgot for one day.

Kelsey I agree with everything you've said. We are already in the top 95% of the contest so we should do everything we can to promote it.

THE POINT IS, WE ONLY NEED TO GET TO THE FINALS. The community then decides who wins the $10,000 prize, and at thousands strong, the longevity network can step up. Why wouldn't you want to see people spending too much time promoting it?

I wouldn't want people to spend too much time on this, because votes count for little at this stage according to the official rules. If we get to the the final round, I might change my mind, but even then, the most votes we can hope for is between the amounts generated by the 3banana (2,485) and Chase Community Giving (less than 1,500 to 2,000) contest. The Amex contest generated about 5,000 of votes, but that amount probably isn't possible anymore since we barely won the 3banana contest at 2,485 votes. On just the first page of "Most Love (All Time)," the human interest votes alone totals about 3,000—more than enough to bury us. It gets even worse since the 3banana votes accumulated over about a month of voting in contrast to this contest which has been ongoing for about three weeks. The only hope we have is if the finalist entries will divide the vote sufficiently to give us a chance of winning. If any other entry passes the 2,500 vote mark in the final round which will last only about one week, we'll be very unlikely to win.

PLEASE VOTE DAILY http://gold.chipotle...howentry/757031

AND PLEASE DON'T VOTE FOR ANY OF THE OTHERS ;-)
Edited by Florin Clapa, 22 April 2011 - 07:46 PM.

THE POINT IS, WE ONLY NEED TO GET TO THE FINALS. The community then decides who wins the $10,000 prize, and at thousands strong, the longevity network can step up. Why wouldn't you want to see people spending too much time promoting it?

I wouldn't want people to spend too much time on this, because votes count for little at this stage according to the official rules. If we get to the the final round, I might change my mind, but even then, the most votes we can hope for is between the amounts generated by the 3banana (2,485) and Chase Community Giving (less than 1,500 to 2,000) contest. The Amex contest generated about 5,000 of votes, but that amount probably isn't possible anymore since we barely won the 3banana contest at 2,485 votes. On just the first page of "Most Love (All Time)," the human interest votes alone totals about 3,000—more than enough to bury us. It gets even worse since the 3banana votes accumulated over about a month of voting in contrast to this contest which has been ongoing for about three weeks. The only hope we have is if the finalist entries will divide the vote sufficiently to give us a chance of winning. If any other entry passes the 2,500 vote mark in the final round which will last only about one week, we'll be very unlikely to win.

PLEASE VOTE DAILY http://gold.chipotle...howentry/757031

AND PLEASE DON'T VOTE FOR ANY OF THE OTHERS ;-)

The total top 10 votes that are for inanimate objects also total around 3000.

We can get to the final round because we only need 6 more votes to do so.

The total top 10 votes that are for inanimate objects also total around 3000.

Since ALL of the current $2k winners feature people and not just inanimate objects, that seems to indicate that the judges are looking for more than just inanimate objects—they also want a human interest element.

We can get to the final round because we only need 6 more votes to do so.

Why are you consistently ignoring the official rules and the results of the $2k contest? Votes only count for 10% in how the judges vote. The GOLDEN BEATZ entry won $2k with less than about 107 votes (total votes minus this week's votes). So, votes are almost irrelevant in how the judges will pick the finalists.
Edited by Florin Clapa, 22 April 2011 - 08:32 PM.

The total top 10 votes that are for inanimate objects also total around 3000.

Since ALL of the current $2k winners feature people and not just inanimate objects, that seems to indicate that the judges are looking for more than just inanimate objects—they also want a human interest element.

We can get to the final round because we only need 6 more votes to do so.

Why are you consistently ignoring the official rules and the results of the $2k contest? Votes only count for 10% in how the judges vote. The GOLDEN BEATZ entry won $2k with less than about 107 votes (total votes minus this week's votes). So, votes are almost irrelevant in how the judges will pick the finalists.

Your right, votes only count for 10% of the judges decision. I still say we have a chance of winning and that it's worth it to spend time to promote it.

Hey guys good news, we broke onto the first page of ALL THREE CATEGORIES (most loved of all time, most loved this week, most viewed) tonight. Lets rally and everyone vote daily to win this contest. We need everyone!

We're in 9th place in the most loved of all time! I knew we could do it!!!!! The other entries ahead of ours seem to be losing steam and we only seam to be getting more votes as time goes on.

Bump

We're now in 7th place in the most voted of all time.
Edited by The Immortalist, 25 April 2011 - 05:08 PM.

Lets hit top 5. We can do this!

I voted again today. How long does the voting last again?

bump

We only need 36 more votes to get into the top 5!

We only need 36 more votes to get into the top 5!

Now we only need 4 more votes to get into the top 5!

Congratulations everyone, we hit the top 5!!! Small more push to get in the top 4 before voting ends on May 8th, and I think we'll be sitting well for finals. The way finals works is that 10 entries are selected, all votes are reset to 0, and its a popularity contest from May 16th - May 22nd to see who wins the $10,000 prize. Same rules apply, vote once per day every day.

The newest $2k winner has a human interest element just like all of the rest and only 62 total votes and 723 views.

Im promoting too. A few more promoters is more than likely to secure a first through third spot. I think Chipotle Burritos might be factoring in the amount of links and "Chipotle Burrito" names we can get out there so remember to keep letting people know in those ways. For example, posting the link with the name for them it seems is better than things like asking them to visit your page to find the voting information.

The latest "12 free burritos" winner has similar stats to the microscope entry, but alas, it also has a human interest element. The human interest trend plus the irrelevance of votes and views makes it pretty clear to me that we're unlikely to win even 12 free burritos.

So, why not focus on projects that are actually "winnable" like the Microglial fundraiser that has stalled out for the past month or getting more people to join the "Once we reach 1,000 members, every one of us will donate $100 to defeat aging!" Facebook Cause that has also been stalled for months?

The latest "12 free burritos" winner has similar stats to the microscope entry, but alas, it also has a human interest element. The human interest trend plus the irrelevance of votes and views makes it pretty clear to me that we're unlikely to win even 12 free burritos.

So, why not focus on projects that are actually "winnable" like the Microglial fundraiser that has stalled out for the past month or getting more people to join the "Once we reach 1,000 members, every one of us will donate $100 to defeat aging!" Facebook Cause that has also been stalled for months?

We can promote all of those at the same time. We seem to have very few people around here so it's hard to get absolutely everything done.

Florin can you please just stop posting in this thread. We know your position on this and we don't need to hear it again for the fourth time.

We are now in the 4th most viewed entry of all time! We are also the second most viwed for the week and this is the final week so we are able to now secure the top position on two of the pages(most viewed and most viewed of the week). If we we choose to we can now at least get into the second most vied of all time. I feel that we are even able to get into first place if we push hard enough.

Bump.

We still have a chance to make it into the top 3.

This is doing really well, and if everyone shares on their social networking sites some more, it likely could win


Vote at http://gold.chipotle...howentry/757031

That is too bad about the ten percent, but I'm sure the judges are influenced by what are the peoples' favorites--I've been continuing to vote and did so today, just in case plus the idea should garner attention from the judges, it is subject after all that effects us all

Yes, the judges are indeed influenced by a lot of votes—for winning the 12 free burritos prize which does indeed require having the most votes in a one-week period. Since we're not interested in winning free burritos, the evidence from past $2k winners and the official rules seems to indicate that the judges can and do pick whichever entry they like regardless of votes, unfortunately. The official rules give the judges plausible deniability while the rest of the contest's pages give voters a false sense of control since the vast majority won't read the official rules. I have to admit that this slight of hand on Chipotle's part is ingenious—it even fooled me for a while before I read the official rules—but it's insidious nonetheless.

Unlike most of the others, we have a very worthy cause here in the top ten, it appears to blow every other entry that I have seen out of the water in that regard. The top ten is in the direct view of judges that have control over who they pick to win. Even if the rules were tighter, if they said say, that it depends only on votes but that the judges reserve the right to exclude whichever entries they want, then we would still have the chance of being excluded. It seems though that in either case our votes mostly only matter if they get us into the top ten. Then beyond that it seems winning or not will depend on whether the judges see this as a worthy cause. We have worthy cause in the bag. If they see that, if they arent pro aging trancists or short sighted then I think the odds that this entry wins are very good. It will probably go head to head with very clever and very picturesque entries but in the end the odds are good that this one pulls ahead.

Unlike most of the others, we have a very worthy cause here in the top ten, it appears to blow every other entry that I have seen out of the water in that regard. The top ten is in the direct view of judges that have control over who they pick to win.

Since this isn't a charity contest and votes count for only 10% in the judges' decision-making process, why would this trump their human interest criteria to which they seem to be assiduously adhering to?

Even if the rules were tighter, if they said say, that it depends only on votes but that the judges reserve the right to exclude whichever entries they want, then we would still have the chance of being excluded.

We'd have a slightly better chance under these rules but not by much for the reasons that I've mentioned before.

It seems though that in either case our votes mostly only matter if they get us into the top ten.

Since the official rules say nothing about getting into the top ten, why is this relevant?

Then beyond that it seems winning or not will depend on whether the judges see this as a worthy cause. We have worthy cause in the bag.

Again: Since this isn't a charity contest, I don't see why this is relevant. Another reason why this seems irrelevant to me is that the claim that this is actually a "cause" is unverifiable from the judges' perspective even if they thought that it was a good idea.

If they see that, if they arent pro aging trancists or short sighted then I think the odds that this entry wins are very good.

Since almost everyone is in the pro-aging trance, the odds are very high that they are as well. Even in the unlikely event that they're not, picking our entry wouldn't match their human interest theme, and so wouldn't match their marketing objective of associating Chipotle with activities that their website visitors would feel comfortable with. In other words, it's highly likely that Chipotle doesn't want to be associated with what the vast majority of people would consider unimpressive and boring.

It will probably go head to head with very clever and very picturesque entries but in the end the odds are good that this one pulls ahead.

Since pretty much all of the current evidence indicates otherwise, why do you think the odds are so good? The only instance in which the odds could get better is in the unlikely event that our entry is picked as one of the finalists.

The voting ends tomorrow.