FWJ Idol: Voting Now Open for Round 1
June 13, 2008 by Deb
Filed under Freelance Writing
I want to thank everyone who threw their hats into the ring. I can tell it’s going to be so hard to choose! This is a talented group of people for sure.
When voting, please cast your vote with the following in mind:
- The candidate’s ability to follow directions. One disappointment on my part is I asked candidates to pitch a specific freelance writing niche for their twice weekly blog posts and only a few did so.
- The candidate’s experience – Is this someone you trust to share ideas and tips with you?
- The candidates ability to create conversation with you, the FWJ community.
Also keep in mind your writing style – who makes you feel most comfortable? Will the candidate fit in? Can he or she write well? Does he or she have an impressive resume?
Remember, this isn’t a popularity contest – it’s a job application. Pick the person who you feel will best do the job.
Based on pitch and all required elements, who do you think won the first round of FWJ Ido?
Because we’re choosing the top twelve, and because I have to start a new job on Monday and already have conference calls and mounds of paper work to contend with, voting will remain open until Wednesday, the 18th at noon EST. Your top twelve will be announced by next Friday along with their first “assignment”.
We will also post the winning pitch and open comments on the pitch post for critique and observation. Each week will have another elimination until the winner is picked.
Here’s the post with all the job pitches if you’d like to refresh your memory.
Good luck to all applicants. Remember, please, one vote per person.
Please support FWJ
Voted! Hope everyone votes too ♥
Hi,
As one of the contestants, I have a couple of suggestions for making the contest more balanced.
First of all, I could not help but notice that we were given permission to be anonymous, but we also had to provide links to clips, which meant that our names would be revealed.
My suggestion for Round 2 is that the remaining 12 contestants are provided with numbers: Contestant #1, Contestant #2, etc.
These numbers (provided through e-mail) would only be known to Deb, Jodee, and the contestants themselves.
When posting entries for the next 12 weeks, contestants would not be allowed to post their names (only their contestant ID #s). They would also be disqualified if they were found revealing their IDs to others.
That way, voting can truly take place on the basis of merit and skill rather than a particular person’s popularity or ability to lead people to the site.
My other suggestion is to place some highly visible links to the relevant posts while this contest is taking place. As it is, the rules for the contest are buried among the past posts, the entries themselves are now on page 2, and the post where voting takes place will soon face the same fate.
Thank you for taking these suggestions into consideration.
Hi Anon -
I’m in agreement. The top 12 will each be assigned a number or pen name to make it more fair.
Thanks for your input,
Deb