What I have learned hosting my first Active Rain Contest Endre Barath
What I have learned hosting my first Active Rain Contest by Endre Barath, Jr.
In my opinion: The first and foremost priority should be that you pick a subject which intrigues the community, if you do not, then there will be little participation. Needless to say I was wondering how the turnout would be. Clearly I had no reason to worry we started out slow but ended up with 81 entries to the contest.
Second, please work closely in the beginning with Kerrie, since she will know what you are forgetting to put in your original post and needless to say she determines how many points will be awarded. Plan in advance at least three to four months; the schedules will already be booked for the various Challenges.
Then approach some great Active Rain members and ask them to be judges. Now all I can say is I am truly lucky to have had the support from Dick Greenberg, Lisa Friedman and Rene’ Fabre. They were so conscientious and caring to select the best posts it just made my life so much easier. Needless to say do not think that you are done.
Well not really, keeping track of who submitted posts and try to read along as you get the posts is also important. Take some notes and try to put them in some initial draft order you will be glad you did from the beginning because that is also important. Then as the posts start rolling in you will discover that your orders might change. Needless to say all participants want to get the credit for their submission. This is also a critical aspect of the contest because you do not want to miss someone that would be a travesty.
Do not wait too long and submit the list to Kerrie so all the participants can get their submission credits. Finally reevaluate the posts and wait for the judges to give you their submissions. Stay in touch with the judges and let them do their work. Do not micro manage them, after all they are all Realtors, Trainers, Title Gurus or Business Owners and they prefer working independently to create the best product : in this case the difficult task of choosing a winner.
Finally be prepared that when you do end up hosting a contest you will get extremely busy with your own work just as if you were going on vacation. So not only are you going to be busy on Active Rain but all your own work will dramatically increase as well. Also if you are asked to be a judge the same effect will happen. No matter how slow things were when you committed to doing the job it will be the polar oppositeJ
I have also learned that I will do my best not to submit my post in the last minute of the contest rather I will try to submit them a few days before the deadline. I do not want to overwhelm the judges and the host of the contest.
In conclusion: this post should help you host an Active Rain Challenge! The best part of hosting a contest you really get to know your fellow Active Rain members, at least those who submit a Post to your contest! Now with that said let me work on the Announcement to my Challenge after all it is already the 6th of July J!
If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations
