Well, I won the WordCamp NYC logo contest by more than 50 votes on my individual piece. My entry was #2 (I will include a pic of it too – to get a larger view, right click to open in a new window.) However, they decided to go with 4 similar logos from several people.
This is a case of: Why bother to put a contest in the first place. The vote was given to the people and should have been followed as the contest said. Each of those logos were said to have been looked at and judged if it could be put on shirts and other printable material.
I could care less if those logos looked similar. So did many others. There were even other logos that included the city skyline and the Statue of Liberty. This was something that was given out to the public. Even major brands that hold contests do not mess with that unless they want havoc and wank on their hands. And whether or not they decide to hold rights, which I really see none in the original announcement about the beginning of the WordCamp NYC 2009 logo contest. The following comes from the link I just gave out for the contest’s announcement.
The WordCamp NYC organizers will make the final selection based on a combination of community votes and technical considerations (does the logo still look good at both small and large sizes, does it grayscale well, will it be easy to print on a t-shirt, etc.).
My logo was printable, good on grayscale and could be fine tuned (which I had planned on revamping and detailing better the skyline). So clearly it did not have any technical issues. I met the requirements.
It is the principal of the concept of allowing the public to choose who they liked the best and that should have been the winner. AND, even if it was not myself that won, by heck I would have still blogged about it and shared it with others because it is the right thing to do. I use to be in website competitions in 2003 and 2004 where the vote was up to the people for every stage, up to the annual finals that decided the Site of the Year. Never had this ever happened to anyone and it was done fairly.
Whether or not you voted, feel free to drop a line at the blog entry announcing the WordCamp NYC logo contest “winners”. You can either congratulate or voice your opinion on the unfair dealings. Although I am not sure if it would even help or hurt, I sent a letter to Matt Mullenweg over the situation. By the way, Matt was not running the contest, so please do not contact him. I already did.
This is something that needs to be addressed. I think it would be awkward to attend this event, which makes me feel like I am not welcomed to even come to the event in November by this executive decision.
How do you feel about this? What if it was your logo that clearly won?
I voted and you're right. That is just ridiculous. Why have a vote at all? Might as well tell everyone that voted that they were just wasting their time. I imagine you're rather frustrated. I know I would be!
I appreciate the kind words. It is ridiculous and the reason they gave was pretty lame. It would leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth no matter who won, especially doing this to a perfectly usable logo.
I liked yours better then what showed on the wordcamp nyc website.
The subway symbols are so over used. Why have a poll if your not gonna use that winner?
Exactly, even some radio stations in NYC use logos similar to what was put up. Yay *sarcasm* I have circles on my tshirt. How original. That is all NYC has to offer? All of the looks that are usually known like the skyline, Statue of Liberity, and “Big Apple” were used.
I applaud everyone who entered the contest as they were all good entries…and it takes guts to put your work out there for the public to see. However, it is the ethical concept of holding a contest for the people to vote. The winner was clearly picked and that was admitted on their blog. I think I deserve more than being announced as a number for my efforts and for winning and should be freely plugged. Even if they might (which was not stated in the original contest guidelines) hold the rights to choosing the final winner.
Here was the original contest announcement.
http://2009.newyork.wordcamp.org/2009/07/24/logo-contest-again/#more-160
That’s really unfair. You won hands down. You can’t combine 4 submissions from 4 different people and say they are the winner. 4 winners? Come on, thats bullshit. I’m thinking this guy chose some friends of his and made this up.
Hi Nile. I’ve written you an email in response to a comment to posted to the WordCamp NYC blog, but since you’ve already posted here as well, I’d just like to point out that the rules *did* state clearly that, “The WordCamp NYC organizers will make the final selection based on a combination of community votes and technical considerations (does the logo still look good at both small and large sizes, does it grayscale well, will it be easy to print on a t-shirt, etc.).” We never said anywhere that the popular vote would be the sole deciding factor, which was a deliberate decision (there are lots of way to skew an open poll result). I’m sorry you’re disappointed with the decision, but I don’t think we did anything wrong, as the final selection clearly identified to be in the hands of the organizers and there were a number of technical reasons that yours was not optimal.
I do agree that we should have posted the names/links of everyone who submitted a logo, but not everyone gave us that info when they submitted, so it was taking longer to put that together and we didn’t want to put off announcing the winner. We will post a follow-up with links to all the designers’ sites this week, including yours.
You quoted the same thing Nile did. I don’t think it was fair and I’m not a WordPress groupie. So, you’re saying because you liked it and to hell with what the public vote?
Why’d ya waste everyones’ time to vote?
I know the rules and my logo qualified. It was based on the combination of vote and technicalities… not because 4 people almost in a row had similar logos. In fact there were other entries that had features similar to my own.
That was a pretty tall and twisted decision to make. Very disappointing no matter how you try to explain it.
I do agree that the other logos are more suitable but I wonder why they bothered with a public vote if they weren’t going to respect the outcome.
Exactly. I agree with you. As I said, if someone else had the popular vote, it would have been great. But that did not occur.
Frankly, there should have been no bother for a vote in this case. A waste of everyone’s time who voted. I had to send a thank you out anywhere to all who voted and about the situation. Nothing can be done except blow a big stink.
Let this be a lesson to contest entrants and holders alike. *sighs*
What!?! I voted for your logo when you posted on LJ about it. I don’t like the other logos. Not cool, not cool.
The rules of the poll were very clear – so clear in fact that you quoted them yourself – in saying that “The WordCamp NYC organizers will make the final selection based on [a variety of factors]”. Nowhere does it say that you’re going to win if you get the most votes.
It was very clear that the poll was not there to determine a winner, and it was clear to entrants and it was clear to voters that this was the case. The poll was there to aid the decision making of the organizers who had the final decision and who evidentally decided in the end (whether you agree with their decision or not) that other logos were more fitting for the purpose.
Why was it a waste of everyone’s time who voted? The blog post announcing the winners clearly states that the combined popularity of the logos containing the subway logo was a contributing factor in the decision making. I’m sure that the fact your logo received the most votes was also a contributing factor in the decision making. It just happens that in the end, an executive decision was made to go with another logo (or logos).
(On a side note, I’m pretty sure Matt Mullenweg has absolutely nothing to do with WordCamp NYC apart from speaking, so why you bothered contacting him about it I do not know.)
Its about ethics and integrity. The logo won and is clearly usable on print materials. I did vote so I did see there were more logos with the sky lines and the Statute of Liberty? What about those winners?
The logo contest wasn’t clearly thought through at all. The rules are still vague in some ways. Anyone can read and get that much from it. What’s done is done and it was obviously a bad decision in some peoples opinions
If it was so clear don’t have it listed as a contest. Don’t ask for votes for the best one. Ask for Logo submissions to help get the word out about your camp and you will pick the best one or use it to design one yourself. If you were trying make it fun and relaxed you didn’t accomplish that. You alienated many wordcamp fans. You want to stand on legalism as your platform when what you were really going for is a cheap way to come up with a Logo for your subway ads.
Hi Nile! I voted for you. Sorry that you got jipped by a bunch of people who decided to choose what they want because they can. Thats how it is girlfriend in the world. You’re definitely in your right to bitch fit about it. I’d just recommend not going to this event. If its run by a bunch of shady people, why go?
I am totally appalled with the lack of professionalism these “contest” organizers. I posted a comment on their “results” site and it was moderated off. I did not write any profanity I just stated the facts and told them we would not be going to Wordcamp NYC. I believe that they overruled the vote because they wanted entries from NYC only and should have stated that in the rules. They opened it up to the whole world on the www. so they should have let the vote stand. I think the #2 Logo would make a better T-shirt anyway. You were the winner and the WordcampNYC is the loser. I think it should be boycotted. You can learn word press from you friends and from Nile.
I can see I came to this a bit late but I have to say that I think it’s really appalling, people went to the trouble of voting only to have there vote ignored