Mouth 2 Mouth

Hi Caleb,

Thank you for posting week two's results.  Congratulations to everyone.  This is getting really exciting.  A big congrats to Mary, you deserve it. 

Thanks again, take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

Caleb,

Go Mary Go Mary !!!!

Caleb,

Can we vote for our favorite bloggers?

Scott Voting for week 4 is here.

Thank you. 

Now I am really confused, after seeing the current numbers. How are the points working? How much does voting factor into the points? Thanks, Mary

Mary the numbers are posted here: Project Blogger

Top five from the judges receive the following:

100 points for 1st place
80 points for 2nd place
65 points for 3rd place
50 points for 4th place
35 points for 5th place.

Top five from the voters get 15% of those numbers. 

Thanks for posting both sets of results. It's interesting to see the disparity between the judges and the Active Rain voters.

Caleb thanks. I was just confused about how the points from the AR community counted.  Now I understand. Essentially the AR community vote weighs 15%.

Sharon I agree with you. I know that I have resisted the temptation of just telling everyone I know to vote for me, and I know some others have too. Maybe everyone has, I don't know. But that's my only question about that facet.

Mary...  much congrats from me. You're working your tail off on this! Where is your coach though? I can't find anything from her on either of her blogs.

Caleb, this must be an incredible amount of work trying to read all of them and then keep the scores tabulated. Thanks for keeping us posted. They've all been working and improving as evidenced by their blogs. And to have such great mentors at their disposal makes me terribly jealous.

Hi Caleb,

Thank you for all of your very hard work.  I know that since I discovered the Active Rain Network and blogging, I don't sleep much anymore, so you must not sleep at all. 

I must admit I am curious about the whereabouts of the mysterious results for week three.

Oh, and Gena don't be jealous, that is the beauty the blogosphere, everything that is available to all of the apprentices is being shared with everyone.  I have to say that this aspect of the event has been the most gratifying for me.

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

Tisza I agree with you 100%. The best part has been the exchange of ideas, the encouragement, and the friendship. (And if I can find a way to pull it off, I'll go to LA for that AR party. I want to meet you and Kelly and Jeff and everyone else.)

Thanks Gena, Mary, Tisza and Sharon.

Tisza the results for week three?  Yes, I'm very sorry about that.  I'll have those together soon.

Caleb - I am on vacation but checking in to see about Week 3.  Can you please update us?  I have two questions: (1) Is there a judge for this week?  (2) When will the judge have the results?

Jeff - I know, I know. I've been nudging Fran. She's been super buried with work but I will nudge again.

Hi All,

Mary - I have given week three up for dead and am now beginning to think that perhaps I imagined the whole thing.  Perhaps what we should do is offer to judge it ourselves, all of us the apprentices.  And then take the best average score and go with that.  Or we could just decide that week three was a twelve way tie for first and award the points accordingly. 

What do you think?  I think I am on to something here :-)

Caleb - I know how much of a challenge this contest is and continues to be so please understand that the ribbing is not directed at anyone in particular, and that I really do see the humor in the situation.  Hey, you could always ask Drew to judge that week.  I wouldn't mind a bit (and with my luck, it would not be the advantage that some might think it would be :-)

Take care all, have a super day and help lots of people!

Tisza

Gosh, Caleb, and we think we're busy in the rain !!

It's interesting to read these judging posts, but also hard to follow some of the actual judging, like this chart.  I don't think I've seen numbers used before when the judging has been posted, but perhaps I just missed.  What do those numbers mean under the different columns?  And I thought it interesting as well the vagaries between the AR votes and the way things stacked up with these weekly judges.  It's all a mystery at times.

Ann

Thanks Anne, My college teachers would have been very upset with me for not defining my chart appropriately!  I've updated it.

Now, if I could just figure out whcih of Julie's blogs are going to be judged... last week much of the judging appeared to be done on the AR blog side. Which is really being judged?

Hi All,

Thanks for putting things in an easy to read format.  I would still love to know what kind of read rates folks are getting.  Mary and Kelly have both shared their numbers as have I.  My information is available on my post entitled "You Show Me Your's And I'll Show You Mine", and Mary's numbers are available for all to see at the bottom of her website page on LiveInLosGatos.com. 

I think that it is important because by sharing that information publicly, for the duration of the contest, that will tell everyone especially the participants, they are getting the kind of traffic that should ultimately convert to leads.  And I think that is ultimately the point, right? 

I mean, you could have the best written, greatest looking blog on the face of the earth but if no one outside of AR is reading it...

It might also help to clear up some of the discrepancy between the AR voting and the judges voting.  Although, personally, I think that the AR vote should be decided based upon average read rates for each contestant's posts here and on their individual sites.  Especially since that shows a better picture of whether or not what you write is being read.   Also, since the AR voting is being done by a poll that does not require that you be a member of AR, it can become more of a popularity/networking reflection than actual read rates are. 

Thank you to all of the judges for their time, attention and effort.  And thank you to all of the coaches, contestants and spectators for all the information, knowledge and support that have been offered and shared.  Here's to a very exciting second half!

Take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

Tisza... I vote to do away with the poll as a way of measuring, even though we seem to do well on it. (Not that anyone is asking for my vote) And I agree, since it is open to the world, it's not just AR that's voting. 

 

 

Hi Jeff,

I would agree as well.  And for the very same reasons.  I think the better test would be to share with the judges and the other contestants/coaches, if someone does not want to share the info with the world, the read rates to see how we are actually doing on getting new traffic to our sites.  And, for anyone that is not using a personal blog site, then use your read rates on your posts to see how things shake out. 

Take care,

Tisza

Tisza... that's a tough one though. Plainfield, IL is not going to generate as much natural traffic as Miami or Malibu, for example. A post on a Mailbu blog about Lindsay Lohan's new beach house could drive a ton of increase in traffic and no return at all from a business perspective.

Tisza- >"I think that the AR vote should be decided based upon average read rates for each contestant's posts here and on their individual sites. "

I post on small groups, I also post to 'groups only' and have posted on the Bloodhound Blog. Those posts don't show up anywhere except those groups and are not getting counted in the contest. My choice completely, I'm just saying if you are going to "count" things, then let's count apples to apples. How can you do that?

My blog is designed to be read by a very small population. My read rates would be low.  And how to measure that fairly across the board? A blog in Miami (large population) will/ should be read by more folks than a blog in Huber Heights. One would hope, anyway. And I'm in a city with declining population, not at all tech savvy. Do we throw in a handicap for both of those? If you get my drift...The rules are what they are.

Jeff- >"Not that anyone is asking for my vote"   You can vote for me!!! :-)

Any word on when Week 3 will emerge?

Is there a judge for week 3 at all?

OK... I just read Julie's posts for week three. I'm ok if we get a judge for that week now. :)

Hi All,

Teri, I share your challenge with regard to a small local population.  Currently, Claremont has a population of around 37,000.  And we have a whopping 126 homes/condos/townhomes on the market.  I agree that we should compare apples to apples.  But, if a post is published here on AR and it gets read by fewer than 200 people total, especially if it is not restricted in some manner (not members only or associates only), then I think you can safely surmise that on AR, at least, what is being written is not being read.

On a personal site, you can look to see if the site is increasing its traffic from week to week.  Using something like Google Analytics will actually tell you not just generally where your reader's are coming from, but specifically (provided they disclosed that information to their isp) where they are coming from.  For instance, I can see that my traffic comes from all across the US, Canada & Europe, but I am most interested in seeing that my site is getting read more by people in California than in any other state, and that I am getting readers from Claremont and surrounding communities.  Seeing that information would tell me that what I am writing is being found by my target audience and that my site is doing it's job. 

Since one of the reasons for creating this contest, was to my understanding, to build a successful Real Estate blog site and a successful Real Estate blogger, if we don't look at this information, how can we really determine when that goal is accomplished?  Yes, some cities might have a bit of an advantage in that they are not as geographically small and that they are technologically more astute, but the internet really does even that out.  If someone is not tech savvy, they aren't going to find a site anyway.  And the very fact that they have found a site, leads me to believe that they are indeed tech savvy and therefore are part of the audience that I am writing too. 

By the way, Claremont, despite the colleges, would not be considered a tech haven like. say Seattle is.  We have a very large senior population and historically, seniors are not known for being on the blades edge where technology is concerned. 

I just think, even when I benefit from it, that the poll is an inherently flawed way of computing AR's reader's interest in the pieces we are creating.  Especially since you don't have to read a single word on the site to cast a vote. 

I am a big proponent of "fair" and I don't see that as being fair to either the "winners" or the "losers". 

Just my opinion. 

Take care, have a great day and help lots of people.

Tisza

Caleb~ 

THANK YOU so much for putting this energy into highlighting so much talent. I read your updates and then I know I'm going to be spending hours into the early morning (and after) reading...Oh Well! I am also knowing, tired though I may be,  that I'll be getting to quality posts from really interesting BLOG-Folk. Again, thanks for this.

Caleb - thanks for keeping us posted. Now it's time to go back and read the various blogs.

Nice to see the results like this all in one place. Interesting that the judges and Rainers have only agreed on #1 one time.

Howdy Tisza- I believe we kinda sorta agree. I suppose I'm looking more for a read to lead ratio as a judge of success, rather than just reads. I would much prefer 4 readers and 3 resulting leads than 400 readers and 3 leads, as an example. And my blog is hopefully designed to that end. At least that's what I'm working towards. How do you 'judge' these things? Which brings us to the rules- they are what they are. Imperfect, flawed, sometimes vague...Just like us? Okay, me.  :)

BUT, let me state for the record, everyone: judges coaches bloggers of the apprentice, non-apprentice, lurker variety are all fantastically supportive strong criticism or strictly cheering from the sidelines. This has been an amazing ride so far!! 

Thank you.

Teri AMEN. I have given up on anticipating what part of my blogging efforts might be judged from week to week. BUT I'm learning a ton just from paying attention to what is working for everyone else, and from the correspondence I've shared with some of the nice folks here.

Wow, Mary, I'm impressed! I remember when you first signed on to this project, and now look how far you've come in such a short time!

Linda - thanks for the kudos. Now I just have to convince my husband that blogging is not a waste of time (he remains unconvinced).

Caleb - thank you for posting the scores so fast!

OK now the comments are starting to confuse me.... I was having deja vu reading the comments... Caleb said vote for week 4... then Mary commented :

"Now I am really confused, after seeing the current numbers. How are the points working?

How much does voting factor into the points?

Thanks,
Mary "

05/09/2007

by Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES

Then I paid attention to the date.  

You are going to town on your blog Mary. 

 

great job Caleb, i say bravo to all participants keep up the good work.

Half way through - too soon to see if it's going to be a photo finish. Congratulations to all the bloggers.

Maureen thanks for the kind words.

Traffic has been really low this week. Think everyone is on vacation already?

Great Job Bloggers & Mentors!

Caleb,

What in the world is that thing in your picture?  (Other than weird?)

Are you coming to Chicago?

Lucky :)

Lucky,  Caleb wrote elsewhere that it's seaweed from the Oregon coast!! 

Mary,

Smells fishy to me!  (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun) :)

Lucky :)

Have you lined up a judge for week 9 yet?

I was wondering too.  Knowing Caleb, I didn't dare venture a guess...but seaweed was my first thought.

Ardell,

What was your second thought?

Lucky :)

Just posted the Id of week nine's judge, Jessica Swesey. Yes that's 100% Florence, Oregon Seaweed ;)

Wow....congrats to all the apprentices. They are all doing well. It's a close one.

The comments by the judges are getting better - no doubt it's a learning experience for them as well as for the apprentices and coaches. David's comments and suggestions were very useful. Point to note:  link - link - link.

Thanks for the update, You can definitely see the leaders starting to separate themselves from the pack. And the three teams tied for 10th -- what a lost opportunity.

Caleb, thanks for the update. We're only halfway through the judging...still anyone's game (and I'm running hard)....

I would love to see a post for your favorite bloggers ;)

 

Mary

 

This is what Caleb wrote:

....Remember Kevin didn't enter his posts until late and has quickly ammased a healthy amount of points....

 

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck!

Kevin, Yes, I reread and deleted my comment... Not sure what he meant but I do get your point (hence deleting my comment).

Yeah it was mean, no?

Caleb- I'm not sure if it was Jessica acting on her own or AR's gentle prodding, but I see she used a very similar format for judging to the one David used last week. I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate it. It's made a huge difference to me to get clear concise feedback, and I would imagine that someone playing along at home would feel the same way. We can all use each other's feedback to critique our own blogs using this format. Really awesome! Please keep it up!

Kev I've had way too many misfires of communication with the printed word to assume I know what someone means each time I read a comment. Honestly, I'm not sure what he was driving at. I do understand why you are taking it badly.

Kevin, I'm late to this thread, but I took Caleb's statement to mean that you are doing a great job seeing as you didn't have your home blog up and running until later in the contest compared to some of us. I can't speak for Caleb, I'm only telling you how I interpreted his comment. I thought he was paying you a huge compliment.

Teri I agree with you on the judging and how helpful this format is. It looks like she only used the "outside" blogs this week - that's fine with me but I was just surprised. I think it would be good to adopt a format like this for future contests....

Kevin... I read Caleb's comment as very positive. Not negative at all. He meant that you have been chosen in the top five several times since you started posting.... so therefore, nobody is truly out of the running. I don't think he was talking about polling points. That was not the context of that comment.  The context was that it appeared that some might be giving up. He was trying to encourage others not to. 

I agree Jeff.  That's how I took it as well.

Now, if Kevin could just stop kicking my butt in this competition, I could pull myself out from the hole I've fallen into! 

Allright Mary!

Kevin's hanging in there...and seems he is the ONLY guy who IS at this point.

Caleb,

Thanks for such a thorough update.....As I read it, I wondered just how long it took you to compile this information for us?

Interesting statistics and thanks for taking time to creat this every week for members to check out!

Thank you so much for the update. It must be very time consuming... I do appreciate it.

Great job guys! Thanks for keeping us updated. I can't wait to see who wins.

Ardell,

"Hanging in there" ??? He's doing awesome! 

Kevin, I was saying look at these people who have dropped out, they might be in trouble...but then again look at Kevin...he took a lot of time prepping and hit the competition hard and is now doing really well.

I was not talking about polling points.  You haven't even scored at the top of the polls. 

OK that probably still isn't clear...obviously i need my own coach!

Kevin is doing great and I wasn't insinuating anything.

I love what I'm seeing from all the contestants.  Even those who don't post often are writing some really good stuff.  Stuff that stands out.

Thanks Caleb.

That is why I took down my comment.  It seems the contest is being won by those who write the most.  I do feel, however, that a blogger could write ONE killer, insightful and EXCELLENT piece and still win.

I wish I had time to write more, but reality and my business, dictate otherwise.

ps you have a very cool name.

"I wish I had time to write more, but reality and my business, dictate otherwise."

Kevin you seemed to have no shortage of stuff to say for Week 9. 

I knew you were gonna clock me on that. ;)

Can you remind me: is the voting still counting? I don't see scores for the last few weeks.

Thanks,
Mary

Mary...I don't think so.  I've been thinking about it for a while because early on the results were off.  Kevin and Tisza did a good thing in calling out the issue.  We'll likely have public voting or everyone emailing in votes.

Kill this thread already----!

Week 11 Results are in!

"as a result of manipulations that have been around since early on from Polldaddy"  Manipulations?!  For Points or Recognition?!  Never!  :-)

Nice looking blog.

 

check out this new blog that Realtor.com has just launched.  what are your opinions, will it make it or not?

http://jboyer.featuredblog.com/

Caleb

This will be the only comment I make on this weeks judging.  Can we please get someone who sells real estate to judge as opposed to someone who sells things to agents?  Laurie Manny said it very clearly last week, the judging is very "weighted" to one side and very apparent.  By looking at the review, JCM did not win because of her writing, but because of her widgets.  BTW, Congrats JCM!!!  :)

BALANCE.

Caleb

One last thing,  I really posted a lot of material last week in Active Rain.  Now that my SBCB blog is set up, I wanted to balance my "serious" blogging between SBCB AND ActiveRain because I wanted utilize all that AR has to offer.

So because I blogged a lot in AR last week (a competition sponsor), I got dinged for it.  CAN YOU IMAGINE?

I just didn't write rants or about ghosts, I wrote really good stuff that I would want members and clients to see.

Wow!

Kevin, ghosts ARE good stuff, LOL. (You spend way too much energy worrying about my ghost posts, which comprise only 5% of everything I write about....) When you come to SF, I'll have to nudge you to take the SFGhostHunt tour hahahaha.... :-)

Mary

Sort of just a running joke between us!!!! LOL

Kev yeah I know...but you don't do anything quirky enough that I can harass you about LOL

Hi All,

Kevin, congrats on making the list.  This weeks results are interesting :-)  I am also curious to what extent our AR participation was valued.  It would also be very hard to have to judge a competion where some of the participants were clients or friends as it was in this case. 

Kevin, I also think getting someone from the RE community who is not affiliated in some manner with the coaches and/or apprentices would be a good thing.  And, in future, if an apprentice or coach is a client of the judge's, then as valuable and valid as the critiques may be, that would serve to potentially compromise the results and should probably be avoided. 

Personally, I don't have a problem with judges that have businesses that sell products to Realtors, but I do see a huge conflict of interest if the judges have clients in the contest.  It winds up being unfair on both sides.  The judge may wind up either being harder on their client than is fair to them in an effort not to show favoritism.  Or they may have information about a particular apprentice teams "inner workings" which would not be available to someone without that connection and could wind up judging not just on what is able to be seen and known by all, but on what is not as well.  I believe they refer to this as insider information and in some businesses it would be illegal LOL.

Congrats to everyone, whether you got points this week or not.  I agree that everyone involved is a winner.

Take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

Tisza I'm missing something. How was this week's judge connected to one of the apprentices?

Kevin
As you pointed out, I think you did write some really good stuff - for sure. But many of us who sell stuff to agents (semi-outsiders to real estate you could say) put ourselves in a potential customer's shoes - believe it or not, we real and write blogs too ;). Chances are your prospects and customers would probably see your SBCB blog first. As I mentioned, judging is subjective and from a customer perspective, I tend to value communication to outsiders (customers) a little more than communication to insiders (other agents). Is blogging an art or is it marketing? Its both. I hope you don't feel dinged and I did really like your blog.
Oliver
vflyer.com

Tisza

As I mentioned in my post, I tried to be as impartial as possible and go with the overall effect the blogs left on me based on my criteria. I don't know that any of the contests were actually "clients" - some I did noticed used our widgets (but any can use them for free and I didn't try and find out any more detail) and I did mention that in my disclaimer. As judges we are not given a set of criteria to use (AR vs Non-AR posts, i.e.) so each one of us has to come up with ours.

Using judges that have no connection with the contestants is probably a good idea but in this small industry they are always going to be hard to find. Another idea is to have 3 or 4 judges that judge EACH WEEK (like American Idol) that span a range of backgrounds but can provide consistent feedback, have familiarity and history with the contestants, i.e. Weekly judging is hard. You have to "jump in" and try and judge based on the weeks posts while taking into mind the bigger picture. Just a few thoughts.

Oliver

vflyer.com 

Congratulations to all the participants. There has been such tremendous progress and it has been fun to watch, plus a great learning experience for those of us on the sidelines. Thanks for keeping us posted.

Jeff

I'll be "torking up those widgets"...surely, only to be "dinged" for them next week...one can only laugh at it all....hey...no mention of all that "tax reform" stuff that's pertinent to the Florida Real Estate Market that I write about...And I did two articles with my OWN poll daddy widgets in them about the tax reform issue....I think next week I'm going to talk about "putting fluff on my widgets"...

Seriously, I designed my site to be colorful and 'sizzling' and I do love the widgets, primarily because they add color and things for people to "click on", which, in MHO keeps them on my site longer and 50% of them keep coming back. The first thing Jim taught me to do was add pictures to my posts and how to make them BIGGER...Not one judge has made the connection between the scrolling "filmstrip" and the fact that I do vidcasts....that is hysterical.... I got the Library Thing widget from Jeff Turner and it was SOOO much easier than trying to put the books in the sidebar myself.  The one thing that I told Jim from the very beginning was that I wanted to be able to make most of the presentation changes myself.  Unless something is very complicated...I create it all myself.  Poll widgets, charity widgets, vlyers....links, you name it. 

Anyway...thanks Oliver, I appreciate your analysis of my site.

Hi Oliver,

Thank you for your comment and your willingness to judge.  Both are appreciated.  Also, I want to STRESS that I do believe that you did your level best to be impartial, and for that I am also deeply appreciative and very impressed.  I don't know if I could or would honestly be able to do that myself.  And you are quite right, it is a itty bitty teeny tiny little world so finding someone to take up the mantle of judge without having any connection to anyone involved in the contest is difficult if not impossible.  That being said, I also think that it is neigh on imparitive that that is exactly what is done in the future. 

I also like your idea of getting more than one judge to look at each weeks efforts.  Different people and different perspectives give even more value to the results.  Perhaps what would work would be to try to get three different people, even if it means weekly judging and not a consistent, continuing panel, who come from three different places in the blogosphere. 

One could and should be a Real Estate/Technology insider who would be able to understand and speak to the technical aspect of blogs.  One could and should be a non-Real Estate Blogger - someone with no connection with the business or the industry but who does understand blogging (I don't think it would be difficult to find folks that are successful bloggers who are not in the RE business as there are still a whole heck of a lot more of them out there than there are of us :-), they would also serve as the voice of the client so to speak, as they would be reading for content value and how it strikes them more than for anything else.   And one should be a Real Estate Blogger, preferably an agent or broker who is successful in using their blogs to attract most if not all of their business.  They would provide the blend of the two, that of the understanding of the unique position that the Real Estate blogger occupies and how to serve both masters... the client and the community.

I understand that you folks who judge are given the same criteria as we the contestants are (that would be very little to none and very loosely structured) and that makes it as difficult for you as it is for us :-). 

Please understand that any criticism that I may make is not directed at you personally, your company or your decision as a judge, but merely expressed in an effort to help ensure that some of the stumbling blocks that we as the inaugural group of Project Blogger participants (coaches, apprentices, judges and organizers alike) have encountered in our journey.  Some have been pebbles, some have been potholes and some have proven to be roadblocks, but all have served to make the journey more interesting, the path more challenging and the experience more enlightening.

Thank you for your effort, as I have said publicly many, many times before... I do not envy you your task, but I am grateful to you for being willing to tackle it. 

I sincerely hope that one of the outcomes of this experience is a true blueprint, by way of a post-morteum of the Project upon it's completion by all involved, on how to improve for the future.  If that occurs... no, I am going to say when that occurs, no matter who gets the accolades we will all have won the game.

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

Oliver,

No worries and THANKS!  I'm a big boy

I sent Caleb a note but I don't think I understand why we have had no points since the first week.  There has been activity, but not a lot.  Please let me know.  Send an email to:  teresa(at)tboardman.com or leave it in the comment section of my AR blog

I'm sorry.  I don't quite understand.  Does Oliver feel that AR is not a relevant vehicle for reaching consumers?

I think AR/Localism is great myself and much more powerful, at this point, than my SBCB.  Should we as apprentices not post on AR for the consumer?  Jonathan/Caleb?

Oliver- thanks for the input.

Wow, the first and second places are close. It's going to be a photo finish. Everyone get their cameras ready!

Caleb,

I agree he's doing awesome, as is Ines, even though they are where they are.  I don't like competitions.  Never did.  When I was asked to Coach, I only thought about the educational part and the team part...not the chart part :)

Because occasionally it's fun to poke rattlesnakes...It's my week to ask:

Is week 3 going to get judged?  :D

We are all laughing, right? Honestly, I have written it off, but I would be curious to know what the official explanation for the week 3 omission was. Did I miss that?

I think the official explanation is "It's water under the bridge" :)

Teri I IM'd with Caleb a few weeks ago about it and he told me he was going to do it but busy.

A couple of weeks ago I realized that no matter who "wins", everyone is going to say, "oh it was not a fair competition from the beginning" and even whomever does get to assign the charity money is probably not going to really feel great about the situation. And that's too bad. At this point it's probably down to the top 3 or 4 candidates but there's no slam dunk. A couple of weeks with any participant scoring zero and everything changes....  I hope that when it's over though, we can all sincerely congratulate one another for our hard work during a sometimes bizarre contest with changing criteria.  I know I have a lot of respect for the rest of you who have not quit mid-contest. . . .

Ardell- I would agree it is water under the bridge. I'm just being naughty

Mary- thanks for the info. For the record, I will never say it was not fair. I will say, and have said the rules are vague. But unfair and vague are not the same thing. Each of us has had a completely different obstacle to overcome- hopefully people watching could learn from each of us.

 Personally, I'm positively thrilled with how my blog is doing in this, for many reasons which I'll not go into right now. I'm proud of what I've done, I'm pleased to be competing with such awesome bloggers.

The other apprentices are the reason I'm still here- we are each setting our own goals, and focusing on those now- is there any other reason to blog? I believe everyone has learned tremendously from this- The point of the whole bloody thing. *group hug*

 

Hi All,

Mary, I heard a similar explanation regarding week three and since I trust them, I am sure that they will get to it when they have time.  After all, the contest officially ends with July 14 so they have two weeks between then and August 1st to get it done, right?  Actually, I am ready to suggest that they just give everyone 100 points for that week and call it square LOL. 

Oh, and regarding the contest is unfair thing... To anyone who would say that it was "unfair" my response would be "My but the grapes are sour where you are."  We have all worked hard.  We have all struggled with the same challenges and we have all earned our spots as the first ever PB apprentices.  Those of us who are still in the game, and I don't mean according to points, I mean still writing, already won.

Teri - you poke rattler's really well :-)  I agree that vague and unfair are not the same thing.   I want the cash for the charity that I support too, but it's not like if I win the money would go to charity and if someone else wins the cash is going to buy a round in a bar.  It does good wherever it goes.  I agree wholeheartedly with you regarding how I feel about what I have done and how I feel about everyone else.  Great group. Great experience.  Great Scott isn't it over yet LOL!

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day.

Tisza

Ladies - you are quite right, "fair" isn't the right word. I think what I meant is that there wasn't balance in the judgement, or perhaps that the judging wasn't consistent or.... I'm not sure how to word it, Perhaps the whole think is a little "cattywampus".

In any event, I agree with  you both that whoever is still blogging and improving his or her posts at this point is a success.

I've just returned from vacation in Oregon and Washington. It was hard, even with pre-planning, to keep up (this week I scored exactly 0 points). I looked back at my week's work and thought, you know, given that I was on vacation, I'm really happy with what I did accomplish.

Like most of the apprentices, I am moving away from "how is it going with the competition" to "how am I doing in this relative to life".  And I think that is the real test, after all.

Hope you'll all be at Blogger's Connect. I'd love to share a glass of vino with all of you and toast you all :-)

i think this shows my wife how blogging is important...

what happened to the popular vote...  does it still count or not ?

Caleb, very nice and really shows the effect put forth.

Caleb, thanks for updating the scores so fast.

What happened to the popular vote?  Why is it gone?  Does it still count in some way?

Will vidcast, polls or important information that pertains to our community count?  Please let us know what is happening?

What - No more popular vote for Project Blogger? Does this change the rules of the contest? If so, what are the NEW rules?

Also, how much weight is being added to those bloggers who are using additional tools like vidcast, polling on related articles, etc.?  What about relevency of topics?

INquiring minds want to know? :)

I'd like to commend Jackie Colsen-Miller with www.realestatesizzle.com for her excellent articles and information.  I have particularly enjoy your articles on Property Tax reform in Florida as this is a hot topic for ALL Floridians and your other real estate related articles.

I have made www.realestatesizzle.com one of my favorites and read it everyday.  Thank you and keep up the great work!

I just started to use Vflyers..they are pretty good and may continue them if I see some extra exposure they say they provide.

I have watched this contest from the beginning and have been amazed at the mess that the judges have made.  I have often wondered if they even READ what the contestants are writing because so many gave points to the ones who wrote lots of articles, even though they were about NOTHING interesting to someone buying a house in that area.

As a buyer, I want to read articles from an agent who is focused on what a client wants not an agent that is constantly complaining about the contest or writing more about her blogging life than her city, and things about living there.

FINALLY it seems the judges are actually reading the articles and seeing which contestants are focusing their efforts and their design in the right way. I hope this continues. 

One other comment. I agree with the others. Taking away the readers vote was wrong.  I voted for my favorite every week and most people agreed with me.  What does that tell you about the judges vote since they were rarely the same.  When you have hundreds of votes against one vote. It's good we don't elect anyone like that.

I have LOVED the info and entertainment from Jackie Colson-Miller. She has taken" realtor "to a new level.

She is an informed advisor, and I have learned much from her blog.

Keep on keeping me informed Ms. Sizzle!

There's going to be a vote toward the end of the contest account for audience votes.

Mathew, the judges have opted to take their individual experiences and understandings of blogging, marketing, and real estate to evaluate the over all efforts of each team.

There were guidelines (rules) at the beginning by which the blogs (or teams) were supposed to be judged. What we discovered in the course of the project was that a lot of it was open for interpretation, and the reward/punishment changed from week to week and there was a lot of contradiction between the judges from week to week as to what was good and what was bad. This was pretty upsetting to the participants, who felt like drivers in a car with passengers all shouting "stop! go! left! right! you're turn indicator's on! why isn't your turn indicator on?" and so on.  So the rules really just plain disappeared, much to everyone's frustration.

I don't think it's Active Rain's fault, or Caleb's fault, or anyone's fault. But it's something that should be fixed before there's another project like it so that there is consistency from week to week.

And the voting got to be a problem too, either from misunderstandings or a virus or who knows what.

I love the idea - I think it is Ardell's - about multiple winners. Both Ines and Kevin brought up complete blogs out of nothingness during the course of these 14 weeks and their blogs are fantastic. How about "most improved" award for them? The contest was supposed to factor improvement in, but in reality, that hasn't really been the case at all. In effect, they were penalized for not having outside blogs when it began. I think both of them do deserve commendation for what they've done.

I think, too, that there should be "most helpful coaches" (both to their own mentors and to the rest of us for the amount they participated and shared). Jeff Turner and Ardell DellaLoggia get my vote.

And then there are others who weren't officially in but who helped a lot: Cheryl Johnson, Laurie Manny, and Maureen McCabe are heros there.

And I could go on and on about the pros to all the apprentice's blogs and what the mentors have contributed, but I recall reading on Ardell's blog how that's not so good to do. OOOPS.

Anyway, it's been a learning curve and I think everyone involved HAS learned.

Kind of unfair to change the voting rules during the middle of the contest. Reminds me of hanging chads in the Florida elections in 2000. 

Wow, first and second are still so close. Good luck guys!

Thanks for the mention Mary but I am just an innocent bystander.  I have enjoyed reading the whole thing though and I have learned a lot. 

Now that it's almost over, I really think the winner should be celebrated.  The more we pick on the contest, the more it feels like the winner shouldn't be very, very proud of having won.  And that is not the case.  Mary, you came in first five times with five different judges.  Be very, very proud of that.  These last two weeks of judging will be interesting. 

I didn't understand the International flavor of Jackie's blog, so I got lost there...but her signs are really Fabulous, don't you think?  I don't think they'd play here in Seattle.  But I think they are a great idea.

Tisza, you could were your clown outfit :)  I'm sure people would notice signs like that.

Caleb...it's almost over.  We're going to have a VERY BIG DRINK in San Francisco.  Do they still make "Big Mothers"?  I think they are like Long Island Iced Teas.

Everyone recommend the drink we should have at the end of this.  Kamikazees?  Obviously I'm not up on the latest drinks :)

ARDELL,

You are so very, very right about that.  I for one will be celebrating the achievement of having been allowed to participate.  I also think that recognizing the efforts made on all fronts would be appropriate.  As for the drinks... I tend to be a Diet Pepsi girl myself but I may just decide to tie one on, throw caution to the wind and down a Shirley Temple or two :-)

Take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

Pills and Kami's and of course a cig!

Ardell... you are right on point. And I'll take a Jack on the rocks, please.

Ardell, I know there will be some drinks on the 31st - something called Bloggers and Beer. I'll go for Webloggers and Wine myself. Or maybe Merriment and Margaritas. Would any of you like to plan a PB get together on the 31st after the Bloggers and Beer thing? Ardell, thanks for the nice words. Family creed on success: do your best and be happy with it. I do feel like I've worked hard, and I believe I have done my best. I know I've learned a lot. So whether I come in 1st or 2nd or who cares where, I'm happy with my own effort and relatively happy with where things are (now I just need to get clients out of the LILG blog). Looking forward to seeing many of you soon in SF.

Mary... I'm up for a PB bash. Count me in.

Jackie's site is great. I really appreciated all the information and insite she provided about the Florida Tax issue. I also enjoyed her latest blog on "Green Homes". Keep up the great work Jackie.

I would like to kick in a very brief comment about improvement for next time, and I do think you should do something like this again. A panel of judges- absolutely. Also, I would like to see each apprentice's goal for their blog stated up front, and at least part of the judging based on how well each team met their goals, how they accomplished those goals, and how feasible it is for someone at home to accomplish this. Yes, this will become a post on it's own this week, I just wanted to throw these thoughts into the mix here. Have a drink for me in SF! Jeff, I'm a Jack on the rocks chick myself... :), I'n fact, I just might be sitting in a brick ranch in Huber Heights, having my own little party. woohoo :D

Five days to go...we've all had quite an experience and we're all up and running. I know, personally, that I would not have cranked it this hard, if not for the contest. I am thrilled with my readership and how I have pushed myself to investigate what they want to read. My challenge will be to see if I can continue to grow those numbers exponentially and continue to add more of my International Business.  When the judges didn't "get that" I focused on Tampa.  Now I can go back to the original mix of content.

I agree with Teri...there should be another Project Blogger. We were the "learning curve" for the future...it has been both fun and frustrating. A "panel" of judges is a must...and consistent rules and guidelines from beginning to end. Perhaps more time to choose an apprentice who really wants to participate to eliminate the "fall out".

The most interesting thing to me is the wide variety of the look and content of our blogs...so very different from a static website and the very reason a panel is so important.

Here's to the finale....I'm drinking Tequila!

It's been a long and tough contest everyone.  I am happy with the results.  I've seen definite improvements.  I appreciate that so many of you have done so well.  I'm going to have to get to week three soon and see how that changes things ;).

One thing, if you've read the home thinking post I'd appreciate it if you'd give the judge some thanks for taking the time to offer such constructive criticism to the posts.  She put time into understanding what previous judges had written as well.

Jeff, I'll count you in for the PB get-together on the 31st. Tisza and I are coming up together and I'm sure I can talk her into joining us ("party? where's the party?" she'll be saying) and I'm sure Fran will be nudged into it as well, along with Joeann Fossland, who indirectly got me into all of this.

You know, Irish Coffees were invented in San Francisco, so perhaps we should all head over to the Buena Vista for a nice cup.

Remember that Mark Twain once said, "The coldest winter I ever had was a summer spent in San Francisco". PACK WARMLY, people. You may want that Irish coffee!!!!

I'm happy to help arrange the PB dinner or whatever after the B & B on the 31st....

Mary

Caleb- thanks for the reminder. Been meaning to leave a comment at HomeThinking....

Judging results for this week (13) will be posted on Monday. This judge is going to take a different tack than the others and focus on some slight different things that I think will help us all. Please Keep blogging everyone the competition is not over yet.  And we've still got some great judges lined up!

Thanks for the update, Caleb. Who's the judge for the week?

Caleb,

I'm hoping at least one judge is going to look at the whole blog and not just the posts of the week. 

Ardell- you are right! Progress, at some point in time, needs to be addressed: Where did you start, where did you end up?  If not this time around then put it on the list for next time.

Jackie's Real Estate Sizzle is Outstanding.  It has been a great way for us to keep up with the Florida Tax Issue and also the insurance angle.  Keep up the great work.  We look forward to more articles and updates.

 

Teri and ARDELL,

I couldn't agree more.  Comparing our individual efforts without taking into account the differing needs of our communities and giving some degree of weight to growth would be a shame. 

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

Ardell, there have been judges that looked at the "whole blog."  Marc Davison looked at the whole thing not just posts, This weeks judge is doing the same. 

Ardell, there have been judges that looked at the "whole blog."  Marc Davison looked at the whole thing not just posts, This weeks judge is doing the same. 

Hi Caleb,

That is wonderful news!  I am hopeful that they will give equal weight to our public offerings here on AR as well as those on our personal sites since both are available for our clients to read.  That will of course, undoubtably make the task even more challenging, but I am confident that they are up to it.

Thanks again for everything.

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

I agree that the whole blog thing is a good idea. One week I might do a few history pieces (interesting places), others I might focus more on real estate, and still others, events. Our readers don't view just one week so I love the idea that a judge would view it as a whole.

Thanks :)

Celebrating in San Francisco sounds like a great idea! if know its' been a learning experience for everyone!

And, yes, I did help get Mary into this when she offhandedly said "I want to learn more about blogging:

I'm sure she is going to be more careful about what she wishes for!

 

Hi Joeann,

What a good thing you did for all of us :-) And you are quite right, I think Mary might be a touch more careful about what she wishes for in the future... Actually, when I met her in Long Beach I do remember seeing her standing quietly in a corner of the room with her eyes screwed shut tight, her fists balled up and hearing her chanting under her breath over and over "Pay no attention, I didn't mean it, I don't really want the pony..." over and over and I wondered what that was all about, but I didn't want to pry...

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

Too much control from outside AR

Joeann- you take intentionality to a whole new level. And I love ya for it.

Tisza - lol you are soooo funny. I have NO regrets with any of this. It has been a bit of a wild ride, but I've learned a ton, very fast. Of course now I have a lot of questions that I didn't use to have, but they're more sophisticated than the old ones :)

Like Howard Brinton likes to say, it's been like drinking water from a fire hydrant!

Larry I'm not sure what you mean. You mean too many judges from outside of AR? Or too many comments from non-AR members?

What is the contest? What do you win?

congrats mary

Larry - I think there is great value in including people from outside our platform. There is a much bigger blogosphere out there that we need to explore and acknowledge. As wonderful as ActiveRain is, we can all benefit tremendously by networking with other leading blogging/social media experts.

Congratulations Teri for number one for week 13 if I am reading this right. Congrats to Mary for second place in week 13. #3 Kevin / #4 Tisza / #5 Jackie congrats! Mary is still ahead but there is one more weeks of entries to judge... and isn't there going to be voting by us? Congrats to all who have stuck with Project Blogger. Pat Kitano's review is a very, very interesting read. I probably learned more from this review / judging than I did any other week (not that I am judging the judging... much...) The thing about the Technorati authority of the Project Blogger blogs is very interesting, I can't help but notice the comments about Mary's RT blog not ranking well on Technorati although it's got the content since I have an RT blog. I am not sure I agree we need to write national 'flag poles' on hyperlocal blogs...I think that is what he called them. I don't think we need to write for one another on our blogs maybe I am delusional but I still believe local people read my blog....

Thanks all for the feedback.

A flagpole article just attracts readers... many of them are topical - takes on Redfin or Zillow, the local/state economy, the changing demographics of an area, new technologies for agents or CONSUMERS, the Sellsius blog tour, a pictorial of the history of the hometown... Don't take the flagpole metaphor literally, every blog has popular articles that google tends to find. Just put these great articles out there on a "Top Article" list so readers will find them and even bookmark them. When I peruse a new blog, I check for a "Best of" right away.

Yes, hyperlocal blogs are perfect for agents focusing on their local markets. I think it's easy to slip in an article that others outside the area might find interesting too... and it never hurts to network with other agents outside your locale.

Thanks to all of the fantastic bloggers, you give me a lot to aspire to.

Thanks for the continued updates.  The learning even for us non-PB folks hasbeen great.

Jeff

There's a great table on Bloodhound Blog in a recap of PB or a summation of PB as Teri's coach.... a continuation of the Technorati info that Pat had in his PB review, #'s. Good info.  Just another way of looking at it.

It might be interesting, from a long haul point of view, to follow up with our blogs some time out. 6 months, 1 year, whatever. If the point of this is to teach how to blog, then the long haul is truly what it's about... And might be of value...Just thinking out loud....OTOH... Forget it....;)  

 

we'll all be able to say... "I knew Teri (Mary, Kevin,  Tisza, etc.) way back when she /he started blogging six months from now when you are the movers and shakers in the RE blogophere.  

Maureen,

Fun no?  It is like we are the first "Real World" cast!  Remember that reality show on MTV?  It was the first one!

The next PB should be re-named

"Blogger Bootcamp - The first reality show in the blogosphere"

 

Hey:  I want credit for that idea!

 

I go away for 6 days and feel totally out of it!  But I'm glad to hear kevin won : )

We missed you, Ines. Totally boring week. Nothing much going on. *yawn* zzzzzzzzz.

Oh yeah, Kevin won, but Ardell had announced that weeks ago. ;)

I'm still basking in the glow of being the "best blogger."   Apprentices, feel free to call me if you need a help.

ARDELL, being Italian, seems to "make" things happen.

Okey dokey Kev, My people will call your people... Hey Brad, I need help! ;)

I'm scared of Brad....and Ardell

Ahem Ines, well, Kevin didn't win (yet) unless you're talking cutest guy or something. We haven't even had the popular vote yet!!! Hope your vacation was a good one. We were supposed to be in Tahoe this week but hubby's conferences got in the way and so did my daughter's desire to be at a local Harry Potter event tomorrow night...sigh....

Have I missed something or has Caleb said something about how the voting is supposed to happen??

Just heard a cousin of mine will be at Inman Connect. How cool is that??

Great vacation - I think I'm going to miss you guys once this is over.

Mary,

Google Project Blogger.

Oh my goodness........I could get lost in here for days!

Ines - welcome back!! Hope you had a great vacation.

Teri you must sleep through earthquakes too. Wait, you don't have 'em out there...

Kevin - Reality Show? Ewww I hate those. Life is challenging enough for me, I guess.

Maureen - are you coming to Bloggers Connect? I really wanna meet you.

Ardell - yah I know about your Google juice...LOL...

Caleb: have you announced yet how the voting is going to work? (If so, I missed it.)

Have a great weekend, everyone....

Not yet Mary but I'll be taking votes soon.

Thanks,

Caleb 

No I am not going to Bloggers Connect Mary.  I wish Teri was going!

 

Thanks Maureen. I wish Teri were going too!  We'll just have to take lots of pics.

At this point I'm thinking we can't see the end of that chart until August 1, is that correct?

Well there's still the vote - but maybe it'll be taken but not tallied ...?

Just noticed this...It's "Chaney," not "Cheney." Not that I wouldn't want to be related to the VP, so long as it means I'm an heir to some of his fortune. Otherwise, I prefer the "a" to the "e." :-)

15th week about time you notice, Paul.  Maybe Cheney will give you some of his oil money for promoting that spelling during Project Blogger....

It  is pronounced Cheeney in Wyoming to Lynn Cheney ...did you read it as Chaney or Cheeny?  I would think the Cheneys would have nipped it in the bud when people mispronounced your name and you are a public figure but....  they answer to either.

 

Sorry Paul, I've got politics on the brain I suppose.

Just a quick note I've begun judging week 3. And week 14 is on it's way up from Hawaii now.  I expect it late this evening.  Audience voting should begin tomorrow.

Thanks,

Caleb 

Thanks for the update, Caleb! Hawaii, huh? Intriguing!!!

I am biting my nails!!!!! <G>

 

I'm wondering how the winner can be "announced" at Inman Bloggers Connect..if the chart already reveals who that is.  Not a big deal...just wondering how you can Let the cat our of the bag in advance?  Won't it take away the suspense of Opening the Envelope on August 1?

Hi Caleb,

You'd said that the judging for week 14 was coming from Hawaii and would be up late last night. I am not seeing it anywhee.....?

Thanks,
Mary

Hi Caleb,

I just wanted to say that I agree with ARDELL.  I don't want to know the results until the official announcement at Inman, and I don't see any benefit to announcing the final scores early, unless the score is only part of the story and it is still anyone's ballgame.

I would be interested in the comments from the judges, but frankly, I've waited this long to hear what they have to share, I am OK with waiting until after August 1st to see the final comments posted. 

Just my two cents worth.

Thanks.

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

We've still got the results for week 3, week 14, and the audience voting to award points for.  I'm sorry my Hawaiian judge went way above and beyond and for that reason it's taking more time.  I can't believe how seriously these judges take it.  They've all put in so much time.

 

 

Caleb we DO appreciate all the effort. Any new ETA for the Hawaiian judge's numbers? You know we are on pins and needles... at least some of us....

Hi Caleb,

Glad to hear that they are as invested in this project as we have been.  I quite agree that all the effort everyone has put forth is very much appreciated.  Take your time, and tell them to take theirs as well, I would rather have a through, well thought-out, unhurried review than a knee-jerk reaction any day.

Might I offer a suggestion?  Don't tell us when you expect something to be posted, just tell us when it is completed and ready for inspection.  I still say that I don't want or need to see the final numbers until after the award is given out on August 1st.  It will indeed be anticlimactic if we all walk into the room knowing how it ended before it is officially announced.  Suspense, actually is a good thing sometimes :-)

But, I totally understand where Mary's coming from on this so for that reason, I reiterate, don't tell us what you are going to do, tell us what you have done, or to quote a whole lot of people in this business, Mary included, "Underpromise and overdeliver".

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

The Polls are now open.

Will we be able to see the voting anywhere?

Not until the results are published.  Teams had better rally their supporters. :).

Any word on the Hawaiian judge's comments and scoring??

Mary, thanks. My understanding is that the judging is completed and the response and feed back are in the works.

Caleb not sure I follow. Will it be posted soon?  Thanks...

The results were intended to be here yesterday, however they are still working on it.

Week 14's results are in! Check out Tribalseduction.com

Thanks for posting the results, Caleb. I'm not a fan of wading through the videos so will await the transcripts to see what they have to say.

Mary - video is where it's at!  If we want to stay at the forefront of marketing technology, we must include some video.  I actually liked it a lot and loved to see their personality - I may even do a couple of those on the site.  (I'm even trying some video for our listings)

I hope video is NOT where it's at. I go to the internet for news and information because I can READ it. I tend to shun websites that emulate television because, in my opinion, television panders to the lowest common denominator. I don't watch the news on television because it comes across as cheesy and contrived. I don't watch video clips on websites for much the same reason. A well written blog that entertains and informs produces all of the visuals I need to understand what the author is trying to convey. 

 A website with video and lots of graphics is fine for a commercial website, but I thought a blog was supposed to be something MORE than merely a commercial website - it's supposed to allow us to peak inside the mind and heart of the blogger. Video has never worked that way for me. I think this weeks judging missed the point of blogging entirely.

I find it interesting that each weeks judging was based more on what type of product the judges sell, as opposed to adhering to the original criterion set at the start of the contest. That's not meant to denigrate the judges in any way, but it leads me, a mere reader of this site and it's blogs, to wonder what the point of this whole exercise is. It has become a study in inconsistency, and contradiction. 

"A reader" - although I see your point, I can tell you that the whole concept of blogging is to find a balance.  A balance where you can connect with your audience.  Some people are visual, some others are not - I don't agree to having a video in every post, but having a balance where you can engage your audience is key.

Personally, I tend to agree with "A Reader". I think blogs are web-logs, web-journalism. That means writing more than widgets.

I don't want to sound like I'm whining or ungrateful, but I would NOT want to appeal to this week's judges because what they have to offer is not what I want to give.

Earlier today I tried listening to their broadcast and had trouble getting past the first 20 seconds. Honest to goodness, each video clip sounded like a MONSTER TRUCK RALLY ad. It was like listening to rap music.

OK I'm going to be totally anti PC here but listening to RAP is not like listening to music. Music is the gamut, from Chopin to Shania Twain to the Beatles to Handel to Pavarotti to James Taylor.

If you listened to RAP and someone said, "hey this is music" would you respond favorably? Maybe not if you were over the age of 40. (I'm forty eight years old. Translation: sounds like garbage to me.)

I DO appreciate that this week's judges took a lot of time, but watching and listening to their video is like wading through rap - my goodness - why do I want to subject myself to that???? I'm sorry, I'm sure they are nice people who mean well and try hard - but it is hard to listen to the message because the medium is so awful.

If all of blogging had to be like the video ads, who would do it?? Not me for sure. Piercing your lip might be "in" but I am not gonna do it and I will contend that it makes the wearer look like an idiot. Same with folks who use video like this week's judges. The intros are nothing short of offensive.

That said, I zoomed through the Monster Truck Ads and found the critique of my site. Here's what I noticed:

(1) they were oblivious that while my Live in Los Gatos blog is indeed a second level domain, the URL I use for it most often is simply www.liveinlosgatos.com/. It IS memorable. Recently I was at the Harry Potter release. I had NO cards but told several people whom I photographed that my blog was Live In Los Gatos.com and they seemed to find it just fine.

(2) Penalizing me for having my blog on Real Town while my mentor is the Managing Editor of Real Town is as dumb as penalizing Tisza for having a Zillow widget when her mentor is a Zillow employee. YES JUDGES, I do know that it's preferable to have my own domain. But guess what? The person who invited me into this blog contest invited me in with a second level domain site. So you ding me for that? I say this: you didn't understand what you were judging. You did not know that Fran, my mentor, works for Real Town., and therefore, that's where my blog had to be for this contest.

(3) This was supposed to be week 14 judging but everything this pair zoomed in on was LONG PAST week 14. I can't speak for anyone else, but in the days betweeen July 8 and 15 I REALLY and truly knocked myself out since it was the last week that counted for the contest. To instead have this couple view my posts from July 22 and on really and truly upset me. It's a massive case of "why bother trying when clearly they don't care".Week 14 is not week 16, people.  

(4) Was it just me, or this time did they only count the Outside Blog?

So I heard the critique of my own site and was disappointed, mostly because I didn't learn anything new. And since it did not even cover the week intended, I wonder why they bothered.

This probably should have been a unique post but I'm more interested in making my point than getting points on Active Rain (by the way, agents who blog here are also on a second level domain, for the record). 

Ladies and gents, I have learned a LOT during the course of this contest. I don't for a moment regret being a part of it. But I have to say, an awful lot of the judging is just a bunch of BS from folks with a strong bias who have a product to sell to you or me.

And that has been a big disappointment.

People at Active Rain: if you do this again, have judges who DO NOT HAVE SOMETHING TO SELL. Pick folks like Teresa Boardman or Laurie Mannie. Folks in the trenches, not folks with a product to push.

My two cents.

Hi Mary,

I totally agree with EVERYTHING you have said.  Not to take away from anyone who did well this week, but I kind of felt like these folks really just didn't get it where any of us were concerned and I agree that is a shame.   I also think that text is just not their thing and that is OK, because, for the client's that I have received so far, text seems to be working well :-) 

I was quite amused, when I was finally able to wade through everything else to find the comment that pertained to my site to find that what they said was that I had wonderful content but too much of it.  Damning praise for a blog don't you think? 

I also clearly got the impression that they may have looked at our sites, but I don't think they actually read them.  I know in my case, they complained that I didn't bold in my post and cited an article where every paragraph is actually bolded. Then they commented that I bolded the wrong things.   Boy, the pendulum has swung far and wide on that one.

No, it does not appear that they choose to look at anything but our outside blogs and you are quite right they seem to have looked at our more recent offerings and not just what was done in week 14.   I also knocked myself out (How To Build A Blogger From The Ground Up 1, 2, 3, and 4... anyone, anyone... Bueller) Ahh, well, some of my favorite stuff I put here so if they missed it, bummer.

By the way, I loved you before this comment, but pretty much adore you now :-) 

Thank you for your two cents, it was truly worth a million!

Tisza

 

Tisza thanks. I hate complaining. Earlier today I made comments, only to delete or edit them (Teri caught me...didn't think anyone was looking.) I really do NOT want to complain about the judging but it makes me nuts, as a former teacher I suppose, to see criteria set up and then ignored - like saying it'd be week 14 but days 2 weeks later are the ones reviewed. Just slap me and put me in the funny farm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's the kind of thing that has been the hardest for ALL of us, I think. We all expect that every judge or judging team would be fair and unbiased, but rarely have we seen that be the case in reality.

The good thing is tha although 14 weeks was totally exhausting (and I keep saying it should be shorter next time), maybe with this much chaos there's a balance somewhere in the midst of it.

I'm hunting for my optimism.

Win or lose, those of us who made it through this crazy experience should help to draft some guidelines for "next time". Don't you think?

It's the least we can do for "Project Blogger: The Next Generation".

Mary,

I have already begun writing... I think I am on volume four right now :-)  Seriously, I do think that we should offer our suggestions and as the ones who have been living in the PB fishbowl for these past 14, or is it 16 weeks, we are uniquely qualified. 

It has not only been hard at times it has been down right unfair to each and every one of us, sometimes repeatedly, especially when the very thing that one judge tells you to do you get punished for the next go-round.  One of the things that I would suggest for the future would be that each blogger should receive a critique, but NO SCORES.  The points just muddy the waters. 

Take care,

Tisza

Congrats Ines, Jackie, Kevin, Mary and Teri! on this weeks judging. 

I read something Robert Scoble wrote about how he reads blogs (and he reads a lot of blogs,) I don't think it was on his blog though I think he was guest blogging somewhere else. Actually it may have been on the Google Reader blog. He talked about video's, pictures etc. slowing people down. Slowing readers down in  a good way.  They are speed bumps.

There were too many speed bunps in this juding for my taste. It was unique. 

Judging the judging...it was a failure IMHO for a large number of  reasons, but  mostly because it was annoying and self serving. At least one of the other judging's was annoying in the same way but you had to read the annoying text. Actually I did over a period of time go back and read the judge's annoying post. I don't think I could or will try that with these videos.  I could not watch all of the videos.  I could only watch, listen to a very little bit of it.  It gave me a headache. I was fine before I tried to watch /listen to it.

Maybe video is an answer though for those who can't write but this seems like a gimmick. I think most people who read blogs like to read and watch an occasional video, listen to something.... Experimenting with video is one thing...'variety is the spice of life'

If the speed bumps through an area are annoying you find another route. I look forward to reading  the transcript of that juding when it comes out. 

Oh dang, late to the party.

Ines! I'm beyond thrilled that you got well deserved props this week. I love your blog. I love it because I see you and your city in your blog. Miamism is beautiful and lively and sweet. If I met you today, I would know you immediately. Great job!

About the judging...I'm...I'm...I'm....Searching for words... Oh, kinda sorta what Mary said.

I can't get through blogs with graphics and pictures and video. I just can't do it. I mean I can't read them. They are unreadable to me. I mean I leave as quickly as I got there. Give me a well written wall of text any day. I'm home there.

Here's my big take away from the little bit of judging I could sit through: "A picture is worth a thousand words". With one picture I can "chunk" 1000 words into a post. Damn. And all this time I've been writing...

Waiting for the movie to come out in book form.

 

Ok guys, here's my take, from one that has been getting torn apart every single week.  Yes the judging as been inconsistent and yes this whole competition could benefit from some changes; but after 14 weeks of inconsistent judging, I've learned that if you take some advice from every single judge, your blog will be amazing.  

It's not about us personally it's about the way that we present ourselves to different audiences.  Some will love a wall of text, some will hate video.  I have learned so much from every single judge, even the ones that at first got me steamed and I did not agree with. 

The person that best knows your audience is you - take the critique and run with it.  And please look up at all 200+ comments in this post - we look like whiners!

 

Ines - I think you're right, with the myriad of advice from 14 judgings, some of it has to work. I was glad you got the great kudos this week and I'm sure there's some validity to this current judging couple's ideas. I only waded through to hear the comments on my site - I responded above - and will READ the rest when it's released in a more easily digestible form (hopefully soon).

Maureen - you're another one I'd put on the list of folks I'd want to see be a judge...you are in the trenches and are making it work....

Thanks again everyone for their comments.

There are 14 weeks to this contest, and 14 opportunities to be judged.  15 if you include the audience voting.  Even if you don't agree with a particular week,  I would hope that with 14 weeks of judging each judges unique perspective would give a balance to the results.

Regardless of whether or not a person agrees with the judges, each team has a special opportunity to get receive feedback from highly qualified individuals.

These teams worked hard and being judged is very difficult.  It takes a lot to receive criticism publicly. 

What each judge has written is a thoughtful reflection on what the teams have presented. There are opinions from the judges that vary tremendously. The judges are going to take different approaches to evaluating your blog. Despite that, one cannot simply dismiss the input of the judges without loosing an opportunity for ourselves. 

Everyone has put a lot of work into this, teams and judges alike.  I hope we can all take away a wealth of shared experience and knowledge that can help us all grow.

Caleb - all true. But these judges didn't even look at my blog for either Week 14 OR during the contest timeframe at all. Their review was on my writing/blog entries AFTER THE CONTEST ENDED. I know that I put a huge effort in during week 14 - but apparently it did not count at all.

That's a biggie.

Caleb - well said.

Mary - I think they judged the blog as a whole, not just week 14 (it is a discrepancy as pointed out previously, but they are offering unbelievable feedback that we should all take seriously).

Hi Caleb,

Boy am I glad I can read and that I took the time to re-read your comment before I responded :-)  I think I can safely say that no one knows better than those of us that have been involved just what a commitment of time, energy and emotion this event has required.  And yes, it is true that each judge does take a different approach.  I do think that things would have been simpler, easier for all concerned, the judges included, and ultimately not only more satisfying but more valuable had they each not been given the opportunity to re-invent the wheel each and every time they sat down to judge.

Sure there have been some wonderful nuggets of information contained within almost every critique.  But at times it has been difficult, if not impossible to sort the wheat from the chaff.  The result being that unless you are starving the effort is usually not deemed worth the return and both get cast aside.  None of us have been starving so it has been difficult to see the value in digging for that seed of an idea buried beneath the mountain of unnecessary and at times, quite useless debris. 

Ines- Yes, you have suffered the slings and arrows and that is unfortunate.  I agree that it was nice to see you rewarded for all of your hard work.   You should not have been penalized, nor should any of us, for using Active Rain as your blogging platform whether it was by choice or by chance.  This is a public forum and a valuable one at that, as anyone, myself included, who has received business from it can attest and to ignore the work that is done here or to treat it as somehow inferior because of its placement upon this stage is wrong, plain and simple.    The frames for our words are important, but they are merely frames it is the pictures that are contained within the words that hold the real value.  

You also said that looking above makes us appear to be whiners and while there is always someone who is dissatisfied with the outcome of any competition, in this case I have not seen whining done simply for the sake of whining, but rather because change has been needed.  And, who better to ask for or suggest the changes than those that are directly affected.  Had this been a different kind of pursuit in a different arena you would probably never have heard what we and our readers were thinking and feeling.  

If you look above the dissatisfaction has been expressed not just by competitor's but also by the readers on our and on their own behalf.  But this is a writing competition, we are all writers and it is a very special kind of writing at that, one that is by its very nature required to be laid bare for all to see.  It is also a "project" an experiment to see what it takes to make a successful, business generating blogger out of whole-cloth so for that reason alone, if there were no others, it is required of all of us to share our triumphs and our struggles so that others may learn. 

Just as it behooves us, the apprentice teams and those that are watching from the sidelines, to take suggestions to heart, weigh their value and make our decisions about what to listen to and what to ignore, it also behooves those that have designed this challenge to do the same with the input that they receive from us.  However, in order to do that effectively we need to be able to share our feelings without being labeled or libeled. 

To sum up this already overly long comment, this has been an amazing experience from before the start to the finish.  I do think Mary is right that a judge with something to sell, whether it is being sold to us or not, does come in with a different agenda than one that is not in that position.  I would also suggest that perhaps getting judges who were actually writers themselves and not merely interested in the technical side of blog creation would be a good idea.  And, a true panel with three different viewpoints would also be beneficial as would having a set of eyes that has watched everything from beginning to end and is therefore qualified to evaluate not only where you are, but also where you have come from would be a really necessary addition. 

I can't say that I have loved every minute of it, but I have learned a great deal from it and I do love the people that I have met.  I am glad I got to do this, and I would do it again with only one change... I would write more since that would probably have gotten me higher on Google faster, but then, I only got clients, a couple of additional writing opportunities, the chance to teach a class, referrals and a pretty wide audience based upon my words, so what do I know :-)

Man, this is going to drive me to drink... Now, where is that waiter with my Shirley Temple, I'm dyin' over here...

Take care all, continue to help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

I think I should add something positive that needs to be praised in this week's judging - the one thing I really DID like and failed to mention earlier is the pdf grid chart they did which outlined the various categories they considered while making their judgement. I DO think this is something that would be good to emulate in any future blogging contest - by that I mean the concept of a grid with weighted areas to be considered (maybe not these same criteria, but something like this format). What is really good about it is that one can quickly skim and immediately see strengths/weaknesses without having to commit 20 minutes to discovery.  (When I was teaching, a million years ago - ok 18 years ago - I employed something like this for grading and it was always well received.)

I'm sure once the transcript of this week's judging comes out, and I can read it, I will find more valuable information. For now, I wait...

I really do appreciate all of you who continually come out and voice your opinions.  I've never faced this much criticism in my entire life.  But I sincerely appreciate it.

Thank you. 

I understand that everyone has put time into this. I am deeply appreciative of the time. I'm eternally grateful for the opportunity afforded here. In voicing an opinion about presentation, does not indicate ungratefulness.

I cannot watch the video. I don't know why. I'm not being obstinate, I'm simply wired that way I suppose. I've pondered this from the day this contest started because I realize I'm outside the norm about the use of graphics and video and widget-y stuff. Some people hate the walls of text, and can't read it - I can't do the spasmodic-visual stuff. It's a conundrum in terms of a competition where many judges are fans, or vendors even, of blog "stuff". 

I'm not ignoring advice, I'm simply trying to figure out how to make it work within my own sensibilities. For me, that is going to take time. Yes- longer than a long 14 weeks! I'm trying though.

But. I have talked to bloggers outside of this competition, and some judges after the fact. The thing that comes up over and over again is that in the end we have to love our own blogs or we will hate writing on them, and eventually that is what will be reflected on the blog. Love me, love my blog. ;-)

Tisza - as always I appreciate your well thought out response to my "whining" comment - and please know that I was including myself in that group.

As professionals, I think you would agree that feedback is very important to improve anything we deal with.  There are ways to give feedback, some betters than others.  My "whining" comment comes from the perspective that it looks, a lot of times, like we are complaining, not giving feedback on how to improve the judging and the competition.  Let me also add that I do believe we had the right to complain because of all the inconsistencies.

I do think it's our job now, if they are planning on a PB II (I do hope so), to give our opinion of what worked and what didn't - like Mary pointed above.

As for the competition being a "writing" competition - I totally disagree.  It was a blogging competition - it is up to each one of us to define blogging and use whatever methods and techniques we feel are necessary and appropriate to communicate with our own audience.  You are obviously a great writer and some of us are more visual.  I think you would agree that the diversity of blogs in the competition is what makes it so great.

Teri my friend,

How very right you are :-)  I feel the same  way, I don't like 'um, I don't watch 'um, too much flash and glitter works great on a static website where you are going to pop on and pop off, but for something where you want folks to sit a spell, kick back and put their feet up, bells, whistles, sirens and the like tend to discourage that result.  Last month my 693 visitors (most from Southern California and my immediate vicinity by the way) (6/24 - 7/24) averaged 7.59 minutes on my site per visit.  Yup, there are a whole lot of words there and that tells me that they seem to be reading every last one.

Mary - Yes, a grid with criteria would be nice... hmm, I seem to remember hearing that somewhere else before...

Caleb, it is the process that has received review and criticism not you.  The process has left something to be desired by us all, but you have been a joy throughout and I will always be grateful that you have kept a cool hand and a keen eye even when I have been unable to have either.

Take care all,

Tisza

Can you guys believe I have absolutely nothing to say?

Kevin- no.  ;-)

Not possible. Time for a Super Poke on Facebook :-)

Kevin, no I find that hard to believe :-)

Ines - I agree that diversity of presentation is as important as diversity in people but I will stick by the fact that this ultimately boils down to the writing.  Good, bad or indifferent.  As I told my class yesterday, in order for blogging to be a successful venture you have to share yourself and while pictures are good, in this medium, words I believe are better.  You don't have to be Tolstoy or even Jackie Collins, but you have to put the words on the page or it just a Flickr group about Real Estate.

And to take the writing out of blogging is like taking the heart out of the watermelon, the whole thing is good and there is value in each and every part, but that is really the best bit and if it were removed, you would still eat the fruit but you would enjoy it a whole lot less.

By the way, for someone who is "visual" you sure do have a way with words :-)  I am looking forward to meeting you and hope you will be there at Inman.

Take care,

Tisza

I agree with Teri - Kevin....."NO, we don't believe you"

Tisza - unfortunately I will not be going to Inman - you guys will have to tell me all about it.

nope, not a thing

One little comment....or, maybe two...I am very VISUAL, which is why I love color and widgets and giving my audience plenty to "look" at...so I loved the video judging and was already in the process of  making  some changes, but their comments just fortified what I was already planning.   I also read their book last month, which I found far more interesting than some of the others on the recommended "lists"....

It takes us right back to the fact that each of our blogs is as different as each of our "colorful personalities"...if you have the readership that you want, then you are a winner....

Hell just froze over.  I TOTALLY agree with Jackie :)  I get the kind of clients I like with my blogging, which is not everyone's favorite style.  Jackie will get the kind of clients she likes with her style.  Awesome comment, Jackie!  and spot on as well.

Caleb,

If you didn't love all the bitch slapping you got, don't ever take a job as the Manager of a large real estate office.  It's like herding cats, and some need their little nails clipped :)

Hi All,

I agree with both Jackie and ARDELL... we will all attract the kind of clients that appeal to us and that our styles appeal to.  That is what has made this such a truly maddening experience as each of our offerings really does give a great feel for it's creator (or the person it was created for as the case may be) so to dun someone for not having enough widgets is as bad as it is to crucify them for too many.  Perhaps, the only thing to do would be to judge each piece on its own merits which brings us right back to content and criteria. 

Read what they write, look at what they share and see if that is consistent from start to finish and see if it is working.   A business blog needs to get business and if it is, whether you like it personally or not, clearly some folks do and it is doing its job. 

If you are a word person, your blog will reflect that and you will attract those people who want that and if you are a picture person your blog will reflect that and you will attract your peeps as well. 

One of the many things we all learn in the sales game is that if you are an auditory you will connect with others like you and be repelled by a visual, and a kinesthetic will not be OK with an auditory.  So you learn to mirror what you are given to make people comfortable.  In a blog, there is no way to do that and I don't really think you should.  Be who you are and let the others who are like you find you and it will be a happy marriage indeed. 

So, yes Jackie we ARE all winners and actually so are all those that have learned along with us.

Take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza

Ardell don't forget I've been a broker of both real estate (not large) and mortgage offices.  

Why aren't the final tallies for each apprentice posted anywhere? I haven't seen anything for the third week on the chart, or for the readership vote.  Why not? 

Thanks Sue, I'm playing catch up. That's why. 

Is it NOW really over?

Kevin... we could just hijack this post now and take it whole new direction. That might be fun.

LOl,  I'm still working on a wrap up.  I've been shy about getting to this.  :)

Caleb - thanks. I'm ready to retire the whole thing now too :)

Fun. We could hi-jack.  Good times.  We could start talking about boobs or something.

>We could start talking about boobs or something.

And there are plenty of those around to talk about. :)

 

And they should be uncovered and brought into the light. 

Truth and transparency!

You guys are totally hysterical. Today we four went to the Chicago Art Institute and each time we came upon a nude, my teens cringed. For them, there can really be too much openness :)

Hey Guys I think that is cool to do blogging contest.I'm fairly new to blogs,but fascinated by their amount of good info here.Thanks.

Tommy

What a great idea. I think I'll try it in my field. I have been looking for Miami homes for sale at this site called property maps. Very cool google maps tool - hope it can help!