OK just to start off, this isn't a moan at having the competitions open to complete noobs etc blahblah, I fully understand the need to bring new blood to the site. What I will suggest, however, is questions (or even a series of questions) based on the content buried in the site and forums. That way at least you'll generate more traffic/ad views from new users, they're more likely to be enamoured with the fantastic, informative and/or entertaining content here on Bit and come back for moar cheesecake. Additionally, existing users will be rewarded for their loyalty by having an easier to answer question. Does that make any sense? Now, hire me as your new digital marketing exec.
I agree, most (if not all) competitions should be opened to active members of the community. As an example in the win a HD 5870 thread out of 301 replies 146 of those are members who have just registered for the competition. Im sure a lot of entries you will recieve wont even have bothered to register with the site but all these guys have just as much a chance of winning than someone with 5k+ posts and who genuinely contribute to the site. As well as making the competition questions more site related it might be an idea to have a minimum post count or have been registered for a minimum amount of time.
May be you are right but this competition could be a good thing to bring some news members like me ! I will discover posts and try to contribute to the site...
no, no, that's not what i am saying. By all means have them open to new members. Just make the requirement a little more, i dunno, 'dig through our content and see more ads'?
Im not saying not to allow new members to enter. I mean get them to contribute before they can. Most competitions are opened for a few weeks so there is no hurry to enter. It would encourage members to have a look over the whole site rather than just the competition threads. Anything that encourages new members to sign up is brilliant, however if they are signing up just to post 'entered' then i wouldnt consider them to be a true member.
He thinks it's illegal because they ask for your name, address and phone number. Dennis Publishing are covered by Data Protection, so theres no problem.
about competitions, all is well, and i love the fact the most recent ones are all worldwide and stuff. there is this one thing nagging on the last survey/competition... : why is there no tick box for not recieving offers and stuff from the beginning? this made me angry and now i will go murder some puppies and make a mean face at baby jesus to make him cry. also, i won't fill in your survey.
Just because someone has not registered for the forums (or has just recently registered) doesn't meant that they haven't followed the site (including the forums) for a quite a while. This could be especially true for those less confident in their use of the English language or those who simply like the articles, builds, etc. but never felt that they had anything to add. +1 Especially since the offers I've received in the past would only apply if I lived a long distance from where I do.
I think anyone should be allowed to enter, even if they only come on once to post.. If only 10 of the hundreds or so who have applied revisit and become part of the community, it's worth it.. Brings more discussion to the forum, also obviously brings more traffic onto bit-tech which is a good thing. I've been reading bit-tech for a long time, even years before i registered. Must be around 7 years, because i remember a friend introduced it to me when i was in college. I don't post as often as some, but it's still the place i go for all my reviews. The advertizing is never to intrusive and the guys make sure it's relevant (techy ads)... If allowing anyone to enter helps them boost traffic and allows them to continue how they've done.. It's fine by me .
