A few observations from the Writers' Tournament.   A lot of positive things came out of it.  There were a lot of lessons learned. I try to be as transparent as possible insofar as it doesn't out or embarrass anyone on the site.  So, in the spirit of transparency...

Why did it take so long?

voting issues - technical - Clearly the star system doesn't work.  The polls were the easiest to do, however, I think that off line voting sheet was the best way as it prevented bias and made it easier to recheck results.

voting issues - cheating -  Yes, there were attempts at cheating beyond the, "psst, I wrote x script." (note: remember nobody can keep a secret...) .  I don't call folks out on it because it would reveal to the person(s) that his friend can't keep a secret.  And, it has never materially influenced the results.

So, someone created multiple accounts to influence the voting.  As a result, we had to go back through all the votes to see what impact the cheating had.  The fraudulent votes were removed and it was determined it had little to no impact on the results.

Moral: don't cheat, it doesn't work.

schedule - need to establish a complete timetable prior to the event and stick to it.  This pushed back the April OWC.  In the future, I may go with just using the term "1st Quarter OWC" rather than January OWC and 2nd Quarter OWC instead of April OWC".

criteria - I leave it to the reviewers to determine if a script met the challenge or not.  I do a quick read before posting to make sure there aren't any glaring issues, but I leave it to the board as a whole to determine if a script meets the criteria.  

qualification vs disqualification - Other than plagiarism, there isn't any disqualification of a script. To say a script should be 'disqualified' is based upon a personal interpretation of the criteria. If you feel a script doesn't meet the challenge requirements, then vote it down.

Experimentation - I'm willing to fail.  And we don't know what won't work until we try it. I didn't think this Writers' Tournament would be as popular as it was.  Nice to be proven wrong.

Lastly, this is about writing an entertaining script.  And, getting some exposure which one hopes leads to other opportunities.  And learning some new tricks.  

As always, thanks to everyone who participated.

- Don

I thought I had posted this a few weeks ago.  This is the write-up of what happened during the WT in the interest of transparency.  

- Don

Cheating?  Really?  Wow...I guess I'm glad I didn't partake in this, then.

Whoever cheated should be ashamed of themselves.  Seriously ashamed!!

Seems some people will do anything for a mug.  

Oh, hang on, there was no mug, just the honour and prestige.

Thanks for the full disclosure, Don.

This was the most creative competition writing competition I've seen/took part in. And not only writing - I bet Sean would do wonders with American Idol and the like.
And it's a lot of work to both of you, Don and Sean. So, big thanks for the elaborate entertainment.

I'm also wondering what happened to March Madness. I'd bet on Christopher Walken as the ultimate winner. Curious to see if I'm correct here.

I’m confused. Someone created multiple accounts to influence the voting? Strange, I thought Jeff didn’t enter this one.

I think the person who created multiple accounts to influence the voting should suspended, at the very least. Thank you, Don, for catching this and disclosing it.

I'm in favor of identifying the person and, as I said, suspending him or her.

Quoted from Stumpzian I think the person who created multiple accounts to influence the voting should suspended, at the very least. Thank you, Don, for catching this and disclosing it. I'm in favor of identifying the person and, as I said, suspending him or her.

Tar and feather? Yeah, I'm down for that. I want to know who it was.

Only thing, whoever script was voted on with the fake accounts doesn't automatically make them guilty. It's possible that the accounts were made to sandbag another writer or "sabotage" them.

But if they have some sort of proof other than that, I say teach them a lesson.

Looks like there's been two kinds of cheating in this tournament:

1. Folks telling their friends
2. Folks creating multiple accounts to vote for their own. Unless it's a fan or a friend who created multiple accounts which is kind of had to believe.

About the first kind - I haven't told a soul about mine, but I kind of can understand that and don't find it offensive. Maybe just me.
The second kind of cheating doesn't sound good at all, but I don't think the person should be brought to light either. Maybe reprimanded or banned from the site for a period of time but I wouldn't want to see anyones's name in conjunction with something like that.
Just saying.

Quoted from khamanna Looks like there's been two kinds of cheating in this tournament: 1. Folks telling their friends 2. Folks creating multiple accounts to vote for their own. Unless it's a fan or a friend who created multiple accounts which is kind of had to believe. About the first kind - I haven't told a soul about mine, but I kind of can understand that and don't find it offensive. Maybe just me. The second kind of cheating doesn't sound good at all, but I don't think the person should be brought to light either. Maybe reprimanded or banned from the site for a period of time but I wouldn't want to see anyones's name in conjunction with something like that. Just saying.

Yeah, I've had a change of heart on that. I wouldn't want someone to be so embarrassed that they harm themselves or something.

Whoever it was is already feeling the guilt I'm sure.

Quoted from khamanna The second kind of cheating doesn't sound good at all, but I don't think the person should be brought to light either. Maybe reprimanded or banned from the site for a period of time but I wouldn't want to see anyones's name in conjunction with something like that. Just saying.

I disagree completely. We need to be able to trust one another. I think I know exactly who did this -- but what if I'm wrong? We need to know, and he or she needs to be kicked out. This pure bullshit dishonesty should not be allowed to stand.

Exactly. What if you're wrong.

I once was unjustly accused of cheating cause I got near perfect score on a test. Now I don't go around every day thinking about that, but it stays with me to this day.

Let's not become a lynch mob.

Don and Sean discovered the ruse, it did not affect the ultimate vote, there was not hundreds of dollars at stake, and we are privy to what went on, I suspect, as a caution to those who might consider doing a dastardly deed   in future.

Yes, some may think it's a matter of principle but I think the person reading all this (and a prior talking to from Don) already will have that stomach-sinking feeling and have learnt from it.

I say let it go.

Quoted from LC I say let it go.

Whether it affected the vote is of no consequence.

It was a chicken-shit thing to do. If it is allowed to stand, that is chicken shit, too.

Quoted from SAC I’m confused. Someone created multiple accounts to influence the voting? Strange, I thought Jeff didn’t enter this one.

Back in the day on the OWC's, there was a string of chickenshit peeps who routinely cheated, ganged up on peeps, etc.  I was younger back then and and never gave in to it, and always tried to make it clear to all who these cocksuckers were.

I may be older, but I haven't changed in my opinion and agree completely with Stump.

Completely unacceptable and a public apology would actually be best.  Hopefully, they learned a lesson here, but if they can't own up to it, maybe no lesson was learned.

Glad I didn't enter this one or I would most likely be banned for life with the things I would be saying.

Quoted from LC Let's not become a lynch mob. Don and Sean discovered the ruse, it did not affect the ultimate vote, there was not hundreds of dollars at stake, and we are privy to what went on, I suspect, as a caution to those who might consider doing a dastardly deed   in future. Yes, some may think it's a matter of principle but I think the person reading all this (and a prior talking to from Don) already will have that stomach-sinking feeling and have learnt from it. I say let it go.

Exactly the conclusion we arrived at.

IMO, it was a sucky thing to do, but what did anyone lose from this? Money? Time? Effort? No one lost anything, so why ban or publicly shame? We're all trying to do our best here on this free site...