Now that all the "Voting" is over, I have a suggestion regarding, MOTM and MOTY.
Since these "Contest" are not only about the Car, Acknowledging that the Car is important, but the owner is important as Well.
Jason, (The_Maniac), told me that how the owner takes care of the car, how they participate in the forum, how they share info, ask for help and how they just communicate with other Members of MCF is just as important as the car itself. I'm in no way saying that previous winners are not deserving, I think they all are. But I Also think that there would be a bigger turnout of Members voting if they had a little info to go along with the nominee's photo gallery!

My Suggestion is, Once th Nominee's are chosen, add a little write a bit of info in the trials and tribulations the owner has gone through, how they have helped others through problems how they participate in non Monte related post.

Basicly, give the voters something more than just the car to look at, info on the car and the owner and how they relate to MCF. In a non bias format of course.

How many Members are there? I surely don't know. But We gain at least one new member a day! Yet what, 17 Members voted in the last MOTM? And 50 in MOTY? I'm not saying make voting mandatory, but give the Members a little more than just the name and photo gallery off the nominees.

Something to generate a bigger turn out.
We all know Why We vote for particular nominee, but what type of member they are, what have they accomplished with their car, what are their Monte goals.

All I'm saying is if MOTM/MOTY are about the car, the driver, and their participation in MCF then let's bring it closer to that. Make the Monte owner as important as his/her car, because without the owner, the car, Is Just Another Car!
Thanks for reading my opinion!!!

 

I totally agree JC...

I would guess... That some people that have nominated or been nominated have been chosen by not only there vehicle...But in there minds know of there contributions to the forum as well. Just not posting it in there actual nomination in writeing...

At least for me when I consider someone for MOTM or MOTY....
That's what I look at.

Maybe...
We will ask the membership when they do nominate to add that as part of there reason for nominating there choice!

Makes sense!
Thanks for the post!

 

JC - You are right that MOTM and MOTY is a bit more then just the car itself. It's about the person with the car.

I like your idea to share some info about the person, the problem is when the staff builds the voting threads, we can't write that info, otherwise, no matter what, it could be seen as biased info. Obviously we link to a photo gallery and the person's profile. I agree, this does not paint the entire picture of the person.

For members that have been tracking MCF for a while, they get to know some of the people nominated. But for our newer members, you're right, they don't know much about them.

Months ago, an idea I had and tried was when nominating someone, give some feedback why you're nominating them. A couple quick blurbs about what made that person stand out to earn your nomination. This way it's not someone trying to boast about themselves and it's not the staff trying to come up with what to say about the person.
Same goes for supporting a nomination, people can also state why they support someone.

Ultimately, it can be a little tough and time consuming to get all that feedback into the voting thread, but we could always throw a link to the nomination thread.

 

It should probably be up to the nominee to best showcase themselves. But than there is the fine line between being promotional and gloating. I don't want to come off as rude.

MOTM is there to motivate us to build cooler cars and be more active members. But I don't think MOTM will ever have a single winning formula.

 

To be honest, I believe the MOTM contest to be more of a popularity contest.

That being said, if you're active and friendly around the site your chances of winning or being nominated go up.

If you're a new member, posting repetitive things and irritating people you'll never get nominated.

That's just my opinion, but that's how I see it working most of the time.

 

I have always voted and nominated based on the car. I want the best car to win. But like it has already been said you need to be active so we see the car. There is also a fine line with new members wanting in the MOTM posting and asking about MOTM all the time where sometimes it feels like that is all they want from the site.

 

Thanks guys, I know it would not be easy for admin to add a blurb about the nominees, but maybe admin can tack on how many post the nominee has and their join date. Then the Members nominating or supporting can add a little blurb about Why they choose that member. I know that would help me come to a decision when Why have close races like this last MOTY.
But it's not just that, I was Looking for something to get more participation in the voting process. I think it's a Portugal that with such a large membership there is such a small turn out!

 

Thanks J.C., for your post, words & creating a great discussions of the subject of MOTM and our member's.

I believe that everyone that owns & drives a Monte Carlo is a Winner.

Being able to select just one Monte, or member a month is not easy, but nothing good in this life seems to be easy.

I believe it's every member's responsibility to do their homework & research on the member that they want to nominate or support.

Yes, I agree with `Mitch that a member is selected not just for their Monte Carlo, but for their online personality & their contributions.
It's just human nature
I truly believe that on a web forum that words do paint a picture in the minds of each reader. That being said, we only can consider our votes by the pictures that a member post of their Monte Carlo.
We can't personally see their ride & check it `out like @ a car show. We can only see photo's.

I believe on a web forum and contest that a Member's quality of pictures & their Monte is a major factor to our voting member's.
Plus the comradeship that each member makes, creates with other member's.

I believe it's a great honor to Win in Life & also Win on the MCF.
Many in life have not had the opportunity to win or be fortunate to win during their journey of `life. It can be very difficult in life not to win at anything. I admit that I think I won MOTM back in 2006 because of my active participation on the MCF. I had a basic stock Monte Carlo LT3 with only a few `Mod's.

I was so thankful & honored to `win . I believe that in any voting contest that the voter should do their homework before they `Vote.

J.C. I hope your thread, questions gets attention by our member's & that they make suggestions to improve our MCF Forum & also remind member's to stay active & take the best pictures of their Monte Carlo & put them in the MCF Garage or links to their photo sites. Also fill in their profiles with information about themselves.

Thanks J.C. and all member's that that contribute to improve our Monte Carlo Family & Forum

I wish everyone a Win + Peace, Love & Happiness on your journey's of Life.

 

I think one thing they have done right with it now is by putting monte of the month voting at the top of the page because now I can see it and if I can see it new members will see it better because with it on the bottom of the page I always forgot about it because I didn't scroll down enough. Yes I know I am lazy. This may make for a better turn out then.

 

I just think We need to do something to generate greater member participation.