Michaels Handmade Holidays Contest
Thursday November 19, 2009
Michaels is having a popularity contest "handmade holidays" contest.
If you've got
- A creative idea for a handmade holiday craft - crochet or otherwise, and
- Lots of friends / family members / acquaintances you can
harrassbegask for contest votes, and - Your residence is in the USA or Canada (excluding Quebec, Hawaii and Puerto Rico,)
Why am I calling it a popularity contest? Well, I'll give you a direct quote from their contest web site:
How do I win?Upload a photo of your best, most creative do-it-yourself project, add a description and project supplies. Then send to your friends, your co-workers, your family and whoever can help you increase your rating score. Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges led by Michaels Creative Expert, Jo Pearson based on project creativity, uniqueness and overall ratings.
I'll refer you to the contest web site for more information if you're interested:
- Contest rules
- Contest gallery - there isn't a separate category for crochet, but you can do a search for the crochet entries if you like. There are some really nice crocheted projects!
Comments
sooo…can i ‘pimp’ my craft on your blog then?
http://www.michaelscontest.com/uploads/1439
No, I believe the Michaels Handmade Holiday Contest ratings section is a sham. Case in point: the Wekk Three winners had 700 and 300 “four snowmen” ratings. The leader (Tuesday) had over 13,000 “five snowmen” (best) ratings and did not get so much as honorable mention. My friend’s entry that I have been rating has a “five snowmen” rating and more ratings than both Week Three ratings combined. Though Michaels encourages entrants to get as many ratings as they can, the ratings alone do not determine the winners … so it’s NOT a popularity contest. I believe the ratings are insignificant (if considered at all) in the selection of the winners. This seems contrary to their published contest rules and so unfairly administered. I will not be shopping at Michaels Stores this season as a result.
Sherry Holland
It’s all kind of funny to me…everyone I know is rating my craft with 5 snowmen, but my average only shows 4…are other people so serious about this that they are giving other entries a 1 rating to bring them down?
BTW, I think they recently updated this info on the rules page:
Voting Criteria:
Each week, based upon a blend of project ratings and criteria developed by a panel of judges led by Jo Pearson, a winner will be chosen from each category and awarded a $100 Gift Card. The 2 weekly winners will be announced each week during the contest period for a total of 14 weekly winners (the “Weekly Winners”). Two Grand Prize Winners will be selected from the pool of Weekly Winners by the judging panel.
The judging panel will use the following criteria for determining the Weekly Winners and the Grand Prize Winners: 33% number and average of ratings, 33% the degree to which the project reflects the category, and 34%the creativity and ingenuity of the project itself. Ratings will be considered but will not be the sole factor in selecting winners.
I have to agree with Sherry’s comment. Looks to me like Michael’s Handmade Holiday contest is a publicity “gotcha”. The ratings don’t seem to matter at all and maybe aren’t even considered. I just looked at the newest (week 4) winners: One is a “JOY” plaque with 319 “4 snowmen” ratings, the other is a mistletoe scarf with 13… that’s right … thirteen “four snowmen” ratings!
I found fourteen entrants with over a thousand ratings, the leader has 27,000 ratings. The winners seem very arbitrary to me and I think Michaels should be ashamed. For my part, I promise to never shop Michaels again.
It does look like Michaels is picking weekly “winners” at random. Ratings appear to be ignored. And as far as I can tell, quality, creativity, originality … blah, blah … aren’t carefully considered either. After looking at week 3 and 4 winners, I am convinced my entering this contest has been a waste of time. If other folks who entered this contest are regular Michaels customers like me, I encourage them to voice their disgust about this contest to store managers as I plan to do tomorrow.
You are all right. Last night, Tuesday Dec 8, I was online trying to find out who the week 5 winner was going to be. Lo and behold, they chose someone who had just submitted her project! Week 5 submissions should have been those that came in from Monday November 30th, to Sunday, December 6th. The winner: “Holiday Party Jewelry” should have been considered in Week 6. Besides, they chose someone that at the time, it only had 16 ratings and there was no ingenuity at all in the necklace, as it was, in her own words, a REPLICA of a necklace. Where was the ingenuity part of the contest rules? And the approval ratings? I sent an email to Michaels, but I’m sure it will be dismissed. What makes this very disappointing, is that there are many real nice entries, with lots of ingenuity and beautiful craftsmanship, yet the ones that they have chosen so far are very simple and nothing to brag about. It’s too bad.. It surely looks like they are holding a dishonest contest. But then… It doesn’t surprise me anymore.. It’s becoming the norm in our country. Ethics, honesty and truth seemed to have disappeared.