COTM–question?

[Folk Trakers]

Winning COTM, in my mind, is a great honor, signifying a very unique, difficult, or different kind of cache that interested and intrigued the visitors. Maybe I’m a purist when I think about voting for COTM, but I’ve been confused by the last two winning caches.

Both of the last two winners hadn’t been visited in 2 months or more before their winning month. The March winner has only been visited once in the last 4 months. I have not yet visited either of these caches, and this post is not intended in any way to
say that they are not deserving of the award, but I’m wondering who is really voting for these caches. Is there a mechanism in place that the WGA admin checks to see if the nominators/voters actually visited the caches?

Just a curious soul here!

[This message has been edited by Folk Trakers (edited 04-01-2004).]

[pharmteam]

Thanks for opening this thread. I have wondered about this and noted the same sort of things, for quite awhile. We only vote for caches we have visited during the month. While we are at it, how do other teams handle it if all team members don’t agree on which cache to vote for during the month? Any way to enter two votes or does the program not check anyway?

[wzbt03]

COTM while an honor is a less then perfect system to begin with as very few cachers (none for that matter) have visited all the caches in Wisconsin.
There is also very few people who vote each month in the process.
Since the last two months were mentioned, I know that in February when Kimgs Ransom won the award, I was one of the ones to vote for it and have voted for it more then once in the months prior to its winning. I have talked with others who have done the same. It not only deserves the award but was also worth my vote a few months after I visited the cache.
The March cache, Mystery of the Trolls Treasure, was mine and I can assure you that I did not call up all my relatives and have them vote for it, in fact none of them have tried it yet. I have no idea who voted for it and those that did, thanks. I personally voted for Goosey XXII by Natloh2, which I feel should have won the honor and have before and may again.
I have done quite a few COTM’s ,probably more then most, and agree that they all deserve the recognition for one reason or another but some of the very best caches never earn the honor.
I generally will seek out a COTM if I am in the area caching to see why others recommended and voted for it.
I don’t think there is anyone out there that can say that their cache is better then anyone elses and it amazes me that some of our best cache placers have not won the award even though they have many caches that deserve it.
So to answer the question “Is the system rigged” – I highly doubt it. Can any cache win – you bet.
So before anyone starts questioning the process, try out the COTM’s that have won and compare them for yourself. You might just decide like I did that someone else has one you would like to vote for this month, even if you have done it in the past.

[Folk Trakers]

quote:

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Originally posted by wzbt03:
Since the last two months were mentioned, I know that in February when Kimgs Ransom won the award, I was one of the ones to vote for it and have voted for it more then once in the months prior to its winning. I have talked with others who have done the same.

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This is what we are questioning…Do others vote for caches that they did months ago?
Does that mean that we could vote for the 2003 campout today because it was just that good and deserved to win?

It not only deserves the award but was also worth my vote…

We are not questioning if the cache deserved COTM…IMHO there are alot of caches that deserve to win but only 12 months in the year!

I don’t think there is anyone out there that can say that their cache is better then anyone elses and it amazes me that some of our best cache placers have not won the award even though they have many caches that deserve it.

We can’t agree more…

So to answer the question “Is the system rigged” – I highly doubt it.

I’m sorry if you took it that way but I do not think anyone asked that! It was not implied either, sorry for the confusion.

quote:

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So before anyone starts questioning the process, try out the COTM’s that have won and compare them for yourself. You might just decide like I did that someone else has one you would like to vote for this month, even if you have done it in the past.

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We have done a few of COTM winners and agree that they all deserved the title…once again we ask what is the time frame that groups use to select their choice…how far back do you go to say that ‘this cache deserves COTM for April even though I did it back in November?’
Things can change in the time between when the last person (or you) had done the cache. We try to only select caches we have done in the past month…this way we are sure that the cache itself is still in good condition.

[Ms. WISearcher]

I thought I would toss my .02 in the mix here.

So often when caches are nominated for COTM I haven’t done them…so either I nominate one, or I just chose not to vote for that month.

I hadn’t done the Feb cache of the month until after it had won the award (and quite deserving of the award it was…I say do it if you can…very fun!) so obviously I hadn’t voted for it…but it was worthy.

March’s winner was a great cache also worthy of the honor…

I realize no one is saying that these caches aren’t worth the honor that they received here and are just bringing up a topic of conversation.

I would hope that there isn’t an “expiration date” on when a cache can be voted on— or due to the concentration of cachers, a Madison (you could imput Superior, Eau Claire, Wausau, Steven’s Point, etc in place of Madison) area cache would have little chance of becoming COTM…and there are MANY very worthy caches in the area…it is just that there aren’t as many cachers to vote for them. Given time…and timing…one might get the award some day.

COTM shouldn’t be a popularity contest(I am not implying that anyone has said this), but rather a kudo for a job well done on placing a great cache. I applaud all winners (and nominees and hope to get out and complete a few more of the previous winners!!!
happy caching-
Ms. WISearcher

[RangerBoy]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cathunter:
Lack of voters also seems to have a great effect on the results.

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This is what I noticed too, election turnout is very low for these things. Often they seem neck and neck with maybe 2 votes each, then someone casts the last vote and tips it to the winner.

Maybe the state should be divided into regions too. Someone way up north probably doesn’t visit south eastern caches on a regular basis.

[GrouseTales]

Great discussions here. Obviously the COTM could use improvement. There are basically three rules for COTM: 1- don’t nominate your own cache, 2- vote once, 3- a cache can only win once.

There are no rules that say you can only vote for a cache you visited that month. No rules to say you need to have found the cache you’re voting for.

While COTM is certainly an honor, in reality, it’s not that prestigious when you win with 3 votes when the other cache got 2 votes. In general there seems to be a lack of interest in voting for COTM.

Perhaps the low amount of votes is based on individuals perception of the rules. They may think they had to visit that cache in that certain month in order to vote. Subsequently they don’t vote.

Personally I don’t see a COTM winner as being the best cache in “July”, but rather the winner of 1/12th of the year. The year presents 12 winners which get the chance to be voted on for Cache Of The Year. I think the Year end winner is the prestigious award.

In the past I have voted for caches that I’ve never even found. There are many things that make a great cache. I may vote for one that had an outstanding webpage and not just a cookie cutter cache page.

If we start creating additional rules about when you visit and when allowed to vote, someone will have to manually check all the voter’s log entries. It would take someone a lot of time to verify all the votes. I don’t think the need justifies the extensive work it creates.

I just seems to me that there is a general lack of interest in COTM.

[This message has been edited by GrouseTales (edited 04-02-2004).]

[kbraband]

I make it a point to place my vote each month for a COTM. Usually I have not been to any of the nominated caches so I simply nominate and vote for my favorite cache that has not yet received the award. Sometimes this means I vote for the same cache month after month and I am the only one who votes for it. But that’s fine. If every WGA member placed a vote every month, the COTM process would be a lot stronger and would mean more.

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