Monday, March 24, 2008

Rats.

The contest is now closed.
You are late. We are sad.

Sit tight. Juding is starting.
Voting will be next.

And maybe a surprise or two.

(Hint hint - check out the Pets
page today.)

18 comments:

Holly said...

Did anyone else have issues uploading their art, or was it just my karma?

Holly

back_to_woodstock said...

Special message to Laughing Kitty on the Pets Contest--what you're doing and the speed and voracity at which you're doing it is statistically impossible, unless you've paid off Hallmark...

Haven't seen any cards with fishies, but I sure smell a fishy card! Glad my pet's not in this contest, but sorry my friend's is! Hope it's worth it!

Tsk, tsk.

rosy205 said...

back_to_woodstock, I think you said what a lot of us have been thinking! I don't know what she's doing, but she's getting A LOT of votes somehow, and it looks like she's going to dominate every mini contest now too. If it's in an honest and good sportsmanlike way, then more power to her, but I agree, something does smell fishy. Seems like it would be more fair if people could vote as many times per day as they wanted, instead of only once per day per email address. That gives everyone a fair shot. Just my opinion! In any case, it's been fun!

back_to_woodstock said...

Yep! Ever notice that if she's behind, within minutes she's on top again? I watched it happen last night, and I saw it happen during a night of insomnia at about 3 in the morning. Almost like she has something set to do it! I suppose there's a way around everything, but my friend and I have decided to quit voting for her own pet that's in the contest and throw all our support to whoever is right behind Laughing Kitty. Of course, it's not the poor kitty's fault...

She's poised to win all the contests and most likely will. Join us in our plight....

Take care, Rosy, and thanks for speaking up.

back_to_woodstock said...

Me again.

22% Laughing Kitty? Are you kidding me? You have taken the fun out of it for everyone at this point.

How 'bout some checks and balances Hallmark?

rosy205 said...

lol, I would love to join you and your friend in your plight, but I too am a finalist and I just can't bring myself not to vote for my baby. Even if he is gonna lose! :-(

judgy judgerson said...

We're on it. Been investigating for a few days now. Stay tuned.

Judgy

p.s. "Cheaters never win."

KC.TBone said...

Thanks for everyone's feedback. We're taking action to make sure the voting remains fair and are reviewing the votes cast to identify and delete votes that do not follow the rules. Part of this inolves a sign-in upgrade you'll see the next time you go to vote.

We're excited you're with us on this journey, going where no card company has gone before.

Go_Navy_1986 said...

THANK YOU!!! To the people who stood up and said something and to Hallmark for doing something.

Now it will be a legitimate instead of luring perfectly fine upstanding people to the dark side to try to keep up with that lady and her cat. Even though the cat is not to blame. It can't read or vote or do much more than lay there, bat its eyes, and lick itself.


Anyway, at the risk of sounding like an idiot--explain the verification. I mean--I get it. But, I voted, and I got three verification emails from Hallmark, to the same email address. And all it says it click here, and your vote will be cast. So, I clicked, and it takes me back to the contest--doens't say may vote was cast--so, I tried to vote again, thinking well, maybe that's what you're supposed to do.

And it says "Whoa there..." I'm not trying to slip in another vote--I'm just trying to make sure the vote I cast counted somewhere between the three validation emails I got in reply to that one email address.

And what if we have three or four perfectly legitimate email addresses we use? Two for work, one for one nationally recognized search engine, and one for another nationally recognized search engine. All are used every day; all have been active since long before the contest was announced.

So, why thee verification emails for my one email address and one vote? And how do I know my vote was actually cast? Sorry to be a bother, but I'm partial to one particular canine in the race. Is there somehwere else to click after I follow the link in the verification email?

Thank you for your patience and help. I am kind of techno-challenged.

Go_Navy_1986 said...

Oh shoot. I think I just figured it out. You have to re-vote after you cast your vote? So, when I vote, it shoots me the email, then vote again (after following the link), so to speak. So you're actually going through the motions of voting twice, and it registers the vote once?

Maybe you can put something to that effect on the email or on the paragraph where it says "you'll be getting a verification email?" Or on the site? Some of our friends and family who are voting aren't even as adept in internet as I am, and that's not saying much.

Just so they'll know they'll HAVE to follow that link, or it won't register their vote. You say it, but maybe say it a little more clearly. In large letters. (???)

dmiller said...

I, for one, would like to see the judges eliminate any finalist from the competition that has been found to be competing "less than honestly".

willij said...

I'll second that notion, dmiller!
Hopefully the voting will be fair and balanced now.
:-)

back_to_woodstock said...

Looks like that was done, but it does look like one contestant is making a speedy recovery, despite it all. I'm sure by early the week of the 6th that the original order will be restored. Like I said, I suppose there is a way around everything.

It's out of our hands, and that person is determined to win at all costs. If she wins and can look herself and/or the Hallmark staff in the eye on her trip out there, then more power to her. All I can say to that is karma is a b____, sister.

--------------------------------

So that being said, let's try to have some fun on our own.

This may be fun to talk about: If your own pet (or in my case my friend's pet) weren't competing, which one would you vote for, taking into consideration both the picture AND the sentiment expressed in or on it? I think they're all great, but I love Chocolate Love. Followed very closely by Cupcake Pawty and Sophia Inquires. It's a close tie for me.

rosy205 said...

back_to_woodstock, I knew you and I got along for a reason...Chocolate Love is my baby! :-) Thank you very much for the compliment. Aside from his card (obviously), I think my favorite is Hard of Hearing, followed by Rufus. Those are both pretty funny, and the pictures are priceless! Have a good day everyone, and happy voting!

back_to_woodstock said...

Awww. You're welcome. I tell ya--there are some great ones in this competition, minus one. And I should just get over it, really. I am just amazed at how quickly the climb back is for that one. She got knocked way down in the mini-contest--now she's right back up there, despite people who have sat in nearly the same spot for days and days. Must just sit in front of a computer all day or have one heck of a hacker on the payroll. Looks like she'd play it cool for a few days and lay low. She's just flipping the Hallmark people off at this point.

It'd be interesting to see how many hundreds of votes separate the percentage points and how many votes it takes to go up that many points. If that makes sense.

Enough stewing and spewing. We have better things to talk about.

Yeah--Rufus is too cute. He looks like a stuffed animal! And those Great Danes are Marmaduke-a-licious. Great stuff.

Give Trickey a treaty and a pat on the head.

dmiller said...

Thanks for the Sophia support!

If I weren't voting for her, it would have to be Rufus - he is so cute!

I was wondering what kind of press people have been getting? We've done print newspapers, press releases, online newspapers, blogs, and a radio interview has been setup - half of these my doing and half by people contacting me.

rosy205 said...

I've managed to get in a couple of local newspapers and I've posted the (customized) finalist seal all over my workplace. And of course I've recruited as many friends and family (and their friends and family) as possible. Plenty of people read the flyers and the articles...the hard part is actually getting them to vote and to KEEP voting! Good luck to you! :-)

KC.TBone said...

LOVE the PR outreach. Very impressive.

Wanted to close the loop on the voting topic. For each finalist’s sake and for each voter’s sake, please keep in mind that there are thousands of folks voting for the finalists. If anything funny goes on, we'll find it -- we have some very clever people trained to sniff out this stuff. To date, we haven't tied any funny business to any finalist, but our bloodhounds will keep on the trail to make sure things stay fair.

Please be kind to your fellow citizens. This is supposed to be fun. Trust us. And vote with confidence. We are here for you and for everyone - each entrant, finalist, voter and buyer - going on this journey with us.

Now, go have yourselves some fun. Keep spreading the good vibes!