Blogging With Integrity: Entering Competitions
Please note, these are my opinions about Entering Competitions!
The integrity of entering a competition should start with the organizers and end with your fellow bloggers but do not expect this to be the reality. In reality, the only person who can guarantee the integrity involved with your entry, is you. It is up to you to maintain your ethics when you enter a competition.
Any of the following can happen when you enter a competition:
- your recipe can be copied
- deadlines can be broken
- organizer’s might not adhere to their own terms and conditions
- competitors might not be disqualified even if they break the rules
- rules might be changed during the duration of the competition
- competitors might use provided content in their entries
- the organizers might fail to meet their end of the deal
- prizes can be changed midway through the competition
I have not been ‘turned off’ entering competitions but it dismays me when the goal posts are shifted. Competitions take a lot of hard work in my opinion. To that end, keep in mind the following when you enter a competition:
- you are developing recipes for the competition
- the sponsor is getting free ‘airtime’ on your blog
- for most competitions there is no compensation for the blogger
- your entry will cost you both the ingredients and the time it takes to develop the recipe and write the blog post
There is a lot to think about when entering a competition but for me I know it is all about maintaining my integrity. I would rather lose with my head held high, than win!
What I blogged:
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- one year ago – My Fynbos Garden
This is so true, and we seldom take all this into consideration
Very seldom indeed!
I think this is really a topic worthy of discussing and applies not just to competitions but to blogging in general! There are far too many blogs out there who don’t cite sources correctly or who blatantly steal other people’s work without a second thought!
I am going to work on more topics for this Joanne, and will definitely work on copyright issues again 🙂
I’ve never entered such a competition but this was really good to know. Thanks, Tandy!
my pleasure Squishy 🙂
So sad that these things happen Tandy.
🙂 Mandy xo
very sad indeed!
I’ve had a few PR emails about recipe development competitions – usually you seem to have to sign away all your rights, as well as including links back to the sponsor (some of them even have the gall to demand ‘follow’ links in the T&Cs!), so I haven’t been tempted yet. I’ve done a couple from a wine PR company that have sent me bottles of wine to sample, they had sensible terms and also provided the wine! 😉
I think that anything done with integrity is good – but PR companies should be aware that they cannot get away with demanding terms that show a lack of integrity 🙂
Bravo – these things need to be spoken about.
thank you Sally!