+ 2 Sponsorship Incentives
Currently there is no incentive for a source to help a user out by sponsoring them in any contest. The EBC is in the forefront of my mind but I know TREAD has been brainstorming on some karate kid contest too. As well as outside contests.
Right now the system is set up that every EBC a wave of cocky users hit's their favorite source or throws a hail mary at the top 20 sources hoping someone will respond. This is where things are broke for the Source, and one of three scenarios exist:
- The contestant is a customer and if the source says no then they potentially lose a customer
- The contestant is a customer and the source says yes, sponsors them and gives them gear
- The contestant isn't a customer, the source always says no thus loses a potential customer
Those are all losing propositions for a source. The only possible good outcome is #2 and the best a source can hope for there is that the contestant finishes, so ultimately there is no return on their investment. It doesn't matter if the contestant wins, loses, or doesn't even finish the only return that the source gets is that little spot on the EBC that says who's gear the entrant is using and they would get that anyway even if the user paid for their own gear.
If you say that the sponsor has bragging rights and the winner is displayed and promoted I challenge you to think back the very last EBC, consider the top 5 contestants and try to remember which of them were sponsored and by whom. For 95% of the users (IMO) that is impossible without investigating.
And then we have contestants that get sponsored and don't finish. That makes a source really want to sponsor again. I believe we need to come up with ways to make this more attractive to sources. I believe we need to hang a shame tag on someone that gets a sponsorship but doesn't finish. If you open any BB magazine you will find people representing everything form protein to tampons, and why? Because that source paid something on their behalf.
So.......what can we do to make this a win win situation for all involved. How can we incentivize sponsorship and discourage dropout? Can we give the sponsors a banner for the length of the contest? can we give them some 10 votes? can we put their company name across the corner of the contestants avi and subsequent contestant pics? It's a review site and as such I think that people who buy gear would be interested to see the potential impact that gear can make.
As far as discouraging dropout, can we get a shame tag? a red X across their AVI, a blacklist of names that can never be considered for sponsorship, how can we make a way that emphatically says to a sponsored dropout that what they are doing is NOT ok?
If nothing is done then it is only a matter of time before the practice is forbidden. That doesn't mean it'll go away, it'll still happen through email and text. So lets help keep it above board and make it a win-win situation for all involved.
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There are some good ideas on bettering the relationship between a sponsor and a contestant below. This thought doesn't propose anything for that type of relationship. Instead of just focusing on sponsoring specific contestants, could a SRC sponsor the EBC, the event? To some degree this already happens since SRCs donate the prizes but there could be other ways to sponsor the competition as well. Are there services that a SRC could donate to the EBC? As the challenge gains in popularity and grows, might there be needs for financial sponsorship?
A good reason to sponsor the event is advertising. Its the same reason any other bodybuilding competitions use sponsors. If nothing else, banner ads can be made for the EBC with each sponsor listed on the banners. Model the banners after ones commonly seen at any sponsored sporting event. Doesn't BFG need something to put in those empty ad spaces anyway? This type of advertizing will also help the 'up-and-coming' SRCs who don't have the constant exposure being in the top 10. By being an EBC sponsor the SRC gets the exposure from the contest advertising.
Just a thought I had.
angusThis is a cut/paste from a source from PM. He told me it was ok to paste this. And it is 3 different levels of sponsorship, I thought it was interesting:
I thought that was interesting because option B is a very viable way for a source to benefit from this whole sponsorship. They would make a sale they might necessarily not do, it would increase EBC contestants and create a positive spin on things. very interesting.
AnonFirst let me preface this by stating this is just my own personal opinion and I only speak for myself. This competition is Treads and Big's. Tread's vision is ultimately where the EBC will go. This is merely my take
Angus I have so much respect for you and all you contribute as a member. I also appreciate you wanting to help fix what is so irritating to read on the Main EBC page. But brother there's always going to be flaws. 2 yrs ago Kai Greene beat phil hands down in the Olympia. He lost regardless because he did some gay porn and fucked a grapefruit. Period. He came in better conditioned more massive. Everything was better. Phil knew it. We knew it. But again there are these little things called flaws. For KAI fucking a grapefruit is one the Olympia would never forget.
For the EBC it's the Sponsorship peddling. It's the refusal to cooperate and fulfill obligations by the winners. It's folks getting sponsorships without ever having proven themselves to be a commodity worth investing in and ultimately doing what most unproven commodities do. They crash. Just like the stock market if these SRC's want to invest in unproven commodities by all means knock yourselves out. But they better do some research first. You better know something no one else does. Honestly I don't mind either way. Poor investments or poor performances. None of that concerns me. Just keep the contest fair and clean because we love to share this competition with the Ladies. Don't bring your drama to the Main Page. No Prostitution for Free Gear allowed on the main page. If contestants wanna suck a SRC off to get a free cycle to run in the contest knock yourself out. If they offer up their wives for sexual favors for free gear to run in this comp knock yourselves out. None of that matters. Just keep it off Treads MAIN EBC Page.
This competition has evolved. From being about showcasing the quality of a SRC's gear to now. showcasing a contestants ability to lay it all out on the line. To put themselves through hell and make it out standing alive and proud. I'll be honest SRCS have ZERO to do with that. They can send them free gear but they can't send them HEART. We no longer need to prove Src's quality by way of competition. We post so many blood tests and Mass Spec tests that ultimately prove their Quality far more efficiently. So I don't buy all the talk about Showcasing Src's quality. As long as you have proven legit gear it is the COMPETITORS who deserve all of the showcasing. Its the contestants who put their Bodies Hearts and Souls on the line. Srcs have zero to do with that.
Also, I'll be honest the only Sources who deserve showcasing is the Src's who donate prizes. We showcase them by asking every single winner to post pix of their prizes. To review and rate them accordingly. These Src's also get a guaranteed 10star vote from Admin for delivering these prizes. In my experience that free vote means a LOT to a Src. Some of our regular Src's who I cannot mention but we all know who our regulars are, they do it cuz they love EROIDS. Those dudes n Grrls deserve our respect and gratitude. They will always be at the top of my list of Src's who I send members to. Why? Cuz they are men and women of their word. I don't have to track them down on their SI pages. I don't have to send PM's reminding them of their pledges. They will always be golden in my book for that.
So what to do about the peddling posted all the time on the Main EBC page? I'm down to ridicule and torment them verbally or give TROLL tags to these beggars who post their "I'll suck your dick" for gear posts on the MAIN EBC PAGE before I'd ever consider agreeing to make "Sponsorships" a permanent part of the organizational structure of the EBC. Sponsor or no sponsor if you have heart, know how, willingness to fail then you will always have a place in the EBC. That's just my opinion and I only speak for myself.
angusYou guys have a really good thing going CD, and IDK that anyone is going to improve on it but I thought maybe we might come up with a few ideas that could be explored. I try to be positive and see the glass as half full as much as I can.
Big thanks to you and TREAD for even making this discussion possible.
one of the issues I've seen with the EBC is contestants running multiple SRC's gear which does not give a fair assessmment to any of them
maybe contestants post "before" pics and allow SRC's to pick a horse, they choose in order of where they are on the donation list i.e. first src to donate gets to choose first etc...
must be LVL1 or above to enter- shows you are (in theory) a contributor to the board
now those who wish to enter with gear they already bought (I know, crazy, huh?) well so be it... but I do think in all fairness to the SRC's that a single src/gear requirement should be instituded
and I believe the 10star is already in place
angusI would love to see a friendly head-to-head showdown in the ARENA between two sources. How cool would that be? two or more sources pick an EBC contestant, square off where all the users can see it and explain what their contestant is running, why they are running it, and what the expected outcome is. I think it would be amazingly beneficial and people would learn a lot. Of course it would be dependent on if the contestant wanted to be sponsored but what an amazing idea! The source with the biggest value of prize got to pick first. All the shit talking could happen on the Source2source board. Lots of potential for that, awesome.
I also agree with the one entrant, one source statement. If the source doesnt' carry what the contestant needs then they have to go without. Makes it more interesting. All good stuff here.
I know the 10star was in place, I was just trying to get the ideas flowing with examples.
Bro if these guys want sponsorship through a "donated cycle" and then want to complain about it then they should have bought there own cycle in the first place (Bunch of FUCKNUTS would be complaining too!) LOL
AnonEvery time I see guys peddle for free gear or as I like to call it BEGGING I think of them like this guy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYoUGkQJI64
I think the sources should give incentive to the contestant, not directly sponser. So if a contestant uses a sources gear, does well, and shows the quality of the sources gear and their hard work(bc that's what the ebc was originally for, to show the quality of sources) then the source could sen them a little pack for their efforts. So IMO the approach should be..."hey source, I've invested in your gear for the ebc...keep your eyes on me ill be showing progress and demonstrating the quality of your products. If you like what you see anddetermine that I represented you well can you throw me a couple bottles for my next cycle"
Anonisn't the $25,000 worth of gear donated each EBC incentive enough?
Angus asked me to comment here which is why im putting in my .02. I've been asked by a shitload of people, i'd say 20+ so far - the strange thing is, go look at how many people are actually registered for the competition. I said it in another post that Carlos made that I would hands on coach someone and dedicate my time and materials to helping them win.. I think in the past too many people not finishing, not giving the sources proper credit have shyed them away from giving out "sponsorships"
AnonBrother I have to remind guys to even post pics of their winnings. Some guys got the right idea about the EBC. Most don't. Besides free gear won't make u a champ. HotPinkGurl wiped the floor with some of the baddest dudes here running what, Var only or something! Heart wins the EBC. Not free gear. Guys need to get a frickin clue. No amount of free gear will give them any more heart then they had yesterday.
Anonif you recall, I was her sponsor. I have a knack for hen people are truly deserve and will properly represent me.. but its funny because in the source section we can see people who just copy and paste the same message to 15 different sources. I've seen a lot of sources give out full sponsorships for the EBC and you never hear 1 thing about it.. I know you and tread have made the EBC a valid attempt to showcase sources and making sure people give proper credit, and I thank you for that.
Give them a vote if you find it helpful.PermalinkangusI agree you that it is the person, not the gear.
My intention was not to increase the begging, merely to see if we could create a more meaningful relationship between source and EBC contestant. We've heard the argument for stopping the practice all together, now I'm just trying to generate ideas to improve it. I'm sure the ideas won't be adopted, it's just brainstorming.
I wanted your opinion on the matter, I consider it a valuable one. Thank you. I think you and Muta see it the same way. I think that we either do away with it all together or make it more valuable to the sources. That is just my humble opinion.
I'm actually in full agreement with you...angus asked for people to propose an alternative. My proposal tries to eliminate people not giving proper credit and not finishing, and actually eliminates sponsorships. I actually don't agree with sponsorships for the ebc. I have never asked for a sponsorship and I never will. Some people may be approached by a source and that is thir prerogative to accept it or not. I appreciate your contribution to the ebc as well as all the other sources. The prize pool certainly is great incentive but I would do this if it was just to show the quality of the sources gear I'm using. I love competition and I love to talk shit. It's a great way to keep me focused in the off season as well
angusI love that idea. That makes every single person a potential winner of something tangible in the EBC!
X2 - The contestant is in sort being a publicity product for a source. So a courtesy, 'Thank You', pack to reward the individual for their effort, VERY nice idea. +1 Karma for the idea.
That shame tag sounds like a really good idea actually. I know if I were a source and sent out tons of free gear I'd be pretty damn mad if the person I sponsored didn't finish
well if they didnt finish it could be due to family issues or unrelated issues to bodybuilding. for example if a sponsored entrant has a family member die so he stops the EBC, does he still diverse a red X or to be black listed? i dont think so.
and the people who got lazy so they didnt finish, they could easily lie and say something like this to prevent them selves being black listed.
i agree though, sources should get more from sponsoring customers.
angusYou are being part of the problem and not part of the solution. I want people to come on here and give ideas that benefit the site and it's users without fear that someone will look at their ideas and start shooting holes in them. Do you have anything positive to say that we could expand on?
What if they did get the shame tag the only way it could be removed is pay the source back for what he provided the contestant
angusGood stuff! +2