Very Special Request from everyone here.

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:54 am

A good friend sent me this today:

Quote:

Dear Friends (and I apologize in advance for this shameless spam),

It seems like our son, Juan Andrés, is a budding engineer. Last month, he entered a nationwide contest to build a creation using K'NEX toys. He submitted his creation called JUPITER EXPLORER TRUCK and he was selected as one of the 10 national semi-finalists in his age group!!! If he is selected as one of 3 finalists, he will win a $1,000 college scholarship and a free trip to New York City. To become a finalist, he needs your vote. Of the 10 semi-finalists, the 3 with the highest internet vote total will move to the next level, so we are asking for your vote. The voting process is very simple and will take less than 5 minutes. The deadline to vote is October 20, 2008 but get this -- you can vote once a day until then -- talk about "vote early and vote often"!! All you need to vote is a valid email address (work or personal - hint, hint, you can vote twice when you use both emails) and to follow the instructions below. If you can -- please vote once a day until October 20.

Please take 5 minutes of your time to vote for Juan Andres.
The deadline to vote is October 20, 2008.

Step 1) Click on this link

http://www.knex.com/club/knexpert_vote.php

Step 2) Select this entry "Juan Age 6, from CA, Model: Jupiter Explorer Truck"
(fifth top to bottom in the Step 1 Category 5-6 years old*).

3) Steps 2 and 3 - you need to vote for other 2 categories, just select any creation you like.

4) Step 4 please submit your email address** and type image code (you will be given this in a box for validation).

** Knex Terms and Conditions state that your email will only be used for
your vote and not for anything else.

Thank you very much!

I would consider it a personal favor if any Eater member helped my friend and voted for his son Juan Andrés. Thank you very much.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:10 am

I wanna talk to Juan Age 6, must be a professional baiter gettting you to bait us Laughing

done

Nope I'm going around and around next step next step Question

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:23 am

I voted, but the jetpack was way more kickass than the Explorer, no offense.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:54 am

Another vote locked and loaded.

It's great seeing kids using their imagination Smile

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 689

and yet another bunch of kids learn that the only way to win is by cheating and not by being the best.

Sorry I don't agree with this kind of thing. Just my opinion.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:19 am

Unfortunatley that's the way many competitions are run these days. They are promotionally driven all that big brother crap etc. However I took the time to look at the other five and I thought this one had done a little more work. I wouldn't have voted otherwise Wink

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:18 am

And what if the other entrants are doing the same? The winner will be the one who organises the biggest spam campaign.
He may deserve to win, but I won't be taking part.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:18 am

Done!

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:38 am

Quote:

The winner will be the one who organises the biggest spam campaign

That's possibly correct ? No way of knowing really. Although it's not spam if the recipient expects it.
It's sad that a simple kids competition can be set up in this way.
I would rather see merit. However when you think about it, this competition is for six - ten year olds. How many may have had help from Dad or Mum. Or cousin Kev the 23 year old that still poops his pants. We will never know
It's all a mute point. The op only asked us have a look.
you can choose to vote whatever way you please or not to.
I love the idea of kids having a go.

Does any one here remember what the name of the wooden assembly stuff was circa 1968. I have fond memories. Mechano was great also.Then along came lego. That was my brothers era.

If any one is interested I'll start an old toys thread. It might be fun.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:37 pm

I'm not going to be petty and whine about this. I voted for you friend 3strikes.

If you don't want to vote, don't vote. Don't be so pompous that you don't think you would not ask your friends to vote for you or your child if the situation arose. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:43 pm

I voted for your friend too.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:07 pm

I agree with JoJo an YW and and I voted for your friend. besides I thought it was cool.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

Done.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:30 pm

Done.
Nice to get a good deed out of the way early. Back to wreaking havoc!

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:32 pm

Dude, Jupiter is mostly gas, with a rocky core, so the explorer truck would sink...

(But someone did point out to me at the weekend that I'm an 'argumentative sod')

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2008 Posts: 1

Good morning everyone and thanks for the replies and support. I am the father of the child who entered the contest. My original email was sent to family and friends only. It was one of these friends who offered to post a thread on this forum for which I am grateful. I would like to also thank those people who have already voted on our behalf. In addition, I would like to address some additional concerns.

1) Jet pack - to the person who thought the Jet Pack was cooler, by all means, you should go vote for that creation. That kid also did lots of work and used his imagination. You can vote once a day through the same email, so bu all means if you feel he deserves it, go back and vote for him tomorrow.

2) Assistance on the creation -- neither Dad, Mom, older sibling, cousin or anyone else helped our son with his creation. Actually, he had been working with these toys for months and we were amazed at the things he would make up on his own. We encouraged him to create something special for the competition and the creation is all his own and we are proud of him for it.

3) Email/internet competitions -- I agree that this is not the optimal way to run a competition, especially among kids. Obviously, every kid's parents is probably doing the same thing. However, we are also trying to teach our son another lesson from this. It's not a lesson about cheating -- massive and illicit spam to get out the vote or misuse of email. Rather, it's about friends, networking, hard work and treating people with respect. We are trying to show him that when you have friends and treat people well, they will reach out and help you when you ask for it. The reverse is also true that when your friends need you, you should also lend a hand to help. I have been working with our son to show him who are the people that are voting and why they are helping us. It's a bit of a difficult lesson to impart on a youngster at this age but we are trying.

Anyway, thanks to those who voted, we appreciate your support.

3 quick postscripts.

1) The wooden toys we had as kids were "tinker toys".
2) As to Jupiter being mostly gas and that our Explorer would sink, I don't think that would be too terrible. What you can't see from the photos is that the Explorer has lights that blink and flash. So if the gas is dense enough and the Explorer sinks slowly, we might be able to still see those lights before it disappears.
3) Full disclosure, as parents we did help some. Getting the photos nicely done, submitting the application on the web and editing his explanation of what his creation is and how he made it. We corrected spelling and grammer, but it was his work. This is something that only the selection committee see. I will note, we were totally excited to be chosen on the 10 semi-finalists. I don't know how those selections were made nor how many other kids sent in desings.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:23 pm

jojobean wrote:

you would not ask your friends to vote for you or your child if the situation arose. Rolling Eyes

I would, but this goes much further.Voting with every every email address you have, every day for five days? And soliciting votes on this forum and possibly others?

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:33 pm

You guys owe me.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Well.
I voted
I looked at the entries then voted for the one I knew about, much the same way as most elections go, or phone votes on tv a show ie, pop x factor celebrity cook dancing in the jungle, on ice.

The pressure would crush anything attempting to land on Jupiter but could send off lots of info before being squished. Go for it!

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 5:29 pm

Voted....Juan had a very good PR campaign =)

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:19 pm

Thank you everyone!

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:34 pm

~ Mr Tambourine Man,

C'mon........if it bothers you, don't vote.

Vote submitted for Juan.

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

Not to put on my tinfoil hat, but perhaps it's best we not link to RL activities that could be traced back to us or others?

I have plenty of other forums that I post/troll I am active in, but wouldn't ever link to for fear of losing my anonomyous-ness.

Anyway, I voted, and I hope the little guy wins. I was partial to Legos as a child. Many a day spend building a kick ass car then launching it down the stairwell. My parents frowned upon this, but I loved it!

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:00 pm

Done! Hope he wins.

Very Happy

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:15 pm

Voted.

I thought the skateboards in the next category were incredible, maybe not as imaginative as some of the other entries but requiring certain skill to make the toy look so realistic.

Very Special Request from everyone here.	View next topic View previous topic