wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Press and publicity... and no competitions please.
Richard Crowest 2005-Jul-16 18:14:00
Just a couple of quick thoughts in response to recent messages.
I ran a Google search on my name about a week ago (not an ego-trip,
honest! I was
checking for some out-of-date web pages that were still on a former
ISP's server...). It was
less than a week after the Water event (the first one in which I'd
taken part) was launched,
and the WWP photographer page and pano page were already the
highest-ranked items
(out of more than 70). Is someone at Berkeley sleeping with Google's
CEO, or does the web
just really like this project?!
One quick thought about the links to the translated versions of the
home page (and the
multilingual press releases) - shouldn't the language names be
written in their native form
(i.e. Deutsch rather than German, etc.)?
Finally, my two pennies' worth about ranking and competition - I'd
just like to back Landis
with a very firm "no thank you". I'm sorry if some people find
exploring the work on offer
to be boring and a waste of time, but I think a participatory event
like this one depends on
everyone being given equal exposure (even if the randomiser does seem
to favour Mr.
Bennett!). The likelihood of any given pano being given a high rating
by visitors to the site
depends on a lot more than the skill of the photographer and the
amount of time and
effort they expend on their contribution. The accessibility of
photogenic locations that are
applicable to the theme, the vagaries of the weather conditions at
the time, and the
contributor's ability to afford equipment and software all play a
major part. I don't think
any of these factors should prevent someone from getting their work
to a wide audience.
What might perhaps help people to find panos they'd find interesting
would be the
introduction of some sort of keyword system to the site (I'm sure
Markus could cope with
this, judging by the miracles he's performed so far...). That way, if
people were looking for
something a bit spectacular in the most recent event, for example,
they could search for
"waterfall" or "rapids" or something like that. Just a thought - but
please, no voting,
rankings or competition. That's too much like real life...
Richard