Promotions & raffles & auctions, oh my!

[Coxwell]

I'm seeing a lot of contests lately, I'm curious about if they're positive or negative for the industry.
Just fun, smart marketing or desperation? Maybe a bit of all three? :dontknow:

Looking for comments from the gentlemen and ladies here - tboy as well. :wink:

 

[Percy]

On this site or other sites as well?.

 

[Swagger]

On this site or other sites as well?.

So can you name without getting banned?.

 

[Curly]

I'll take the deal :music:

Who is giving it?.

 

[Wise Guy]

I'll take the deal :music:

Who is giving it?.

Coxwell has gone to bed?.

 

[Coxwell]

I guess nobody has an opinion on them, either positive or negative.

I was just curious about opinions in general, doesn't matter where they are.

 

[Shock The Monkey]

I believe that if you have the right marketing plan you will succeed. Via promotions, auctions etc. It's a dog eat dog world we live in. The more exposure you have it is always better for the sale.

 

[RAWD]

Contests and giveaways have definitely become more common lately, and HUBGFE has been a major impetus for the change.

As a general maxim, Mr. Monkey is absolutely right. But, this isn't necessarily like any other business.

An argument could be made that responsible advertising is necessary, much like for gambling, tobacco and alcohol. Sex is, after all, a vice.

The major downside I see (besides encouraging hobbying amongst those who may not be well-suited for it) is that contests require the winners to forfeit their anonymity.

Discretion and privacy is key part of this hobby. Those values seem to have been lost, much like in general society. Part of it is because hobbying is more open and "socially "acceptable". But I suspect also because many guys haven't thought through the consequences of being open about their hobbying. Also, to state the obvious, losing your anonymity not very conducive to writing frank and critical reviews of bad providers. The integrity of review boards thus suffer.

 

[Coxwell]

Good points I hadn't considered, Rawd.

I suppose you could wait a bit before reviewing to throw them off the trail. If you won a prize you'd tend to give a more positive review, it would be bad form to give a negative one.
The boards are already tainted this way with the parties, but they also bring the community together which is an overall positive thing.

What about the differences between raffles, auctions and contests? Is one more positive than the other or is it just a matter of semantics?

 

[RAWD]

What about the differences between raffles, auctions and contests? Is one more positive than the other or is it just a matter of semantics?

"Contest" is generic, but by definition implies some requirement of skill. Perhaps puzzle solving or essay. As I recall, SRM used to run contests for guys to write profile descriptions of its attendants. Best profile (as chosen by management) wins. MUSE ran a contest a while back involving a scavenger hunt to look for clues that would spell out a word. First correct submission won. These were fun and certainly brought attention to the spas.

An auction implies bidding and paying for something.

A raffle is/should be strictly by chance. Then you have variants like Muse's love of "silent raffles" which still baffles me. It sounds more to me like a series of mini raffles or draws for individual prizes (as opposed to a series of draws from the same pool as in a conventional raffle, say at a golf tournament). They probably have it confused with a "silent auction", because that's how they are set up.


No doubt that the sense of community is a good thing. I've noticed more and more guys just getting together informally to chat. Naturally, it's not all about pooning. We're generally very well-rounded and interesting people.

Yet, (and I hate to be a negative nelly here...again)...the risk of hanging around like minds is the danger of slipping into the mentality that "this" is "normal". Maybe it is for us, but it generally isn't for the vast majority of society. Groupthink can be dangerous.

 

[Coxwell]

The major downside I see (besides encouraging hobbying amongst those who may not be well-suited for it) is that contests require the winners to forfeit their anonymity.

Another downside is that the escort may not wish to see the winner and bad feelings could ensue.