Another Contest Vivant - to WIN Reseach Money!!

[Sasha]

At this point, WPI is about 1,000 votes behind their regional leader and the CAA is about 3,000 votes behind theirs. On that basis, I think that the WPI has the best chance of winning. I also have the impression that WPI are more popular than the CAA on Phoenix Rising and that it will be easier to get support for them. I agree it would be a disaster to split the vote.

SpecialK, I wondered if you wanted to edit the opening message in this thread to reflect that people can only vote for one charity a day and that the WPI are also available to vote for (maybe putting the above figures and arguments in, if you agree)? I'm thinking that people might just read the first message on the thread, vote for CAA and then read on and wish that they had voted for WPI.

 

[shannah]

Well with only 41 votes so far, WPI is sitting in 17th place. Did someone say the top 20 in each division goes on to the next round?

 

[helen41]

we're doing well, given that WPI only came on live this morning! 17th place!

 

[SpecialK82]

We can win more money!

It looks like we can only "endorse" one charity per day, the top 20 endorsed charities from each region then go on to the voting phase.

However, in the voting phase - we can vote for one charity per region per day! So if we can get a charity in the top 20 endorsements for each region - we have the potential of winning $100,000 for each region winner with the exception of the top winner who receives $250,000.

So, if we can get all CFS charites endorsed in each region - we have the potential of winning $650,000 for CFS!!

Honestly it looks way easy to get into the top 20 in each region.

WPI (pacific) is already 10th and started yesterday
CAA (eastern) is 25th (only 26 endorsements from 20th place)
National ME/Action Network (Canada) is at 9th currently and started yesterday

 

[helen41]

SpecialK, I'm not sure you are correct. According to the FAQ
"When can I vote for the charity I think is the top local charity?
The voting will begin on June 14, 2011 and continue through August 27, 2011.

Can I vote for more than one charity during the voting phase?
You can vote for one charity per day."

One thing I did see in the rules though that I don't think was addressed, is that during the vote phase they will match donations dollar for dollar up to $2500 for each charity. The top prize in the contest is $250,000, but there will also be a $100,000 prize for the top in each region. So far, it still looks like WPI might be our best focus.

 

[SpecialK82]

Helen - I see where it says under the rules that you can only vote for one charity per day, however, if you look at "about" on the main top menu bar it summarizes each step and I am pasting this right from the website:

June 14 - August 27
Phase II: Voting
During Phase II, you can no longer nominate charities. However, you can vote for one charity per region per day. The charity that has earned the most overall votes will then be awarded $250,000. The remaining charities that earn the most from each of the regions will each receive a $100,000 donation.

So it's a discrepency. I found a email on the site tcoleman@vivant.com and will ask him to clarify. Thanks for pointing this out - I hope we can vote for each region, wouldn't that be great!

 

[helen41]

I see. that would be great if that is the case. Then we really need to find candidates for the other 2 regions (mountain and central). Anybody? It doesn't have to be the best choice, it just has to be one. It only takes 5 minutes to nominate.
looking at the numbers, WPI looks pretty solid right now to be in the top 20 for voting, at about 100 votes above the 20th spot. I'm going to start rotating my daily vote requests to see if we can get the other 2 a bit higher in the rankings while we wait to hear whether we are picking one cause or can vote on all of them

 

[helen41]

I went ahead and nominated the Rocky Mountain ME/CFS and FM assoc for the mountain region. Eric had 3 suggestions for the central region? would someone else choose and nominate? I'm feeling really pushy....

 

[SpecialK82]

Thanks Helen for going ahead and nominating Rocky Mountain ME/CFS! It make sense to go ahead and get these other regions set up in case we can vote for each one, that will save us the 24 hour nominating period later. I will look at the central charities mentioned but I hope others will chime in also.

 

[Sasha]

Bumping...

Here's the link to endorse WPI again. When I clicked on "endorse" the page just hung for me but I hope that when I get back later it will be fine.

ETA: I went back ten minutes later and endorsed with no problem - just a temporary glitch.

 

[eric_s]

I would nominate the IACFS/ME, as i've said yesterday in my pm. They are an important organisation and can make an impact, the other 2 are more local.

 

[shannah]

There is a FB 'Event' you can sign onto that will send out daily reminders to vote for those of us with memory difficulties.

Voting 4 Grants (WPI)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=121179681298558

Simply click on 'Attending'. It's set up for WPI.

 

[helen41]

Eric, would you go ahead and do that that nomination? I don't want to do 3 in a row...some people have reported trouble logging in with Firefox. Internet explorer seems to go without a hitch

 

[SpecialK82]

I just nominated IACFS/ME. It was kind of weird though, after I hit the submit button the screen went blank so I hope that it went. Did that happen to you helen?

 

[helen41]

yes, both times, and I know the first one went thru. So, now we're ready, whatever the answer is....

 

[caledonia]

I can't log in with Firefox. The Facebook icon/login doesn't show up. I can log in with Safari, but once I get to the WPI page to vote/endorse, the page keeps loading and reloading and I can't endorse. Very weird and buggy.

 

[Sasha]

I can't log in with Firefox. The Facebook icon/login doesn't show up. I can log in with Safari, but once I get to the WPI page to vote/endorse, the page keeps loading and reloading and I can't endorse. Very weird and buggy.

Hi Caledonia - I have Firefox and noticed this morning that the Facebook login appeared and disappeared very quickly (because I had never logged out, I think). I kept clicking on "endorse" and it just kept hanging but it was OK when I went back about half an hour later. Maybe the problem will resolve itself (always my hope for anything computer-related!).

 

[helen41]

I have now heard of 4 people having trouble with firefox. I'll send tham an email, hopefully it can be rectified. I'm excited about this contest- it seems to be under the radar, which is great!

 

[Sasha]

I have now heard of 4 people having trouble with firefox. I'll send tham an email, hopefully it can be rectified. I'm excited about this contest- it seems to be under the radar, which is great!

Thanks, Helen - and you're right, the great tons of money on offer appear to be largely invisible to other charities so we could be well in! Once the Chase contest is finished on Wednesday we can give this a much bigger push.

 

[eric_s]

Thanks all, i was away for the afternoon and evening. Yes, it would be great if we can win some more free money for ME/CFS charities...