$$$ for WPI vote daily now in Vivint Round 2!

[helen41]

FYI the charities had to do work to set up the paypal. Nightingale did not make the effort to do this. It appears they have minimal interest in this contest from information I've heard via Vivint. As such, I'd recommend you support IACFSME with your votes if you plan to change. The conference is still in need of funds and it's important this conference is a success.

CFS info, you have an excellent point. I nominated Nightingale and have emailed them a couple of times about the contest with no response. Both are excellent groups, I just want someone else in the running. Last evening I requested votes for Nightingale. Today Helen the wishywashy will be changing her link to IACFSME.

 

[SpecialK82]

Hey, great discussion everyone! I'm so glad that there might be something else that we can do at this point. I'll start providing stats for the IACFS and for Nightingale in my daily reports. I think I will vote for the IACFS since Nightingale doesn't seem too interested. Also, I think many people will recognize the name IACFS but may not be familiar with Nightingale.

I didn't know that there was any public relations problems with IACFS though.....

 

[SpecialK82]

Daily Stats for Aug 2:

WPI 47754 + 868 = 48622
Be Perfect 13447 + 128 = 13575
Surfer Healing 8591 + 57 = 8648
Hailey mayz 6739 + 87 = 6826
Next Gen 4290 + 12 = 4302
Invisible 5383 + 51 = 5434
Jumpstart 3998 + 15 = 4013
King Bellflower 4431 + 43 = 4474
Sean Vernon 3241 + 29 = 3270
Partner Living 2358 + 19 = 2377
Shared Hope 2715 + 38 = 2753
Austin's House 2673 + 36 = 2709
Trevor 1092 + 3 = 1095
Dream 1194 + 5 = 1199
Courage 1744 + 11 = 1755
Ameriface 1561 + 32 = 1593
Prader Willi CA 539 + 5 = 544
Gets Better 5113 + 57 = 5170
Tinnitus 351 + 8 = 359


IACFS/ME 159 + 4 = 163


Light & Love 25904 + 468 = 26372
St John Hospital 10451 + 133 = 10584
ME/FM Action 7354 + 170 = 7524
Prader-Willi 6400 + 137 = 6537
Nightingale 289 + 6 = 295

 

[SpecialK82]

Daily Stats for Aug 3:

WPI 48622 + 874 = 49496
Be Perfect 13575 + 147 = 13722
Surfer Healing 8648 + 73 = 8721
Hailey mayz 6826 + 74 = 6900
Next Gen 4302 + 4 = 4306
Invisible 5434 + 46 = 5480
Jumpstart 4013 + 21 = 4034
King Bellflower 4474 + 46 = 4520
Sean Vernon 3270 + 38 = 3308
Partner Living 2377 + 9 = 2386
Shared Hope 2753 + 32 = 2785
Austin's House 2709 + 42 = 2751
Trevor 1095 + 2 = 1097
Dream 1199 + 1 = 1200
Courage 1755 + 13 = 1768
Ameriface 1593 + 42 = 1635
Prader Willi CA 544 + 2 = 546
Gets Better 5170 + 44 = 5214
Tinnitus 359 + 7 = 366


IACFS/ME 163 + 4 = 167



Light & Love 26372 + 382 = 26754
St John Hospital 10584 + 142 = 10726
ME/FM Action 7524 + 156 = 7680
Prader-Willi 6537 + 108 = 6645
Nightingale 295 + 8 = 303

 

[helen41]

I didn't know that there was any public relations problems with IACFS though.....

I started that bad rumor, and i am wrong. I went back to the page I thought I saw it and it was more about who could use the money most, not that people had reservations. I will edit my first post and I apologize

 

[eric_s]

I did some maths, but i can't vouch for the result, i have not done something like this for some time:

If we assume 50 charities will be in the drawing and we manage to get 2 into it:

The chance for winning

50'000$ would be: 2/50 * 1/49 = 0.0008
25'000$ would be: 2/50 * 48/49 + 48/50 * 2/49 = 0.078
25'000$ or higher would be: 0.0008 + 0.078 = 0.0788


If we manage to get 3 into the drawing, the chance for winning

50'000$ would be: 3/50 * 2/49 = 0.0024
25'000$ would be: 3/50 * 47/49 + 47/50 * 3/49 = 0.1151
25'000$ or higher would be: 0.0024 + 0.1151 = 0.1175

Correct me, if i'm wrong, i'm not too sure about it

 

[WillowJ]

The use of paypal is so Canadians donating to a Canadian charity can get a tax receipt. Without this we wouldn't get a take receipt and our donations would be lower. You don't have to create a paypal account. It just has to flow through them.

thanks I don't know why it didn't work for me from the USA, but it's nice to know there's a reason why there was a difference trying to donate to ME/FM AN and IACFS/ME.

 

[Dolphin]

I did some maths, but i can't vouch for the result, i have not done something like this for some time:

If we assume 50 charities will be in the drawing and we manage to get 2 into it:

The chance for winning

50'000$ would be: 2/50 * 1/49 = 0.0008
25'000$ would be: 2/50 * 48/49 + 48/50 * 2/49 = 0.078
25'000$ or higher would be: 0.0008 + 0.078 = 0.0788

If we manage to get 3 into the drawing, the chance for winning

50'000$ would be: 3/50 * 2/49 = 0.0024
25'000$ would be: 3/50 * 47/49 + 47/50 * 3/49 = 0.1151
25'000$ or higher would be: 0.0024 + 0.1151 = 0.1175

Correct me, if i'm wrong, i'm not too sure about it

Yes, they're right.

Probably a more interesting figure is the estimated value:
If we got two in:
Estimated(value)=[P($25000 only)*$25000]+[P($50000 alone)*$50000] = (0.078*25000) + (0.008*50000)=1950+40=$1990. This is the value of the bet (using your roundings).

If we got three in:
Estimated(value)=[P($25000 only)*$25000]+[P($50000 alone)*$50000] = (0.1151*25000) + (0.024*50000)=2877.50+120=$2997.50. This is the value of the bet (using your roundings).

The chance with one group is 0.04
Estimated value = 0.04*25,000=$1000.

 

[eric_s]

We could ask Conejo if they want to buy it

 

[*GG*]

What is the link for Nightangale (sp?)? they are in Canada, correct?

GG

Never mind I figured it out:

http://www.vivint.com/givesbackproject/charity/1129

 

[Aileen]

Nightingale has 299 votes right now, compared to 167 for IACFS. I think we should support Nightingale for a few reasons. They do very good work, and many members are refusing to support IACFS at this point. This might be a stretch to get them up to 5000, and we don't need the dissention.
There have been complaints that support has not been available to Canada. That would resolve some of those issues as well.
I would love to see us all pull together and have a winner and 2 groups in the draw. This is exciting!]

What in the world is going on? National ME/FM Action Network has been begging, pleading, for votes for weeks only to be told that they don't have enough people supporting them. The numbers aren't there. Even though WPI is thousands of votes ahead we cannot spare any for you. All over the internet the organization has been put down, people have been told not to vote for them. WPI is more important....

And now you are discussing giving 5 THOUSAND votes to an organization that is getting less than 10 votes per day??? And for what? So they can have a slim chance of winning a draw for a mere $25,000 when the National ME/FM Action Network had a real chance at outright winning $100,000 if it had been given the support early enough.

We have been working so hard trying to get support and everywhere we turn someone else is shooting us down. And now this. Neither Nightingale or IACFS are even actively participating in this contest. I don't know about IACFS but Nightingale hasn't even made arrangements for the matching donations. But it is so nice of you people to want to give them the 5,000 votes that you just couldn't possibly spare for the National ME/FM Action Network.

As for our actual chances of winning this draw (of 1/4 what could have been won with your support from the beginning):
How many times have you bought a raffle ticket for a prize in some small local draw? The kind of thing the neighbourhood kids come to the door selling. And how many times have you won anything? I'll tell you how many times I've won. NEVER! Our chances of winning a draw are slim. If you actually vote for the Nat'l ME/FM Network, maybe we could get somewhere.

 

[Nielk]

I can definitely feel your frustration. I would also feel the same if I was in your shoes but, you can't put the blame on one person. No one person has the power to dictate who people should vote for. Individuals make up their own mind. When it came time for the matched donations, I as I'm sure others donated money to ME/FM.
It's easy to look at things with hind site and say WPI was so far ahead, we should vote for ME/FM, There was always the threat that some other organization will pull ahead at the last minute and win out.
At the end, everyone wants what's best for all the ME/CFS/FM community.
Maybe it's not too late - if everyone starts switching their vote to the Natl ME/FM Network now.

 

[cfs info]

All the people working to get the National ME/FM Action network $100G would appreciate continued voting supporting as well as donations. We haven't given up trying to find more votes. We can't afford to lose any support now just in case we can pull off a miracle. Just as you don't want to not support WPI because it isn't over until it's over. If you can get IACFSME 5000 votes then please get them for the Natinal ME/FM Action Network. It would make it easier for us to close the gap for 1st and possibly win it.

FYI, I've also heard from a reliable source that Nightingale does not want to be in the contest and are not happy they've been pulled into the contest. So voting for them would not be appreciated by them. It explains why they made no effort to allow for Canadians to get a tax receipt.

 

[eric_s]

Aileen and CFS Info, many of us have voted for the National ME/FM Action Network and also tried to get more support. They have had support, but unfortunatley not enough. If they "only" needed 5000 votes to win, there would be no question we would continue supporting them. But they now need around 20'000. That's more daily votes than the WPI is getting. And even though it's looking good for the WPI, the contest is not over yet, and we can't be sure yet. So i, personally, think it was right to give so many votes to the WPI, even though i have mostly been voting for the ME/FM AN. What i think is most important for you to do now, is to use the time until the next big such contest to gather voters. There's a realistic chance you could win the main prize next year. I would still switch back, if i see votes for the AN go to above 800 or so.

 

[eric_s]

And also if it were to not work out this time, being number three in Canada surely made a good number of people aware of the organisation, that's not bad either.

 

[Dolphin]

As for our actual chances of winning this draw (of 1/4 what could have been won with your support from the beginning):
How many times have you bought a raffle ticket for a prize in some small local draw? The kind of thing the neighbourhood kids come to the door selling. And how many times have you won anything? I'll tell you how many times I've won. NEVER! Our chances of winning a draw are slim. If you actually vote for the Nat'l ME/FM Network, maybe we could get somewhere.

Most draws will have a lot more tickets. The number of entrants in this draw is low - a maximum of 94.

 

[Dolphin]

FYI, I've also heard from a reliable source that Nightingale does not want to be in the contest and are not happy they've been pulled into the contest. So voting for them would not be appreciated by them. It explains why they made no effort to allow for Canadians to get a tax receipt.

After I put out an appeal on the last day of Round 1 to help the IACFS/ME, the president wrote and thanked me. I told him they wouldn't have a chance in Round 2 to win a prize but that there was the matching vote facility.

 

[helen41]

What in the world is going on? National ME/FM Action Network has been begging, pleading, for votes for weeks only to be told that they don't have enough people supporting them. The numbers aren't there. Even though WPI is thousands of votes ahead we cannot spare any for you. All over the internet the organization has been put down, people have been told not to vote for them. WPI is more important....

We all have been working tirelessly in this contest. These discussions are not meant to be against anyone, I use them as a sounding board to figure out our best chance of success. I wanted ME/FM Action to win their region. I was the one who nominated them in the first place last May, and have been voting all along. I would have continued voting ME/FM Action until the end, in the hope of a miracle happening, but the latest announcement of more money is a game changer for me.
Gathering 5000 votes in 3 weeks for IACFS will be difficult, gathering 20,000 for ME/FM would be harder.
We've seen that these types of contests can work to benefit our community. I think we need to be looking for more opportunities to win, and I promise I will be watching for possibilities that could benefit ME/FM Action. They are a wonderful organization.

 

[Aileen]

I think I can sum up the situation to date this way: All of us here have been working very hard since the beginning of the contest. The overall objective is to get as much money as possible for the ME/FM community. No matter what strategy one is using or who one has been supporting we are all tired and frustrated and discouraged because so few from our community have been participating any way. We have all turned ourselves inside out trying to get people to vote and/or get people they know to vote but they won't. This is the main problem.

I'm not angry with anyone. Those of you using different strategies have explained your thinking behind them clearly so I understand where you are coming from. What has shocked and baffled me is that in an instant 5,000 votes suddenly became available. Can you see how this would be confusing and upsetting when we have been begging for just a few votes? And for these votes to go to organizations not even really participating? No one thinks that everyone should stop voting for WPI. That would be a very bad idea. But for 5,000 votes to come out of nowhere ... that kind of blindsided us.

If anyone has any ideas for getting new voters (not from ME/FM organizations or lists) please say something. Even if you think it is a bad idea. It might give someone else a better idea. We have been trying different things but so far without much success. We are still trying different things and haven't given up.

I still do not think that it is a good idea to waste votes on a draw. For Canadians, how many times have you played one of those Lotto tickets where you pick 6 numbers from 1 to 39 or 1 to 49? How many times have you not had even one number? Our chances are very low. We are already in the draw with National ME/FM Action Network (unless we pull off a miracle). I just don't see this as a good strategy no matter where the votes are coming from.

 

[Dolphin]

I still do not think that it is a good idea to waste votes on a draw. For Canadians, how many times have you played one of those Lotto tickets where you pick 6 numbers from 1 to 39 or 1 to 49? How many times have you not had even one number? Our chances are very low. We are already in the draw with National ME/FM Action Network (unless we pull off a miracle). I just don't see this as a good strategy no matter where the votes are coming from.

The odds of winning the lottery are very different from winning this draw.

You yourself appear to say that the chances of the National ME/FM Action Network winning its region would be a miracle. I don't think it would require a miracle to get another group up to 5,000 votes.