Hey everyone, just checking in to see what's happenin'. There's no general reason for posting this other then to see if people still come on this forum. The internet is a bit lonely without the contest in full effect. Hopefully it'll be running again shortly. Judging by the inactivity on the other site, there weren't enough submissions for July, maybe not any at all.

If anyone still comes on this board, please post in here to let everyone know you still have a soft spot for this bad boy.

Sadly, Tony - I think the contest is, well, dead. There were only 6 baits sent in for this month (only four authors sending them in) and, well, there seems to be nobody resoponding to e-mails, message boards or anything concerning the contest now.

I hate to say it, but, Bait an Oscar seems like no more.

Tony, I still check in and every now and then.

call me an optimist, but I dont think the contest has seen its final days just yet. I think if we want it, we can bring it back. It will just take some time.

Hope everyone is doing well

chris

A good and sure-fire way to keep the contest alive: get the word out on it on different message boards around the web. (IMDB, etc.) I am sure many people would be interested in such an interesting contest.

I constantly check out both pages and the chat but hardly something happens. I'm guilty of not participating too I guess but I don't want to see the contest die just yet but we need to regroup. everything is so scattered so we should try to get some people together to talk about it.

I know i never post but i must say i would rather have the contest die respectfully then be "alive" with IMDB people sending in baits

But, there are talented writers out there who no doubt would be interested in this if only they knew about it. So, why wouldn't you want more talented writers in here? If IMDB brings over some screwballs, then ban them, whatever. But, don't just sacrifice the contest because of that.

Some things to get out of my chest now that we have some ppl talking:

1. if we are going to be banning every as*hole that comes from IMDB, then why have them. i don't think people know how much of a headache IMDB users can be. it will just be more of the same, meaning that the contest will not progress, but stay miserable.

2. we are never going to have a guarantee that some of the authors will participate. that means we will just be sending in our baits for nothing. sorry, but if i knew that there will be no contest in the end, i would keep my baits to myself.

3. well, adrian's blog didn't work. you can deny it all you want, but it's true. either the majority of authors don't care about the contest anymore and have moved on or they don't like the tone of the blog, meaning it will never live up to what was our own special place in a real site. another reason is that we don't even have a real editor (sorry adrian). i feel our editor should not a be a participant in the contest, nor should he/she have any real friendships with any of the authors, this is too avoid any biassed acts in the contest.

.......hey, if the contest dies, it dies. the memories are still there. what pisses me off more than anything is that the f*cking editor/writers of this site don't give a damn. i would really love for the contest to continue on this forum; in this site, and not in a blog that we created in an act of desperation.

Here's a great idea. Why doesn't everyone post as a name rather then someone anonymous that way we know who's posting?

Either way, thanks for the reponses, everyone.

C'mon now, I know others keep checking in. Brian, DW, Hugo, Zgamer, Pierre, Somerton, Jeffrey, Michael, Connor, Chris K, Sanford, Evan, Maia, George, Bryce, Al, TD, Ryan(s), DPac, Patrick D.

We can talk all we want about how the contest is dead, how it's dying, how it's better if it's dead, how we need to get it back running. But atleast just show your acknowledgment and show you still come on from time to time.

I agree. I do check in every no and then, but I see no reason to post if no one else does. I've had baits written, but I didn't think anyone was sending in anything so I haven't tried. I still say that we go for a very open posting thing where you just create a thread and post your bait in it and then people can comment and submit all month long and then say on the 20th, submissions end and all the Oscar voting occurs.

Just an idea, hopefully it would be really easy and people would be attracted to the contest more.

Hey everyone, this is the first time I've checked this forum in like 3 weeks and the first time I've posted in I don't know how long. I definitely miss talking to everyone and submitting baits, but, like Chris said, I think if we really wanted to, we could revive it. We just have to all be in with it.

Agreed.

Hey guys,
I've always been checking into these forums whereever I am cuz I've been travelling alot. I have to admit, BAO had become a part of my life and I want it to stay that way and I'm really glad that the editor has decided to keep the contest alive. It's awesome to see writers like Brian, Daniel, Tony are still here. Nice to see you guys.

Nice to be back, again.
Keep up the good work. This site is doing more for the Oscar community than we know, IMO.

Douglas, Ryne and Chris too. Good to know you guys are still here.

I also think the contest has faded ever since changing the website and the renevation thing. Ive been sending baits on here since about seventh grade and now a senior in high school this contest has always been part of high school and middle school for me. I wish the contest would keep going on and I hope we can get others (NOT imdb users) to get involved as well.

Best of luck to the contest.

If more people show up in this thread to show they still come on, it's possible it can come back. Thanks for the reponses, everyone, and to see some nice surprises from Daniel and DPac.

Hi everyone, I'm not a regular on BAO but I'm was a regular visitor of the igloo and now the circuit and I wrote one bait a while back ("Offshore" if anyone remembers) and after reading some recent posts I just thought I share my thoughts on the topic. Take it as you will

I decided to write that bait because the contest sounded like fun and I enjoyed following the contest that month. But afterword, as I kept following the BAO contest, a few things turned me off to the contest. I thought a lot of the baits were way too long and tedious/involved. I also observed that the same baiters were baiting every month and several baits at that and I think that the quality of the baits suffered from baiters just trying to crank out as many baits as they could. Now, far be it from me to tell you regulars how your contest should be run, now that it seems like it's dying, why not try and overhaul/revamp the contest and make it more accessible for new baiters to start baiting. Ideas that come to mind might be: setting a word or paragraph limit on the baits -- keep them short, sweet and to the point. To me a bait is a quick sell on an idea for a movie, not a short story. Perhaps limit the press section to a few critic quotes. I think this would keep people's attention and also not overwhelm potential newcomers.

Just my two cents, but I know if there were some length restrictions, I would probably rejoin the contest.

Only a few selective months had a 3 bait limit. For the most part, the majority of months have been 2 baits. If by "lowering quality by cranking out baits" is caused by a 2 bait limit, maybe you shouldn't join.

And if you really want to lower the press section to two critic quotes, you should look for another activity that doesn't require the attention span of a goldfish on crack.

Just my two cents. Another cent is that if someone has posted one bait in the contest they shouldn't complain about the quality diminishing.

Ouch. I thought I made it clear I was just offering an opinion and wasn't trying to be rude or impose on you regulars. But if you're going to jump on anyone who offers a different viewpoint then I can see why people don't to participate.

I like the idea about using quotes for the press section and I think that those participating in the contest should be more open to change. I know that I've only done two baits and I'm not exactly an experienced veteran, but I think ideas such as the ones that Ryan presented might help the contest get back up on its feet.

before we start arguing about what changes we should make to the contest, lets all try and get the contest back first. I dont care who comes and joins the contest, whether they are from IMDB or not, participation is participation. This isnt some exclusive country club. I think we need to put all the focus on the rejuvenation of the contest, not hypotheticals.

Actually, I don't think you want the "2 quotes" to help the contest. I think you want it because you either don't feel like reading or don't feel like writing.

And not being rude doesn't consist of questioning quality of baits because everyone was trying to cram them in. That's actually imposing on everyone. If you don't want some kind of backlash, choose your words a little better next time. Especially someone who has written one bait, no need to question anyone elses baiting skills, Ryan.

actually i would prefer a shorter press section so we could lengthen our summaries. i find the summary more exciting to write and to read, and personally feel that longer summaries could result in better baits. and seriously tony, chill out a little bit. nobody is criticizing you, we are actually just trying to help

I'm completely chill, don't worry. I even proposed for Ryan to reply on here just so we can get SOME kind of activity on here.

And I agree, summaries are my favorite part as well. However, the only time I ever call a bait "long" is if it's a bad bait. If it's good, length isn't a factor for me.

so has anyone talked with Clayton about taking over the contest? I am interested, but I dont have the time. Whoever does though, I would be more than happy to help out with the contest once we get it moving again.

email: Boxofrain1986@yahoo.com

I thought I'd pop in and let everyone know that I am fully behind any possible way to salvage the contest. I know I haven't been here long, but I love Bait an Oscar, and don't want it to die just as I was getting decent at writing baits. I just finished one today after proverbially crumpling up and throwing out about eight half-baked attempts, so...

I think part of the problem of this contest is that the people who have been baiting on this site for a long time aren't very open and accepting of new people. It seems like the new people constantly get harassed and made fun of and if your a new person just doing this for fun, then it doesn't really make you want to stick around on a site where others make you feel not wanted.

Just putting in my two cents on what happened to the contest. At least this is what some people have told me that have left the site.

Ryan, you could atleast put your name.

The reason the contest has died is because all the fun was sucked out of it. Cliques were formed and anybody who didn't kiss ass was blacklisted. Basically, there are a select few that believe that the contest belongs to just them and everyone else can just go fuck themselves. Why do you want to bring this contest back to life?? You guys are so opposed to anyone else joining the circle jerk you have going on it doesn't make sense, so just let it be.

One doesn't need to look far to find an example of what I'm talking about. Just look at Tony's comments on this thread.

true dat. i don't know why ppl are so shocked that this happened. no one gave a shit before, why do u care now? back when the contest was still going, ppl weren't being as active and others were leaving their duties as heads of festivals, ggs, sags, etc.

this talk about newcomers not feeling welcomed is true. these so called "veterans". being sweet on the threads and shitting on ppl in the chat. ridiculous. others having their own personal witch hunts. even more ridiculous. stop whining and let the site be. move on and stop acting like u cant breath without this.

PS: the next person that puts up a thread that demands ppl express their opinions, they better be ready to read just that...opinions. stop being a nancy.

Wow, see what I said was true after all. Hmmm, imagine that. It is the so called "veterans" of this site with their sense of entitlement that has dragged this whole contest down. I've been saying for a long time that the way they treated others and the blatant way that they knocked anyone's baits who wasn't in their own clique would be the downfall of the bait an oscar and it has. I don't know why they are all getting on now and saying, "Oh, we really want to continue it, but when people do join it, they laugh at them, belittle them, make them feel totally stupid, call them names etc. to the point to where they no longer want to continue. Also, it's really hard for any new people to really break in to the bait an oscar since the veterans who treat people so badly hold the majority of the power when it comes to voting. I'm just saying if you want the contest to continue then you need to change your attitude, accept people and stop bashing them, and maybe think of changing some of the rules in the contest.

I guess you can call me a veteran. I joined the contest in June 2007. I wasnt always active, I took months off at a time, but I always looked forward to coming back and participating. I dont know when or what should be put to blame for the decline of the contest. I just want to share some thoughts.

I hear the most complaints against cliques, veterans, and the chat. I dont think there was a clique per se; I just think there were people who frequented the chat more than most. People who were in the chat got to know each other pretty well. I got to talk to Tony, Alex S., Doug, DW, Chris P, Brian, and AJ on regular basis and we discussed everything from movies, baits, politics, etc. you know stuff you would expect. I really enjoyed getting to know the people behind the baits I really liked. The chat was for a while a great tool that brought all of us together. We even held some of the bait ceremonies in there. Over time it became a source of great controversy, Was there trash talk? Of course. Why is anyone surprised? I grew up playing football and baseball, and if I walked off the field every time I heard a nasty comment or put down, my cleats would have been retired when I was 10 and I would have given up something I loved. I hate to say it but trash talking is part of competition, whether its sports, contests, high school, college, its human nature, people talk trash. It happens. You just need to blow it off and get thicker skin. This is not the main reason why the contest died.

Now on to the veterans I agree they are influential and I think their role in the contest is a major part of why the competition deteriorated. For those who arent familiar with the contest, the way it works is that at the end of the month, previous Bait of the Month winners have the right to complete an Oscar Ballot and select their nominees and winners. They are essentially the Academy. As participation declined, the same people constantly submitted, we saw the # of repeat winners grow. I think if the contest is revived this would definitely be something that needs to be reworked. New rules would be needed. This is a discussion I think we should all have. What can we do that will make this contest fair, a level playing field?

I think sitting here, bitching about the past is not going to help with the contests future. Obviously the contest was flawed, thats why its not up and running. It comes down to us as a bait community and if we really want to make this work then we will have to work together. I am not going to sit here and apologize, the past is the past. How is harping on old issues productive? Also, how is it beneficial to post anonymously if you have these passionate feelings about the contest, let us know who you are. I am Chris M. Im from NJ / DC and I want to get this contest working again. Lets get the contest up and running before 2010.

If you want to talk w/ me my email is Boxofrain1986@yahoo.com

PEACE

OK, you can say that calling people disgusting names and that trashing their work for the sake of them not doing well in the contest is all apart of sports and that people need to get over it, but it is a REAL reason why the "New" people that join this don't stick around. People join this to have some fun and all the fun gets sucked out of it when you try something for the first time and you have certain people who laugh at what you write and go around bad mouthing you as a person to everyone that will listen. You can brush it off all you want and say, "Oh it's not my problem, I can act anyway I want, it's the new people who need to get over it." If you keep this attitude then no new people won't stick around because nobody joins a game to get treated like a piece of crap 24/7 and yes i do literally mean 24/7. Also, it's really annoying as hell whenever somebody new joins that they constantly get called, "Ryan" and then instantly everyone hates this new person when they aren't even "Ryan". People when they get called this person's name instantly have people attack them and anything they write instantly gets called a piece of crap.


Also, I think the rules on what exactly it is that makes up a bait needs to be explained a little better because whenever people would write a bait and it would look like everyone else's people would always find something wrong with it saying, "Oh, not enough information in it." "Too much information in it.", "Your giving away too many plots.", "Your not telling us enough plot." I mean, I saw somebody write a bait that was literally two paragraphs and I thought it was quite good, then one of the "veterans" read it and said it was too much. I mean, that was literally a bunch of crap because I've seen these epic baits that the "veterans" have written that were way over written and could put a lot of people to sleep. This to me reaks of sabotage. The "veterans" ask the new people to send them their baits so they could know if they were on the right track or not, then they give them, again not all the veterans, bad advice.

I would think that it should be that if you sign up for the contest then you become a member of the academy, or I think nobody who is submitting work should be in the academy. One or the other because either I think if you submit something you should be allowed at least a chance of helping yourself in the contest.

I appreciate what you have said. I think if we start the contest up again one of the things we need to eliminate is the CHAT. I agree it has been divisive. I dont think it really does anything for the contest. I also think at the same time to put the blame solely on that is unfair. But I agree it should go.

I have heard your issues on what didnt work, but I want to hear what you think we could do to make the contest more exciting, what we could do to completely re-vamp it, to make it fun.

Lets be constructive.

I AGREE WITH YOU that we need to change the voting rules. As the submission pool got smaller and smaller, and the Bait of the Month winners grew, it was really lop sided. It wasnt balanced any more. I think this is a serious discussion we need to have and address. I think if we start the contest over again we should have an editor who presides over the contest. He and a panel of previous contestants (who will no longer participate in the contest) can act as the academy and they can be in charge of the nominations each month. Or maybe Bait of the Month winners can exclusively vote for the Big 8 and everyone else can vote for the creative awards.

These are just a few suggestions on how we can change the contest. I dont think we will ever find that perfect solution, but at least there would be some level playing field.

As for writing of the baits, I agree, I think we need to be clear on how baits should be written. I have read baits that were two paragraphs, 1 paragraph synopsis, and 1 paragraph press that were perfect as well as really long baits that were excellent. I really think that sky is the limit when writing. I dont think we should limit someones creativity.

I think we could also use social networking sites to our advantage to spread the word of the contest and make it more fun for the contestants. For example, we could use Twitter and update contestants with all the latest events in the contest. For instance, the precursor awards, we could tweet about who won NBR, GG, or Guilds.

These are just a few of my thoughts on what we could do.

WHAT DOES EVERYONE ELSE THINK????

I agree with Chris there. Reader not every new guy got bashed for everything and yeah is difficult to break in to the contest but it all comes down to writing a good bait, as Chris said there can be an excellente one paragraph synopsis just make it work. I'm not gonna praise work I don't like, newbie or veteran, if anyone asks for my help without a problem I give it. Quality is the important thing here.

We need to let go of the past and look to the future, a new month is coming, instad of sitting here just talking let's do something about it, if so many of us want the conest back let's not forget the essential part of it and start submitting again, let's all keep an open mind and start working again on offering the best we can do. Let's try to return the the best times of this contest, we need to act.

There really isn't anything wrong with the voting process imo. Being able to vote is one of the awards for actually winning BotM. As for this idea that new people get shit on, I find ridiculous, atleast baiting wise. Going back to the last few months, there were baits from newer people that had potential and hell I nominated them. Based on quality of the bait. Ryan, this is actually being civilized here. The fact that now you're complaining about peoples reviews of baits...too short, too long, not enough, too much, is just fishing for things now. You're questioning the opinion of EVERYONE that has reviewed a bait. Just because you found a bait to be great and a bait everyone else, or in this case the "veterans" didn't like..doesn't mean there's some blatent conspiracy. It means they didn't like the bait. If you're going to let something like the opinion of baits bother you so much, just don't be involved in it. Dude, I've been baiting here from Aug 06 to March 09. It took me over a year to win BotM, and not once did I bitch about it because I was "new" but rather I accepted the idea that there were more quality baits. And I can even look at the first couple of baits I wrote and I know they weren't up to par, nor would they be up to par today. It's just the nature of the beast. Write a quality bait, and chances are it'll get its praise. This is the last time I'm approaching this.

Now, I'm sorry if I came off to be "rude" for the likings of some of you people when I gave my opinion on the 2 quote thing. Here's a constructive opinion of it. I don't think having the PS being 2 quotes is a very good idea considering the PS is, to many peoples minds, the most important part of the bait. It's supposed to be a review, not a snippet. Baiting has evolved in a way and when it all comes down to it, the press section can official sell someone on the bait in general. Sometimes the PS can even explain the bait more thoroughly. I, and countless others, have used the PS to bring the story together and fill in the loose ends at times. Reducing the PS to two quotes would make it uneventful and uninspiring. It would also make it a vastly even playing field when it comes to the review of baits. If you have everyone just typing up two quotes, you can't really distinguish anything between all of those baits when it comes to it, basically making the PS meaningless. This is a competition mind you, and the PS is just part of the process.

Now, me and Chris M were shuffling some ideas back and forth and we think we have a few ideas to try and get the contest back up and running again. Hopefully these ideas can pan out and sometime by this year we can get it back up and with the help from Clayton as well.

Thanks to everyone but Tony. Tony you are the main reason why people don't stick around this contest. If people notice everyone else was giving their input and making suggestions, but Tony decided to again tell someone if you don't like it then leave. If you hadn't noticed Tony the way the contest was working before didn't work out, so people are thinking of what went wrong and how we can fix it. If you can't be constructive and treat people with respect then I would suggest you just don't participate.

I agree with the suggestion of having a main editor and a few people who aren't involved in the contest anymore as judges.

I also like the idea of using social networks to create buzz for this.

Ryan, making reasons as to why baits aren't good and questioning the people that review baits and their reasoning for not like a bait is not being constructive and helpful on how to fix the contest nor is it really "treating people with respect." That isn't "what went wrong" when that's the way people have been reveiwing baits since the beginning.

And like I said before, Ryan, I apologized if you found my post rude. I just gave constructive criticism but you still continue to stir trouble and post under multiple anonymous' like a child, and yet continue to attempt to get a rise out of all this.

And as far as me not offering anything, me and Chris M are actually trying to shape on the contest along with a couple others. By me posting this thread was to get EVERYONE to post on here, including you. I had not known your first post would be about you're theory about how the quality of baits has diminished that would eventually carry out to criticizing people about their reviews. Just chill out dude. No need to continue on to and tweak out about things when we're trying to get everything settled and back in business again.

Wow Tony, you are really obsessed with this Ryan person. If you were this obsessed with the contest as you were with this kid then maybe you'd be a nicer better person in it.

I guess you couldn't follow what I was saying very well because you keep saying that i only mentioned the way people reviewed baits. In case you couldn't follow what I had said tony, i had said that the way people reviewed the baits didn't really give people enough to know what exactly it was that was needed to have a great bait. This, in case you didn't know, is a piece of vital information because it would help the new people if they could get better reviews of their baits so they know exactly what it is that the voters are looking for in a good quality bait.

Again, Tony your not being very helpful in changing the contest, it seems to me that you just want everything to remain as it is so you and your "group" can control the votes and keep voting the way you want to, even if others are more deserving. I'm sorry if you don't feel the need to change as a person in this contest and to be more welcoming to new members, but I think it's great that everyone else is willing to put forth the effort and the ideas to make this a better contest.

lets keep the focus on how we can improve the contest not personal attacks. I don't think it is beneficial to single individuals out.

Tony, if u say that others and yourself are working on ways to get the contest back and running, then why don't u and these others come forward and say what ur planning?.

I'm sorry but I REFUSE to compete in a contest that is being manipulated by one single person.

Why have I lost interest in the contest? Well.... to be blunt - many just seemed to get tired of it themselves. And while we could get this contest back on its feet, at the same time, I think we can't. AJ tried, but failed. Only 14 people put their names down on the Oscar bait forum and we still only recieved a total of 6 baits (by only 3 baiters) in a submission period that was longer than other, more familiar baiting submission periods. What does this say about the contest to me? It tells me that no matter how I, Tony, Chris M, or others would like to keep this contest going - it IS just going to stop because everything has been going in circles that some either just don't feel the need to compete any longer after winning the prestigous Bait of the Month, or some are just whimping out on the reviews and whimping out. I'm blunt with my reviews, yes. But I am with film, books, and music as well. If one thinks your bait sucks, so be it. Keep baiting! If they think it rocks, you could win Bait of the Month.

But there is that one thing that seems to the center of Bait an Oscar's downfall. Winning Bait of the Month. It seems, at least to me, that when it gets down to the point of which everyone of the 14 baiters that want to keep the contest running, that all will (more than likely) eventually win. And when this happens, what else is there to do but go in circles? There are new baiters wanting to compete, but in the Chat world (which, should end, I believe, if the contest wants a LITTLE BIT of benefit) you would see that there has been a guy (most specifically "that Ryan kid", Reader", who has been submitting baits, entering the chat, and causing ruckus on the forums under numerous names (from Ryan, Ryan C, Esther and so on...) He just keeps getting caught. (IP addresses don't lie.) and you canNOT blame Tony for suspecting you (or anybody that posts anonymous or under names like you have given yourself) BECAUSE this guy seems to always cause an uproar somehow. It's this that DOESN'T help Bait an Oscar in its fragile state. I'm not claiming you ARE Ryan in disguise, but he has fucked up things around here so much that I, and others, can't help but think it when a "new baiter" comes. (It also doesn't help using the term "Wow Tony, you are really obsessed with this Ryan person." is a sentence that Ryan uses under all his aliases. Word for word.

We aren't rude to newcomers, its just Ryan is one of the pawns in fucking up the contest. (Bad to name names, but its true.) Many have said through e-mails that they don't come to chat anymore because of his games, and that they quit baiting because they felt they were being cheated.

In all honesty, I think all these problems COULD be fixed with a helluva miracle. I tried promoting a long time ago to many, but IMDb don't take an interest to it, just like other movie forums just laugh off the idea. And with so little baiters, submissions, etc. This contest is just not going to go anywhere. It's doomed not to. It's hard to face this, but easy to see, but if the contest isn't dead now, it will be very soon anyway.

Too many issues have ruined it....

To whom this concerns,Tony and I have been discussing for the last few days what can be done to save this contest so many of us have participated in. I have offered some suggestions if you read above.

I have contacted Clayton about the direction we want to take the contest, with myself, and a few others interested in taking over the responsibility of running the contest.

I think we need a date for when we can expect the contest to start up again. I am thinking the fall, earliest, September, possibly October. The biggest hurdle is getting people to submit. AJ took the initiative to start up a new site and only 6 baits were sent in (*4 were from 2 authors). We have heard a lot of talk about how we miss the contest, but nothing has really been done. So if I can get the ball rolling here, I wan assurance from you guys that you will participate.

The plan I have is simple. We need to update the contest, change some of the rules to make it a more level playing field while still holding a reward for those who win Bait of the Month. As I stated above, I think the previous method was flawed, it worked for a few years, but as the number of BOTM winners grew (we have many multiple winners) and the level of contestants grew smaller, this created a lop sided contest. If we can reach an agreement with the editors on this site, I propose we have a panel of former winners who will agree that they will no longer submit baits to the competition that will act as Judges or the Academy and they will nominate baits. I also think as a reward for winning Bait of the Month, the winners should be entitled to vote exclusively for Best Picture and other Big 8 Categories as well as Best Author. Winning Bait of the Month is an honor and there should be a reward.

I believe that if we have a team take control of the contest, it will be beneficial to all the contestants. I think that response time will be quicker and more efficient and the baits will be posted on time. I give much credit to Mr. Alba for running this contest for the last few years and always finding time to post the baits, month after month.

I also propose axing some nuisances that have diverted attention away from the contest and thus killed the participation in the forums. Blogs and the Chat. Bait an Oscar is about community, people coming in to discuss and debate the best of each month. The blogs are more focused on the Individual and that takes attention away from the forums and its activity. If the contest starts up again I propose that we keep the major blog, Chris Ps and make that the official Bait an Oscar Blog and associate that with the contest. The Chat is disposable. Very few people use it anymore. What once was a tool of BAO (various ceremonies were held in there) is now a source of contempt and played a small role in the decline of participation.

I think this is our last shot to save the contest, as Doug pointed out, its on life support. I know we have creative minds here that can come up with a resolution and fix this. We also need the support of the editors of the website, with their assistance I think we can successfully bring the contest back.

This sounds like a great idea to me. Also, Tony you keep saying that your not inferring that I'm this Ryan person, but yet you keep saying, "That's something Ryan would say." "Don't be shocked when everyone thinks you are Ryan." How is this fair to new people when they sign up??? This just means that people won't be given a fair shot in the contest because you tell everyone that they are this Ryan person and then automatically people don't like the new person. This is the one big thing that I think needs to change, imo.

I'm supporting a lot of the decisions being made on here and I'd love submit my first bait when the game starts up again. I was going to a few months ago, but then I got some bad remarks from one person in the game.

I really think this game could get up and going and up to full speed again. I've enjoyed speaking to many of you on here. If I can help in any of the social networking to get people onto this site then please let me know and I'd be more than happy to help out. Thanks.

Chris M, you are a class act. Always have been.

As far as the other stuff is concerned, I think people are misinterpreting what some are saying about people being mean. People not liking your bait is one thing but at a certain point the contest became really nasty. To the point where it wasn't about the baits anymore. People were personally being attacked. I would log onto the chat and see some really nasty comments being made about people's personal beliefs and lifestyles. Also, as Chris M stated, the power was very lopsided. It got to the point where it was damn near impossible to win BotM unless you were a previous winner. The only way for someone to breakthrough was to go to the chat and rub elbows with the "elite". But of course that was such a nasty environment that who would want to be there?? I'm sure this lead to several people no longer wanting affiliate themselves with the contest. And as more people started leaving, the same people started winning BotM and this is where the sense of entitlement developed. In short, Bait an Oscar USED to be a competition where creativity was celebrated and it would be nice if it went that way. But honestly a select few members of the community left bad impression in people's minds it will be difficult to get them back. I include myself when I say that. Unless there is a concrete plan of how to solve all the issues that eventually arose then I think we should just lay the contest to rest.

You're right about all that stuff, Chris. And it is indeed a huge thing that we need a bunch of people to GUARANTEE that they will submit, because from my novice point of view, that's what has caused the decay (although there may have been other great things about the contest that were already decomposing by the time I joined up). I feel guilty about not submitting to Adrian James' new site, but I just had no half-decent baits. I have one now that I'd at least like to take for a spin and am working on others, so I can throw my lot in.

And also, as far as the nastiness bit goes, I would like to add that, as a new baiter, I experienced little to no hostility, so a lot of it can stem from how considerate one is in how they approach entering what some folks regard as hallowed ground.

I just spent half an hour getting caught up on the action of the last couple weeks and find it at the same time really funny but also feel like I unintentionally started all this. I feel like I have to apologize for using my actual name when posting the only 2 posts I've made in the last year and a half. My name really is Ryan and my last name does start with an M and I did submit one bait in Feb 08 under that name, was a festival judge in March, and then left the contest because I couldn't think of anything else to bait about. I had fun participating and when I checked in a couple weeks ago and found out the contest was dead, I felt bad and thought I'd chime in with a couple thoughts/constructive criticisms. The post called "my two cents" and the one reply to Tony were the only posts by this "Ryan" and I really wasn't trying to start something and I promise you I haven't been posting under any other name. So Tony and everyone please relax, I don't know who "Reader" is even though it does look like some of his ideas looked similar to mine. I never intended to cause such a shitstorm when I chimed in, I feel bad that it did so don't worry, this Ryan M probably won't post again on here unless I think of a cool bait idea somewhere down the road. Like I said, those 2 posts were just me popping my head into the BAO bubble randomly, and I guess inadvertently causing people to think of another "Ryan" who sounds like real trouble. Anyways, I'd like to think we all have better things to do with our time than bicker about this stuff, so I hope this puts that whole argument to rest and everyone can move on with what looks like some possible progress on the contest. Again, sorry for any confusion I caused.

I have just recruited two new contestants for the contest. The goal is the have the contest up and running for September.

If we can all invite a friend and spread the word, the turnout out will be excellent.

I will keep you all posted with updates.

- Chris M

Wow, so just spent the last 45 minutes reading up on all the shenanigans I missed. I have already talked to Chris about the goings on, and I'm sorry to anyone who had their hopes up for a revival in July. We tried, but in the end just didn't have enough group support to get it going. Luckily, we have President Chris M. and VP Candidate Tony Palin to get the ball rolling. But first things first

(and please note, this is NOT directed at anyone in particular)

Reading things said by people who I have personally watched join the contest, submit a few baits, get not-so-hot reception, and then just sorta dissapear after complaining about said "not-so-hot" reception complain about how hard it is to "breakthrough" and the only way you can do that is to get in friendly with the veterans. First and foremost, BULLSHIT! I can tell you my story of how I "brokethrough" (although I never really did, if you think about it, considering I never won a BotM or Best Author) after submitting for nearly 7 months without so much as talking to any of the other baiters. I never became friends with any of them until I released my, count it, 7th bait and the majority liked it. Maybe you should have taken the initiated(those of you who are complaining), stopped whining, and written a solid bait. THAT'S how you gain respect from the veterans. FUCKING EARN IT.

But, many of you reading this probably know me, and knowing me, you know I'd NEVER start a fight, so this is all just constructive criticism. Now, who's excited to go see Funny People tonight?