LL-L "Presentations" 2007.12.13 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  13 December 2007 - Volume 02
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Presentations

Dear Lowlanders,

Earlier today I wrote among other things:

Running out of time fast – Deadline approaching!

   - *Lowlands Song *
   lowlands-l.net/contest/
   *If countries, provinces, towns, schools, fraternities, sororities,
   soccer unions, labor unions, gardening associations, homing pigeon clubs,
   radio programs, TV quiz shows and even political parties can have their own
   songs, why not we? The challenge: to choose words and tunes that all of us
   can relate to, Lowlanders everywhere – not something neutral but something
   that includes all of us, appeals to all of us, represents all of us. *

   Find out more: lowlands-l.net/contest/instructions.php

   I'm underwhelmed! So far we received only two songs and one
   performance. Come on now! I'm sure we can do better than that, folks.
   Deadline: 31 December 2007.


I need a team of up to three volunteers that will receive the votes from the
membership, compute them and then announce them to the List without
mentioning who gave how many votes to what. In other words, this is going to
be a secret ballot deal, and I don't want to be a part of it.

Volunteers must be current LL-Lers that do not plan to submit any works and
are willing to do the job impartially, conscientiously and confidentially.

To volunteer, please write to me (sassisch at yahoo.com).

In the unlikely event that there are more volunteers than we need (or can
wave a stick at ... whichever may be the case), "selection" will be "first
(qualified person) come, first serve."

"Qualified person" means "any current LL-L member that does not compete as
an artist, is able to handle and compute data arriving in a number of e-mail
messages, is able and willing to collaborate with up to two other poll panel
members, and can be trusted to keep member information confidential."

Possibly to make things easier, perhaps someone (who may but does not need
to serve on the poll panel) could make a simple temporary HTML form and
write a data-capture script that sends the votes to the lead of the poll
panel. The form and the script need to have a structure roughly like the
following:

   - submission #  |# votes|
   - submission #  |# votes|
   - submission #  |# votes|
   - etc. ...
   - adding up to no more than 9 votes (given to one entry or divided up
   by more than one)
   - |voter's first name|
   - |voter's last name|
   - |voter's e-mail address|

The ranking will have to be announced by the following categories:

   1. Lyrics
   2. Music
   3. Performance
   4. Combination

The panel will have temporary access to the membership list to make sure
that all voters are members of LL-L and that each member votes only once.

The poll panel will not know the names of the originators of the submitted
works before everyone else. (And those that submit anything have the option
of remaining anonymous, which includes using pen names.)

The poll panel's job will begin as soon after December 31 as I have
processed the (no doubt millions and millions of) submissions for anonymous
on-line exhibition. All Lowlands-L members will then have a chance to view
them and, if applicable, listen to them and then to cast their 9 votes each
until the very last minute of March 15, 2008. The voting panel will then
announce the results as soon as they are computed.

Important:

   - Submissions received after the submission deadline (i.e. the very
   last minute of December 31, 2007) will be disregarded.
   - Votes received after the voting deadline (i.e. the very last minute
   of March 15, 2008) will be disregarded.

A piece of advice regarding voting:

   - Give yourselves some time to digest the submitted works before you
   cast your votes. Poetry and music ought not be judged rashly. You are likely
   to change your minds at least once as you let the works sink in and do or do
   not discover more than one level of meaning, what to you seem like strengths
   and weaknesses, etc. (Most of us have had experienced poetry and music
   growing on us or losing appeal after a while. So you need to allow for
   that.)

Another thing to bear in mind:

   - There will be no "losers" of the song competition. All submitted
   works will be exhibited unless or until their creators choose to withdraw
   them.

So snap to it, you lot! Or else Santa Fangs might snap at your little
behinds ... and then you'll be very, very sorry.  ;-)

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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