Some people ...

[wdfifteen]

The big annual antique truck show was yesterday. It was a beautiful day and something like 250 old trucks were there. Among the awards presented was one for the "peoples choice" for their favorite truck. For some reason the organizers allowed people to vote for their favorite over the internet.
What could go wrong?
Well, someone who owned a very ordinary 1970ish Dodge pickup apparently contacted their friends over facebook or twitter or something and had them vote from their computers and phones for their Dodge. There were a lot of beautiful, amazing old trucks there and this guy with a truck that you wouldn't turn your head to look at went home with the trophy.
What kind of low life would even bother to cheat in order to steal a "peoples choice" trophy? Who the hell would compromise their integrity for a piece of plastic?
As a result there was grumbling amongst the masses that the organizers rigged the voting. The whole internet voting thing was a stupid idea - it allowed people who weren't even at the show to vote for their favorite truck so in some sense they were responsible and deserve some backlash.
Still, why cheat over such an insignificant thing?
End of rant. Carry on...

[Crowbob]

There is an annual gigantic Art Festival in Grand Rapids every fall (ArtPrize). The entire town is bedecked by thousands of pieces of all kinds of art from all over the world. Serious art, i.e., marble sculpture, paintings of all kinds of media, fabrics, various installations of fantastic variety, and of course political art. There is a grand prize which used to be something like $500,000. People vote for their fave. A couple years ago, a quilt one the prize, not once but twice!

Not trying to be elitist or condescending but there were pieces of fine art worthy of the greatest galleries in the world over which the artists had toiled for YEARS. Also, the winning quilts were stunning and nothing like I had ever imagined a quilt could be.

The outrage pretty much forced the organizers to compose a very, very highly regarded jury committee to screen for and then dictate a list of finalists from which the people voted.

[wdfifteen]

A few photos from the show. Here are some of my favorite trucks.




'58 Chevy sedan delivery with ....



A 348 Tri-Power! (and Power Glide)



Model T ready mix truck



This VW pickup was immaculate.

[Chocaholic]

No pic of the winner?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

No pic of the winner?

No, I didn't take a lot of photos. Certainly didn't take any of a truck as unremarkable as that one. They'll be up on the show web site in a few days. I'll grab a screen shot from there.

[fastfredracing]

My father judges a lot of local car shows. You just cannot even imagine ...

[herr_oberst]

Gaming the system. A tactic as old as time, as modern as facebook.

That Sedan Delivery is a nice piece. Send a link to the show if you happen to think about it - I'd like to see more!

Sedan Delivery is a job I know I'll keep
It sure was hard to find.
-Neil Young

[cabmandone]

Personally the win for me would hold nothing knowing that my friends voted for my car just because they were my friends and not because my car was the best in its class. I don't know how the "winner" could feel any sense of pride or accomplishment in winning like that.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Personally the win for me would hold nothing knowing that my friends voted for my car just because they were my friends and not because my car was the best in its class. I don't know how the "winner" could feel any sense of pride or accomplishment in winning like that.

because some people don't give a sheisse and will cheat at anything/everything and feel like they "won" despite the cheating.

[pwd72s]

Hmmm, haven't I seen some "vote for my...." requests posted here?

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Hmmm, haven't I seen some "vote for my...." requests posted here?

I seem to recall that as well.

I do remember entering a contest for a concept car for a computer game.

Everyone but one guy just submitted an entry and left it to people who came across the contest to pick their favorite.

From the perspective of getting people involved or interested the event organizers win in that someone is going out and getting people to pay attention.

Yes, that one guy won by a massive margin.

I could say "not fair", but really, that one guy brought more attention to the computer game than those that just quietly submitted entries.


The guy who won? He was able to share his passion with a lot people that came out.

[Evans, Marv]

I'd love to have that old cement (?) truck to tootle around in. Reminds me of the old model T pickup and old Mexican guy had in the little town I lived in as a kid. He chugged through the alley ways picking up what ever useable things he could. Always wore overalls and had a peg leg. They said people had offered him a new pickup for his old one, but he always turned them down on the offer.

[Jeff Higgins]

What a load of b.s. I cannot believe people resort to that kind of nonsense. What a hero. I wonder if he actually believes he deserves the trophy. I bet he does.

I hope the organizers learned a lesson from this.

[JackDidley]

Around here a car show is a popularity contest. A member of the hosting club can win with a ho-hum car if his buddies do the voting. I prefer racing. The first one across the finish line wins.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by JackDidley

I prefer racing. The first one across the finish line wins.

Unfortunately,
F1 politics and team orders determine the winner.
A NASCAR winner is the survivor of a high speed demolition derby.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Unfortunately,
F1 politics and team orders determine the winner.
A NASCAR winner is the survivor of a high speed demolition derby.

Or..like today, somebody who leads the race for most of the laps. It was a hoot watching those guys turn both right and left today.

Lots of politics in any club show, even when it's called a "concours".

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Who the hell would compromise their integrity for a piece of plastic?

Someone who has zero integrity to begin with.

This could even be that guy's version of trolling... trolling the organizers and the other entrants.

Do you remember that "Vote for the Worst" website that sprang up when one of those TV shows with the weeks-long run had their final elimination shows?

It might've been "American Idol" and with people being able to vote online, it became a huge deal that this website's creators posted the name of who they thought performed the poorest on that night's show and encouraged their lemming troll followers to text in the entry number of that person. Also, IIRC one could vote up to ten times.

We don't watch those shows, but an extended family member told us about it and my reaction was that the only way to fix the situation was to let only those in the studio audience vote... which is analogous to only letting those who attend the truck show vote.

Sure, to promote viewership, the network wanted the national audience to feel like they had input, but they forgot about how insidious and pervasive the troll society is.

EDIT: Just found this: VFTW started at the Survivor Sucks message board[6] and moved to a GeoCities website during season three of American Idol. The very first VFTW pick during Season 3 was Jennifer Hudson, dubbed "Boomquisha Santiago" or just "Boomie," during the semi-finals, but the site never picked her again as she improved in further weeks.[7] When Hudson sang "Circle of Life" during finals, the camera went to a shot of Hudson's family members, with a cousin who sat with her arms folded while the others cheered. This cousin was dubbed "Whatevia," the namesake of VFTW's annual awards. The site began to upset regular Idol viewers with their support of John Stevens and Jasmine Trias, but it was largely unknown to the general public at this time.
More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vote_for_the_Worst

[RKDinOKC]

When was in an R/C airplane club we had fun fly contests all the time. There was this one guy, when it was his turn to officiate the contest always had all kinds of rules and would disqualify people right and left. He was the worst at trying to cheat the rules when he was a participant. We didn't even have trophies or nuthin, it was just for fun and bragging rights.

[wdfifteen]

They finally posted some pics of the show on the web site.
THIS won the "People's Choice" award after the owner stuffed the ballot box. It's an OK truck, but out of 250+ trucks there, there were dozens that were nicer.
I talked to the organizers and they are aware, and they have decided not to have a "People's Choice" award in the future.



There are a few more pictures at:
https://www.vintagetruckmagazine.com/home-blog/2017/2/20/thank-you-2016-vintage-truck-magazine-truck-show-fans-pszd3-wsw5j-853gl

[Chocaholic]

Ouch...yup, that stinks. Shiny though.