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9th Proz.com translation contest: Business. Submission phase is open
Thread poster: Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
SITE STAFF
TOPIC STARTER
Contest structure Sep 14, 2009

Hello Katalin,

As Romina replied to your suggestion of last April - Seeking opinions on the timing of contest phases - the feedback received was taken into account for this contest. However, it was decided to treat each contest language pair individually and so give them, and contestants in those pairs, the chance to reach the final voting round.

... See more
Hello Katalin,

As Romina replied to your suggestion of last April - Seeking opinions on the timing of contest phases - the feedback received was taken into account for this contest. However, it was decided to treat each contest language pair individually and so give them, and contestants in those pairs, the chance to reach the final voting round.

This way, as explained in the contest overview page and in the related FAQ, submission deadline may be extended for some language pairs at the discretion of the contest organizer if the number of entries received is below the minimum (currently 3) required for a winner to be determined.

1. Will submission be extended in all other pairs, too?


No. The submission phase may only be extended for those pairs that are likely to reach the minimum number of entries required to move to the final voting round.

2. Will submission be extended only in pairs with less than 3 entries and all other pairs closed (with entries invisible) until enough submission comes in all pairs?

3. Will pairs with enough entries go into first round voting while some pairs with not enough entries are still open for submission?


Those pairs that receive between 3 and 7 entries will be moved to voting phase after September 19, even if other pairs remain in submission phase.

Hope this explains.

Regards,

Lucia
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Katalin Horváth McClure
Katalin Horváth McClure  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:52
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Lucia, you perhaps missed the point? Sep 14, 2009

Lucia,
I understand what you said, that is the same as in the FAQs.
My point is that there is a problem with this mechanism.

When voting starts in a pair, the translations become visible. If in other pairs you can still submit translations, then people can benefit from other's translations if they speak several languages. There is no way to systematically check for this, and this creates a loophole for some people to get an unfair advantage.
This had been discussed
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Lucia,
I understand what you said, that is the same as in the FAQs.
My point is that there is a problem with this mechanism.

When voting starts in a pair, the translations become visible. If in other pairs you can still submit translations, then people can benefit from other's translations if they speak several languages. There is no way to systematically check for this, and this creates a loophole for some people to get an unfair advantage.
This had been discussed in details last time, so I don't want to repeat it, please review all the opinions about this.

If you want to extend the submission deadline in certain pairs, but close the submission in others, that is fine, but please do not open up the closed pairs for voting until submission is closed in all pairs.
Doing so would still satisfy the desire to
treat each contest language pair individually and so give them, and contestants in those pairs, the chance to reach the final voting round.


Katalin

[Edited at 2009-09-14 02:05 GMT]
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Henry Dotterer
Henry Dotterer
Local time: 06:52
SITE FOUNDER
The feedback was taken on; still, contest organizer will decide case by case Sep 14, 2009

Katalin Horvath McClure wrote:

Lucia,
I understand what you said, that is the same as in the FAQs.
My point is that there is a problem with this mechanism.

Hi Katalin,

The feedback you and others gave in that thread has been taken on board. Still, in light of other factors and concerns expressed over the course of previous contests, it was decided that the contest organizer should make determinations on a case by case basis.

If English to Russian entries become visible, for example, English to Ukrainian would probably not be sent into extended submission. On the other hand, the presence of Russian translations would not stop an organizer from putting, say, English to Thai into a phase of extended submission. The organizer may go to contestants to get their feedback / preferences when making the decision.

I understand your proposal for having all pairs wait during a period of extended submission. However, feedback has shown a strong preference for holding scheduled dates. I am fairly comfortable that the structure we have arrived at in this latest go-round strikes a reasonable balance among participant preferences.


 
Katalin Horváth McClure
Katalin Horváth McClure  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:52
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Scheduled dates Sep 14, 2009

Henry,
The problem in the past was that the contest was going on and on forever (from November till March? or something), without any firm dates along the way. Practically all deadlines were moved, or there were no declared deadlines at all. (Wait until we have enough submissions/votes etc.) We never knew when winners would be announced, and after a while, people lost interest. I think this is what people (including myself) were against.

If you extend the submission phase by a
... See more
Henry,
The problem in the past was that the contest was going on and on forever (from November till March? or something), without any firm dates along the way. Practically all deadlines were moved, or there were no declared deadlines at all. (Wait until we have enough submissions/votes etc.) We never knew when winners would be announced, and after a while, people lost interest. I think this is what people (including myself) were against.

If you extend the submission phase by a week or so, as long as you declare it clearly and keep it, even if you make other pairs wait during that time, you already solved the major problem.

Katalin
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Alessio Nunziato
Alessio Nunziato
Germany
Local time: 11:52
Member (2006)
English to Italian
+ ...
the Winner... Sep 14, 2009

Hello,

I just would like to point out that the method used to select the winner of a trip to a Proz conference is rather unfair, because it goes without saying that those pairs which are less common will get much fewer votes than pairs like English>Spanish, German>English, etc. So the "unlucky" translators who translate only let's say into Afrikaans or Vietnamese are already sure they have no chance to win anything.

Win an all-expenses-paid trip to a ProZ.com conference! The all-expenses-paid trip will be awarded to the member whose entry receives the higher number of votes among all pairs


I liked the idea of drawing the winners in the previous contest, it didn't penalized anyone for speaking a less-known language. Winners in all pairs are equally worth winning the prize offered and by using this new method there is necessarily an implicit pre-selection based on the language they speak.

The prize offered tempted me to take part in the contest for the first time since the time I won some contests ago, but this method really discourages me, becuase I know that, in the lucky case I won, my language pair would never get as many votes as language pairs involving English or Spanish.

I hope someone else will also share his/her opinion about this.

Good luck to all contestants!

[Edited at 2009-09-14 16:31 GMT]

[Edited at 2009-09-14 16:33 GMT]


 
Katalin Horváth McClure
Katalin Horváth McClure  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:52
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Yes, the prize selection method does not make sense Sep 14, 2009

I just saw this on the main Contest page:
The all-expenses-paid trip will be awarded to the member whose entry receives the higher number of votes among all pairs.


Aside from the fact that the sentence is grammatically incorrect, Alessio is absolutely right about the unfairness of this selection method. Since the number of potential voters is clearly and greatly different in the individual pairs, this does not make sense at all.

What was wrong with the random drawing???

Katalin


 
Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
SITE STAFF
TOPIC STARTER
There is a set deadline for 'extended submission' too Sep 14, 2009

Katalin Horvath McClure wrote:

The problem in the past was that the contest was going on and on forever (from November till March? or something), without any firm dates along the way. Practically all deadlines were moved, or there were no declared deadlines at all. (Wait until we have enough submissions/votes etc.) We never knew when winners would be announced, and after a while, people lost interest. I think this is what people (including myself) were against.

If you extend the submission phase by a week or so, as long as you declare it clearly and keep it, even if you make other pairs wait during that time, you already solved the major problem.

Katalin


All dates have been fixed and even the extension of the submission phase for some language pairs will have a deadline. This means that if a language pair that has been left open for entries does not reach the minimum number of entries required to move to final voting round before the 'extended submission' deadline, no winner will be selected and the pair will finally be opened for feedback.

Hope this explains better.

Regards,

Lucia


 
Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
SITE STAFF
TOPIC STARTER
A drawing will be held among winners as in past contests Sep 14, 2009

I apologize for the misunderstanding with how the main winner will be selected. Thanks Alessio for bringing this into my attention.

As in past contests, the winner of the all-expenses-paid trip prize will be determined from a drawing among all contest winners.

I already edited the related FAQ and the information in the contest page should be showing c
... See more
I apologize for the misunderstanding with how the main winner will be selected. Thanks Alessio for bringing this into my attention.

As in past contests, the winner of the all-expenses-paid trip prize will be determined from a drawing among all contest winners.

I already edited the related FAQ and the information in the contest page should be showing correctly now.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Lucia
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Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
SITE STAFF
TOPIC STARTER
Clarifying 9th ProZ.com Translation Contest prizes Sep 16, 2009

Hello all,

I am afraid that the contest announcement sent to those who are subscribed to contest notifications may have created some confusion regarding contest prizes.

To clarify, the winner of the all-expenses-paid trip prize will be determined from a drawing among all contest winners.

Winners for each language pair will receive a digital certificate in their profile and recognition within the community for having submitted what other peers consider the b
... See more
Hello all,

I am afraid that the contest announcement sent to those who are subscribed to contest notifications may have created some confusion regarding contest prizes.

To clarify, the winner of the all-expenses-paid trip prize will be determined from a drawing among all contest winners.

Winners for each language pair will receive a digital certificate in their profile and recognition within the community for having submitted what other peers consider the best translation in each language pair.

I hope this helps clarify.

Thanks to Katalin Horvath McClure for bringing this to my attention, and sorry for the misunderstanding.

Please let me know if there are still any doubts.

Regards,

Lucia
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Arnaud HERVE
Arnaud HERVE  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:52
English to French
+ ...
Spelling rule? Sep 16, 2009

Lucia, is there a rule somewhere that explains to contesters how to deal with spelling mistakes in source texts?

Should another spelling mistake be invented, or the word spelled correctly in target?


 
Katalin Horváth McClure
Katalin Horváth McClure  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:52
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Drawing for prize Sep 16, 2009

Thank you, Lucia, for clarifying that the grand prize (trip to a ProZ conference) will be awarded by random drawing, independent of the number of votes the actual entry received when it won in the respective language pair.

Katalin

[edited after Lucia clarified the confusion]



[Edited at 2009-09-16 23:43 GMT]


 
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:52
Swedish to English
+ ...
Anyone remember the soap "Soap" Sep 16, 2009

Tag line: "Confused, you wont be after this episode". You always we're even more confused and I am now.

Lucia wrote:

the winner of the all-expenses-paid trip prize will be determined from a drawing [sic] among all contest winners.



I.e. a random draw involving all contest winners.

and then:


To clarify, an all-expense paid trip to a ProZ.com conference will be awarded to the member whose entry receives the highest number of votes among all pairs.


And now we're back to rewarding people who work in more common language pairs...


 
Johanna Timm, PhD
Johanna Timm, PhD  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 03:52
English to German
+ ...
What is going on, II Sep 16, 2009

"I'm sorry to say so but, sadly it's true
that bang-ups and hang-ups
can happen to you.
And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed). "

Dr. Seuss


 
Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
SITE STAFF
TOPIC STARTER
Last post edited Sep 16, 2009

Hello all,

I deeply apologize for my previous post and for the confusion it may have caused (again).

I edited my last post accordingly now:

the winner of the all-expenses-paid trip prize will be determined from a drawing among all contest winners.

Winners for each language pair will receive a digital certificate in their profile and recognition within the community for having submitted what other peers consider the best translation in each language pair.


I hope this time this really clarifies.

Again, sorry for the misunderstanding.

Please let me know if this is still not clear.

Kind regards,

Lucia


 
Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
SITE STAFF
TOPIC STARTER
Please submit a support request Sep 16, 2009

Arnaud HERVE wrote:

Lucia, is there a rule somewhere that explains to contesters how to deal with spelling mistakes in source texts?

Should another spelling mistake be invented, or the word spelled correctly in target?


Could you please submit a support request specifying the spelling mistake(s) you found? This will help me look into this further.

Thanks in advance, Arnaud.

Regards,

Lucia


 
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9th Proz.com translation contest: Business. Submission phase is open






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