It seems like everyone is having a horrid month, so I think we need something to cheer things up. What kind of (realistic) prizes would be good for the next contest? Poser related items? Book related items? Chocolate? ...? I'll be thinking on contest ideas as I recharge my mental batteries. I do have a few ideas on prizes, but I'd like to get people's input. I want people to get excited about possible Christmas-ish presents. I hope everyone else's days get better!

I think we should have some non-Poser prizes. I think maybe not everyone is using Poser (I have a sense of guilt, can you tell). I guess the question is, do you have a budget for prizes? Gift certificates are always nice because you can pick what you want with them but I don't know if that is a practical option.

Anything non-Poser related is fine. The compulsive Poser-mania on this site gets a bit tiresome for us non-Poseurs :) Book/writing related items would be great, and much more appropriate for the forum. Dialyn's gift certificate idea is good, so long as it applies equally to non-USA residents. IMO, the best, though, would be publishing opportunities, if that could be arranged.

Chocolate was mentioned, is there a need for further discussion?!?!?

I'm with Cal...chocolate is great! Being a fractal artist rather than a 'poseur', I too get a bit weary of Poser related prizes. If I end up winning any, I would have to find someone to give them to, lol. One nice thing that I have seen elsewhere here is the link name of a contest winner in the forum header. It's not much, but it is something. Oh, and if chocolate is out...how about coffee?

LOL @ tres and Cal. I agree with the sentiment above. Although the majority of the site is Poser-related, it doesn't automatically mean that is the prize of choice. A gift-certificate might be handy but to tell the truth, I'm not sure what there is besides Poser products and printed artwork to be had. Darn shame there aren't any related products for writers. Like handbooks and such.

I can try to make arrangements for gift certificates and such not necessarily on this site. Realistic = small, affordable prizes, not necessarily Renderosity Poser products. Chocolate, huh? Swiss Colony does have truffles to die for. ;-)

Perhaps gift certificates to a site that is available universally (I hate to mention it but Amazon.com springs to mind because they have a large marketplace of goodies), not just books. Or a signed picture of one of our favorite moderators....Crescent properly framed? :)

I like chocolate too. Not sure how appropriate it is for a contest prize, but I do like it. ;-) As far as a prize goes for a Writer's Forum I think the last prize was ideal; publication. What could be better? Oh, a couple thousand dollars maybe, but... Seriously, I think having the winning entry published in the magazine is the best prize you could come up with. If you have a budget a gift certificate is a good idea. I recommend Amazon.com personally. They are universally redeemable and the recipient can choose the item of their liking. And there is no shipping. They are delivered via e-mail. I thought you were on vacation. Get! :-) jon

I have about 8 bags of leftover Halloween candy, so that chocolate prize is looking really good right now! ;-) I'll be on vacation starting tomorrow morning. I'm trying to wrap stuff up, and right now I'm on a massive sugar kick! ;-)

I couldn't run poser if I tried. So poser prize = bad for my computer. ;) A gift certificate to someplace that everyone can access, though, sounds pretty good to me, but that all depends on the prize giver's budget, doesn't it? Where in the poser contests, people pretty much donate prizes from the MP. So it all depends on what -can- be given and what is available. Spec

Mmm...chocolate. My only problem is that it might not ship well...then again...melted chocolate..mmm. But really, i think publishing and of course a copy of the issue of the mag in which their work was published would be an awesome prize. I KNOW that alot of people don't /can't use poser. it's nice, but not for everyone.

I think the gift certificate is a great idea also the one on the publishing is too. I don't really write good stories LOL but it was fun. You never know till you try what you can do :O)

Unfortunatley, inches in a magazine cost real money, in terms of production costs. It may actually be cheeper to give a gift certificate, but being published would be the best prize of all. jon