apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

thanks for doing that - makes the rest of us more willing to go out on a limb and enter these contests!

I noticed they're gone too, and thank you! They are much more pleasent to read through as I've been doing lately.

I wonder if this individual skewed the voting, too. That would be a shame.

Thanks for the update, AT. Wondering if I was going nuts there...
I am from hereonin guarding my computer from being "communal" now at the office. Lots of my AT-addicted co-workers use my lappie to lap it up...

Could that IP address been at a wireless cafe or design center or something? Yikes, that sounds like a lot of work for one or two people.

Had to have been a wireless IP address...

I can walk all over the city with my laptop and pick up signals every which way (even in this same office building).
Some of those comments I think MUST have been legit people. There are some very constructive and, quite frankly, some very nice, funny posts missing..

Oh, well. Let's carry on..

good eye!

I'm glad. I love this site and everyone's creativity. I spurred me to paint my apartment in a great color that I love. I wanted to post,(not for contest, but just to show colors off) but got intimidated by some of the nasty comments. Thanks for doing that. When I get rest of furniture, I will post pictures!

I love it when Maxwell gets butch.

Hey, AT:
You so promptly addressed the situation of the "mysterious vanishing" posts... now can you address the business behind this Color Contest.
I think we all would like to hear some clarifications and explanations from y'all. I am still confused as to how the finalists came about through our voting and how the winner or winners will be picked. (Sorry, to keep bringing up this subject).

thank you!

Ha Pixie!

100 comments! 50 aliases! Where do people find the time? And the desire?!

Amazing.

It wasn't me.... It was the One Armed Man!

Susan,

Very simple and please keep up as most of what you are asking is out there already.

We awarded points for each of the votes and added up each contestants total points. We tried three different weighted approaches and used the intersection of all of them to choose the finalists. They were really rather clear.

One note: we pretty much discounted all "no way Jose" votes this time around because we felt there was some bad vote rigging going on in that category in Chicago. It was threatening to unbalance our vote, so we weighted the top two postive votes much more.

The finalists are being chosen by the judges using a similar system. They will give us their top 4 choices and we will be combining these to discern the overall top choices.

Another note: If you have been with us for awile you will know that he two pronged approach - first reader's vote and then judges vote - is a result of improving past contests in which the reader's vote was seen to be imperfect in the long run. We feel that the combination works much better.

interesting... but somehow that doesn't bring me closure as to why some of the honorable mentions are *so* much better than some of the finalists.

well, i'm glad only the top 4 finalists win a prize and all honorable mentions receive some kind of material recognition. i know it's not about the prizes, but the current set-up establishes some semblance of contest fairness.

Such a relief! I withdrew my contest entry because I didn't want to bring such negative energy into my home.

in addition, i think it's ridiculous that a lot of the mud-slinging is directed towards apartment therapy!

i love AT and i can't wait to enter next year. this contest has really inspired me to make my new place more colorful and inviting. nothing like a little incentive to motivate ya.

As creator and benevolent leader of the AT domain, I firmly believe that you can do whatever you deem appropriate. You brought us into this world, and you can take us out!

Plus, some of those people were just plain mean.

The deleted comments I noticed were contentious but hardly malicious. I must have missed the other 97.

I don't mind a little mudslinging, although when people post pictures of their homes online viewers should respond tactfully (not that I always follow this rule, but..). It's daunting making the intimacy of your home public and exposing your esthetics to criticism. Even when there's money involved (and $2000 is a LOT), it still takes grit to put yourself out there and take the heat.

Otherwise, when people just banter online hostilities inevitably flare, and it's not such a big deal. I realize this is a minority view, but so be it.

Henrietta -
moi!?! what motive?

Huh? I just thought what you said about Maxwell was funny.

Oops, Henrietta - now I see what you're saying - you weren't accusing me at all. :D

No, you did not come to mind as a Prime Suspect!

I was wondering what it was about me...

Thank you, Maxwell, for responding to my question. I do appreciate your response. Your explanation has cleared it all up for me.

I see the light clearly now... I undertand!!! Heehee
Thanks again for the quick response...

Let the festivities begin!! Yaaaaa!!

Susan :)

Given that the whole idea is a happy home, and since this Maxwell's home, so-to-speak, I think it's reasonable to expect people to at least be civilized. So, I support the idea of keeping house in such a way that makes himself feel comfortable with the balance.

I share a similar comfort level.

I agree with Tim, there must be SOME real people out there who have been mistakenly banned from this site. I did not find alot of malice nor hatefulness here, but really just constructive feedback and interesting dialogue.
I know the contest *itself* was somewhat of a heated debate... as well about some judge's contestable picks and controversial finalists, but...
Maxwell, wants to clean house, let him clean house. He da "Terminator"...

I must have missed all the hub bub, I thought the criticims were largely polite and constructive.

Thanks for taking care of it, its amazing how one sourpuss was really bringing the Fall Colors contest down!

YAY MAXWELL!
you rock!

I am glad that something has been done, the negative feedback was kind of depressing. I entered the first room I have ever painted and got some snarky feedback to the point where I wished I hadn't entered it, but this cheers me up a little. I'm enjoying it even more now seeing all the finalists and runners up and getting to see what the rest of their places are like.

My fiance and I were having a discussion at dinner about people who get up to no good - I am jealous of all the free time they have!

Wow, good job guys. That must have taken a while for you to do! What a shame you had to do it.

Curtis said everything I'd have said, if I were more thoughtful and articulate.

Where are finalists #10 and #12??????

Go Maxwell! Life is too short for the snarkys. Constructive criticism is one thing, but bitter is another, and design is like art, so subjective.

And why is it they're almost always 'anonymous'?

What Curtis said.

I'd be a hypocrite if I weren't a fan of *constructive* debate -- but the level of "anything posted is wrong and will be attacked" nastiness had made the site painful to visit.

While I don't know the details of what AT did, with the right tools, it's possible to be 90% sure that no innocent bystanders were banned.

Oh -- you don't need to walk around to show 50 different IP addresses. There are at least three other ways to do it. What's sad is that someone bothered to try any of them.

What Curtis said.

I'd be a hypocrite if I weren't a fan of *constructive* debate -- but the level of "anything posted is wrong and will be attacked" nastiness had made the site painful to visit.

While I don't know the details of what AT did, with the right tools, it's possible to be 90% sure that no innocent bystanders were banned.

Oh -- you don't need to walk around to show 50 different IP addresses. There are at least three other ways to do it. What's sad is that someone bothered to try any of them maliciously.

Even when I have a lot of time on my hands, I can think of better things to do than come up with 50 aliases and be nasty all over AT. If that was somehow geared toward trying to win the contest, all that energy could surely be used to make money in an easier and less malicious way. If it was just for the person's own amusement... wow.

AT should change the setup so that you have to register to post comments, like they do with most message boards. Not that it would deter hooligans, but at least it would be quite a hassle for them to register for 50 accounts!

glad to hear it! it was getting a little out of hand there for a bit.

Now there's a little too much love here. There must be a happy medium.

I simply cannot believe the way in which rules were altered, bent, or otherwise, not given, for many parts of this contest.

It seems like Max just made it up as he went along.

I've compiled all the "negative" comments and conversations back and forth through ALL the AT sites, and it came to nearly 20 8.5x11 sheets of paper in a Word Doc.

Removing the posts and blocking the IP addy of 1 caustic person CANNOT and WILL NOT erase the fact that AT had no interest in keeping this above board. Had they been interested in doing this, the dozens of requests for clarification of rules, and answers to questions would have been addressed.

Now, most of the blame goes to 1 person, who's posts have been erased.

Hope this accomplishes what you wanted on a visibility level, M. On a PR level, it's a disaster. CB2 should not be associated (at least on a 10-15,000 sponsorship level) with something this shady.

If it's a contest, set up the rules, be clear, and don't alter them. This is the net, Max. Bad press goes worldwide in seconds.

Shame, too. Some beautiful spaces in this 'test.

Bradley, I think your criticism has some merit BUT... BUT

maybe things weren't done to Olympic rule standards, BUT I am an avid reader of AT and believe Maxwell and all involved are doing their best to be fair and eqiitible. The main joy of this contest is the use of color. Maybe it is not super corporate and organized but that is what I enjoy about this site. Also it is a great privelege to just be able to join in the spontaneous ideas and feedback without logging into a ridgid community- but that privelege comes with a responsibility to mantain the constructive, postitive and sometimes critical tone of this site. CB2 is lucky to be associated with the AT and ALL the wonderful entrants who put their homes on the line.

The barbs and nastiness had literally caused me to step back and think about the whole blogging thing and what it can do to one's mental well-being. Personally? I hated seeing the negative comments. But, on the other hand, I managed to pull something positive out of it: less time on line.

Thank you, AT. Therapy happened, indeed.

I agree with Bradley.

Here's why:

I do not think that a whole whammy of comments should have been deleted because supposedly "one" person was making or initiating a desperately needed dialogue full of reflections and considerations. Too much bunk, too much disorganization, and too much controversies in this contest NOT to have opposing views and difference (sometimes conflict) of opinions.
I think the deleting & banning act was unfair and unwarranted. As Bradley stated, it does make for bad publicity afterall. So what if some statements were so-called "negative"? That's the philosophy of the Internet! This isn't Disneyland.. it's a worldwide website!!! If you don't want differing opinions, and are satisfied with a boring bunch of lovey dovey generic placating clones, then DO NOT go about manipulating the posts. Otherwise, have a registration or sign-in. THAT'S responsible ownership!

The rules of engagement are THAT simple. Now, please don't go about "terminating" this comment...

Timothy, if people want to make negative comments that's fine - it creates debate and interest. But they can do it under one screenname instead of creating sock-puppets to make it look like there's a whole crowd agreeing with them. It's hard for people who are really interested in discussion to have a conversation when there's one loser drowning out everyone else.

I agree with Stringy. If it's one person out there with hordes of aliases just making a bunch of ugly noise, ban them. They're not here to be constructive, just destructive.

I came back to AT this morning and have to say that I am so happy that something was finally done about this! I have been reading here since August but stopped part way through October due to the amount of negative banter that was going on in the contest. As a lurker who had been considering posting comments, it was a real turn off to see such a hostile environment developing. It felt like a real clique, to be honest and in hindsight, I guess it's easy to see how it could have been one person making the majority of those comments.

I come to this site to learn, and to be inspired. Constructive criticism is great, but there is a way to point out flaws and still be diplomatic.

I'll be happy to add AT to my bookmarks again now!

Hey I fancy the conversation here... scandulous indeed.
Hmmmm, I wonder if it is just "ONE" person creating all THIS dialogue? Hmmmmmmm ???!!!