Nominate walk reports (or not)

[pollyh33]

Wow its going to be fun watching the canvasing techniques at Kintail!!!

Mine's a vodka and diet coke- no ice!

[johnnyaztec]

Perhaps including the people who have posted in the previous six months for the second placed prize might still encourage them to send in walk reports.

[HighlandSC]

Good suggestions here. But i dont think becoming ineligible for a prize will have any real effect on people posting reports. Its way down the list of reasons, if a factor at all, why i write reports. Nice bonus for the winners though

[Rossco]

Yeah I agree. As nice as it would be to win, it's not why I do write ups and I imagine it would be the same for the vast majority of people here.

[jonny616]

I think nominating walk reports is a great idea.

[monty]

well I think this is going too far. The winning report is outstanding but it has nothing to do with scotland. In addition there have been many scottish walk reports. Yet Paul wants to congratulate individuals that have produced a report out of the blue.
In my opinion this is wrong. There are many individuals, me included, that have posted many walks and have had no recognition of the effort and application requirerd to be in the running for the walk of the month.

Again paul awards WROTM and mentions other individuals yet ignores those that have produced 5 or 6 reports per month.

I dont understand it.

Do you realy want to allienate your core support/
Strange

[Johnny Corbett]

Monty, you make a few good points and generally what you say is true but what Paul is proposing will surely change that as we the members will be voting on the walk reports. Is that not whats getting proposed. I say everyone votes for me I need new walking poles

[brpro26]

I don't really get the 6 months wallied out rule. If the reports good enough to win then it should win....simples!!!
If people are making the effort to submit reports then they should be included for consideration by the board, you have the final say anyway and can police the winners as you like(not that I'm suggesting that your doing that)
The sites called Walkhighlands therefore the report should be on the Highlands.
I'm not one for report writing but do enjoy reading and viewing the outstanding photos that normally accompany them.
Everest didn't do it for me this month.

[Stretch]

The argument that the WROTM should only be awarded to a walk completed in the Scottish Highlands (or at the least somewhere in Scotland) should certainly be considered in my opinion. I absolutely loved the Everest trip report and I'm jealous of Mountainlove's adventure. However, I would guess that only a minority of folks who use this site regularly would be able to undertake such a trip in their lifetime. On the other hand, those who live in Scotland or visit here frequently have easy access to the hills and long distance walks and can make a lot more contributions to the website. Restricting the winner to this pool of reports allows those who post excellent accounts of their days out in Scotland a much better chance to win the monthly prize.

[ChrisW]

As we now have a 'click to like this report' button, why not take the top 10 September 'liked' reports at the end of the month, throw them in a hat and draw a 1st and 2nd. Any other rules such as Scotland only and the 6 month rule could be applied, that way everyone will contribute to the winner.

I have never considered the WROTM when posting and never will, I post to share with those who inspired me to fitness and to encourage others to do the same, as a lone walker I enjoy the 'post wander feedback' and (obviously) as a human being I enjoy the compliments on my pics or report overall

I got a second place in WROTM for my Lochnager post and was truly grateful but also recognised the pile of reports that were funnier, better or more interesting than mine that month so felt a bit 'cheeky' (that wore off though as I ordered my new poles )

I guess what I'm trying to say is it's bloody difficult to 'pick' a report from so many - maybe the draw from a hat of 'liked' reports option fits.

Good luck Paul, remember....... you cant please all of the people all of the time

[ndhudson]

For what it's worth, as an "outsider" who has posted a fair few Outside Scotland trip reports, I would agree that the winning trip report should come from Scotland...as this is a site celebrating the Scottish hills. Beyond that, I would say, "Good luck, Paul!"

[Paul Webster]

Brilliant report on Everest base camp, well deserved winner. Could this be the best walk report ever?

Everest didn't do it for me this month.

I think the above two comments show the problem here - which are the best reports are completely subjective. Remember it isn't a 'forum's most prolific poster award' either (I can easily list 30-40 people who need a prize immediately if it was), it's 'walk report of the month'. I don't really think it is fair to exclude outside Scotland reports (though only 2 in 3 years have won prizes so far) - there are lots of contributors on there who don't write on the Scotland part but put in loads of good reports. Unfortunately we do get pms and emails regularly with complaints - which include 'reports outside Scotland never win' (remember this thread is on the Scotland section!), and 'only a clique of posters always win so outsiders have no chance' as well as 'only newbies win'. Maybe this means something must be right .

I think the great variety of places and types of report is what keeps it interesting. Personally I'd like to see more good low level walk reports too as Walkhighlands is for all types of walker - we have had some good ones lately - though I love the hills too, as much as anyone else.

I'm not sure why I might be thought to be biased, but one thing to note is that I don't choose walk report of the month and haven't for almost for almost a year. Also, note that there is no advertising at all displayed on or alongside walk reports on this website - walk reports are for either for yourself, or for the rest of the community.

All reports very gratefully received

[Johnny Corbett]

I bet you're wishing you never started this post Paul Here's another suggestion that may narrow it down. Why doesn't a winning walk report say for example Septembers, actually be walked in that September and not for a report that was walked 6 months previous?

[Paul Webster]

Thanks for all the suggestions, but I don't think we will impose any restrictions. What about if you do a great walk on the 31st of the month - would you have to rush home and get it written up by midnight? What about members who use film cameras (there are some) - it might be months before a film is finally finished and then sent off to be developed, got back and scanned.

I'm not sure why we would want to impose restrictions, some of the 'vintage'-style reports have been very popular. Surely anyone making the effort to produce something worth reading and looking at deserves a chance.

[Paul Webster]

STOP PRESS!!

We've decided it is best to make the choosing of the winners completely independent of Walkhighlands; all future winners will be chosen by the online gear folks at Webtogs, who provide the prizes.

All reports receiving a like will be passed automatically to Webtogs so they can choose the winners - so there is no need to nominate here after all.