« Previous post
Next post »

January 11, 2006

Help Me Pick the SXSW Pass Winner

Michael Arrington

54 comments »

Last Saturday I wrote a post to give away a free pass to the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin this March. I asked interested people to leave a comment on the post describing why they want the pass, and what they think they will get out of the conference.

Requests had to be in by midnight last night, and I am now presenting the seven applications that I think are the best for a vote. I am running this poll until midnight Friday PST.

Please vote for who you think is the best applicant. Most people wrote serious requests and I’d like to include all of them in the poll, but I’m limited to seven (maximum that can be included in the poll service). When I had to cut for no other reason, I favored women over men because they are under represented in technology. Also, a couple of good applications came in after the deadline. I would have liked to include those as well, but I set the rules in advance and don’t feel comfortable changing them. Thank you very much to everyone who asked for the pass.

These are in the order comments were received:

  1. Andrew - Posted immediately, is broke and 15 years old.
  2. Tim - Writes the Boycott Sony blog. Enough said.
  3. Lena - thoughtful post, would choose SXSW over a vacation
  4. Serge - Likes Santana, the Cure and the Clash, which means he’s very, very cool
  5. Chris - Family guy with two kids, wants to learn more about technology
  6. Ryan - Another broke student, and can use this to also see his family
  7. Dana - works for unfunded company, has a podcast

Vote here (note that you need to scroll down for the last three):


Create polls and vote for free. dPolls.com

By the way, I am using dpolls for this poll, which I wrote about here.

  • Sphere It

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Trackbacks/Pings (Trackback URL)

  1. RyanMerket.com - A personal blog.

    January 11th, 2006 at 1:47 pm

  2. andrew.hamann

    January 11th, 2006 at 2:46 pm

  3. Hand Coding » Blog Archive » #CSS IRC Channel on EFNet

    March 5th, 2006 at 9:25 am

  4. fico score

    May 23rd, 2006 at 5:46 pm

  5. 8web Site-Bites » Blog Archive » Search Engine Keyword Advertising As Leeches on The

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:04 pm

  6. 8web Site-Bites » Blog Archive » The best advertising business internet marketing sources. …

    January 20th, 2007 at 5:53 am

  7. 8web Site-Bites » Blog Archive » Summary: Starting point: The “chaotic Web ” and

    February 13th, 2007 at 9:27 pm

  8. Multimedias.mobi » Trash TechCrunch And Win A Free Pass To The Web 2.0 Expo

    April 5th, 2007 at 2:02 am

  9. Trash TechCrunch And Win A Free Pass To The Web 2.0 Expo

    April 5th, 2007 at 2:21 am

  10. Jarrett House North » Blog Archive » Boycott Sony at SXSW, with your help

    May 9th, 2008 at 1:10 am

Comments

RSS feed for comments on this post.

  1. Joshua Kendall

    January 11th, 2006 at 1:44 pm

    Now what happens in the event of a tie?

  2. anthropocentric

    January 11th, 2006 at 1:44 pm

    Poll is biased! It shows the first people prominently. You have to “scroll down” (not obvious) to see the remaining choices. Surely, some proportion of those filling out the poll will miss this.

    This poll should show all of the choices up-front AND the choices should be randomized.

  3. Michael Arrington

    January 11th, 2006 at 1:46 pm

    #2 - Yeah, well, it is what it is. I don’t have the ability to show everything up front, nor can i randomize the choices.

    #1 - Um…no idea.

  4. keng

    January 11th, 2006 at 2:01 pm

    Tell ryan to quit spamming Digg.
    Thanks

  5. hash

    January 11th, 2006 at 2:02 pm

    I agree with #2. Not having all the people listed “above the fold” on the poll is just lame. I don’t even know any of them, but feel bad for the bottom 3.

  6. Richard

    January 11th, 2006 at 2:09 pm

    The bottom 3 seem to be doing ok

  7. Shawn

    January 11th, 2006 at 2:14 pm

    dpolls needs to fix this.
    under the fold = never get noticed.
    i voted for dana - her attending carries some sort of (hopefully) future business implications. everyone else would just like a vacation.

  8. Peter Oliver

    January 11th, 2006 at 3:09 pm

    I actually didn’t see the scroll and voted for someone I would not have. Woops.

  9. Dustin

    January 11th, 2006 at 3:41 pm

    Buy a ticket you cheapie! ;)

  10. Steven Noble

    January 11th, 2006 at 4:41 pm

    the REAL question is, how can anyway who likes The Clash also like Santana…? nuff said

  11. Kirk

    January 11th, 2006 at 4:42 pm

    Andrew - would be great if he could make it, but it’s better for someone who is already in the industry.

    Tim - Big deal. He has a blog.

    Lena - this is the type of person who SXSW Interactive is made for. It’s a not a very technical conference in the sense of coding and such, it’s more about the trends, upcoming technologies, and to get inspired about new ideas.

    Serge - thinks he’s going to the SXSW Music conference. This contest is for SXSW Interactive. Punt.

    Chris - Too bad. You live a 3 hr drive from Austin and haven’t made your dream come true. Come on.

    Ryan - Again, should really be someone who’s already in the industry.

    Dana - Yeah, not even close. This conference is for more focused individuals. She sounds lost.

  12. Hoan Ton-That

    January 11th, 2006 at 5:10 pm

    Give it to the 15 year old Andrew.
    He might be a famous web designer one day.

  13. Barry

    January 11th, 2006 at 6:58 pm

    Hiya, Sorry for grassing people up in a childish manner, but it seems one of the applicants for your freebie sxsw pass has been spamming our CSS IRC channel (#css on efnet) in attempts to tip the balance in his favour.

    I wouldn’t mind but he’s not even a channel regular and just appears to be annoying people on IRC in hope of winning some extra votes. If the name and IP matches what’s in the logs below, I would be appreciative if you did whatever you felt necessary to discourage this behaviour, it doesn’t help our already less-than-ideal signal to noise ratio.

    Thanks. And feel free to stop by sometime and say hi ;)

    02.41.08 * Joins: u238 (webby@24-117-13-130.cpe.cableone.net)
    02.41.13 i need help
    02.41.21 goto http://www.techcrunch.com and vote for Ryan
    02.41.23

  14. Ryan Merket

    January 11th, 2006 at 7:24 pm

    Not a regular? I am there everyday.

  15. Lena

    January 11th, 2006 at 7:40 pm

    > everyone else would just like a vacation

    In my original comment/entry, my intent is to express that I would use my annual leave hours at work to attend SXSW, rather than saving my time off for a traditional vacation. An event like SXSW is the type of activity that revitalizes and inspires me.

  16. Ebrahim

    January 11th, 2006 at 8:11 pm

    Right, poll system isn’t quite nice. Many would miss the below options.

    Anyway, I vote for Ryan.

  17. matt kelly

    January 11th, 2006 at 10:25 pm

    Once again….yeah i’d like to vote for ryan but i don’t see him as a choice so i’m not choosing until i do.

  18. anthropocentric

    January 11th, 2006 at 11:49 pm

    Told you! Shoulda used SurveyMonkey. Give the Israeli’s a few weeks, they will fix the below-the-fold problem.

  19. Adam Bouskila

    January 12th, 2006 at 12:27 am

    That’s tough, you just want to let everyone have the ability to attend. I would love to go myself, but that’s not going to happen for a while.

    I voted for Ryan so he could kill two birds with one stone. I will soon also be in his position so I can identify with him being a broke student. Unfortunately, I voted before I read the comments; Ryan, I won’t applaud you for what you did with Digg and the IRC. Nonetheless, good luck.

    We need some conferences with open source mentality.

  20. Ozh

    January 12th, 2006 at 3:25 am

    Well at least this post shows that DPolls are fun and trendy, but completely unusable.

  21. Vos

    January 12th, 2006 at 6:44 am

    Voting Lena

  22. Paul

    January 12th, 2006 at 6:49 am

    I would say completely unusable… maybe the opposite..

    b.t.w - SurveyMonkey is not free.

    “Please note that basic subscribers are limited to a total of 10 questions and 100 responses per survey”

    Now how can this be used?

  23. Paul

    January 12th, 2006 at 6:50 am

    I would not say completely unusable… maybe the opposite..

    b.t.w - SurveyMonkey is not free.

    “Please note that basic subscribers are limited to a total of 10 questions and 100 responses per survey”

    Now how can this be used?

  24. Barry

    January 12th, 2006 at 7:08 am

    Ryan:

    > Not a regular? I am there everyday.

    Not with that nick or hostname, according to my logs. And I have extensive logs stretching back over a year. Polluting online communities that exist solely to help developers take advantage of new technologies in a selfish bid to get free stuff is just not something that should be encouraged.

    I implore you to check the IP of his posts against the one in my previous comment and take appropriate action, this kind of selfish attitude helps noone.

  25. Ryan Merket

    January 12th, 2006 at 7:15 am

    Barry, calm down…everything is going to be ‘OK’.

  26. Serge Lescouarnec

    January 12th, 2006 at 7:18 am

    Michael

    Good to see I am included in the running.
    Regarding those questioning my my musical tastes, if you read my whole entry, you will see that they cover a whole range.
    Santana lead me to Coltrane for example.
    I also like the whole ‘Factory’ scene including New Order and Durutti Column and also european labels like Crammed and Crepuscule Records. Not to forget aussies bands like the Hoodoo Gurus, Go-Betweens, The Church…enough said…
    Let’s say that in general I like to explore, be it books, technology, ideas and so on.
    I just hosted a breakfast discussion with Steve Shapiro on Monday on his new book ‘Goal Free Living’ http://www.goalfree.com

    Today is a special day for me, I will be wrtiting BLOG Post number 200 on ‘Serge the Concierge’. Never thought I would get there when I started.

    Good day everyone

    Serge
    http://www.sergetheconcierge.typepad.com

  27. Stephen

    January 12th, 2006 at 7:35 am

    Hmmm… Twice the results now than when I first voted for Lena. Currently at 617. When I voted earliar it was Andrew in the lead now Ryan.

    Does this mean Ryan has been creative and asked for others he knows to vote for him or is it spam voting. A personal decision no doubt on what you call it.

    This is a nice ‘real web2.0′ test of a voting system, and some associated things that go with what we call a ’social web’

  28. Suzan

    January 12th, 2006 at 12:43 pm

    I work with Lena - she is honest, humble, very helpful to all of us here in the State of Wisconsin and we would all benefit from her being able to go - so pick Lena - she deserves the chance!

  29. morgan

    January 12th, 2006 at 4:24 pm

    go ryan

  30. Chris Gray

    January 12th, 2006 at 4:43 pm

    I just wanted to say thank you for considering me for this contest. While it is true that I only live a few hours (5 not 3) away, it is hard to find the money needed to go. My wife seems to think that it is necessary for our family to eat instead. Go figure!

  31. Art Pulford

    January 12th, 2006 at 6:31 pm

    Lena is the one that I like.

  32. Chase

    January 12th, 2006 at 10:30 pm

    How do i vote for Ryan?

  33. Rob

    January 13th, 2006 at 6:26 am

    It would appear that while Ryan has something of a significant fanbase, his methods for increasing visibility and subsequently pleading for votes border on the unethical.

    Additionally, his response to the concern brought forth by Barry of efnet just struck me as…unprofessional. “Calm down, everything is going to be ‘okay’.” This strikes me as something close to rude, or at the least, dismissive.

    Michael, I apologize for being so negative and I don’t mean to start any kind of significant flaming, but maybe Ryan could’ve won a few more votes with an apology instead of a dismissal?

  34. Ryan Merket

    January 13th, 2006 at 6:36 am

    Rob, what is there to apologize for? I asked my friends in an efnet channel I frequent quite regularly. And for one OP not recognize me and flame me on here is no reason for me to apologize.

    Now, I will apologize if he took offense to my response (or lack thereof) to his flame. So for that, I’m sorry.

  35. Nick Drago

    January 13th, 2006 at 6:50 am

    I definitely submitted before the deadline! Where’s my name??

  36. Teresa

    January 13th, 2006 at 8:48 am

    Hi, I am a visitor to this site, trying to leave a vote for Lena, who helps me and others at a state environmental agency bring our information into the modern age. Lena is so important to getting the word out, and I support her getting all the professional learning she can.
    I tried to vote for her, but I can’t figure out, quite, how to leave a vote on this. I clicked on her name on the place that says Vote Here, but didn’t get any indication that a vote had been cast. This just confirms, in my mind, how much we need Lena for help!

  37. Michael Arrington

    January 13th, 2006 at 12:35 pm

    #35 - Rob, yes I agree Ryan is not the most polished individual, although sometimes comments are hard to read due to lack of tone. In any event, I don’t see anything he’s done that should require removing him from the vote.

  38. Conscientious Objector

    January 13th, 2006 at 3:07 pm

    Ryan, I am a little curious about all the comments you have let on your friends Myspace sites.

    1/13/2006 5:52:00 AM

    This is it, tonight at midnight the voting stops and winner announced. Right now I am in the lead, but not by much. If you already voted YOU CAN VOTE AGAIN! Once per day, so go back and hit it up, one last time!

    Thank you so much for supporting me.

    You speak of only asking some friends in an EFNet IRC channel, though from your site on myspace.com you have many comments from people who told you they voted twice and now you are asking everyone to vote twice. I don’t think that is very fair on your behalf.

    Vote twice comment
    Ryan’s myspace.com

  39. Ryan Merket

    January 14th, 2006 at 7:35 am

    “Conscientious Objector”,

    Tell me exactly what I did that makes you object? Was is it the campaigning for votes? I didn’t realize that was something I wasn’t allowed to do. Was it asking them to vote twice? I don’t think that is a ‘flaw’ or an ‘exploit’ by any means. I think that is a normal part of the dPolls system. They could have easily kept a list of the IPs that voted until the poll was closed and not allowed them to vote again, but they didn’t.

    I think the point (correct me if I am wrong, Michael) of this friendly competition was to see was could garner the most support in a short amount of time to send them to SXSW. I for one, want to go bad enough that I campaigned every day, 5-6 times a day. Asking every avenue of the ’social web’ that I had available to me. Blogs, IRC, Myspace, Digg, Xanga, E-mail, Co-workers, Family, Friends in a coffee shops, Facebook, and Stylegala.

    Not once did I think what I was doing or asking of my friends was unethical. I’m sorry if you feel that way, I truly am.

    Ryan

  40. Conscientious Objector

    January 14th, 2006 at 9:25 am

    Ryan,

    I think the point (correct me if I am wrong, Michael) of this friendly competition was to see was could garner the most support in a short amount of time to send them to SXSW. I for one, want to go bad enough that I campaigned every day, 5-6 times a day. Asking every avenue of the ’social web’ that I had available to me. Blogs, IRC, Myspace, Digg, Xanga, E-mail, Co-workers, Family, Friends in a coffee shops, Facebook, and Stylegala.

    In my view I most definitely would say you are wrong here. I don’t believe Mike asked the whole of the internet to come and pick someone. He asked his readers who value his site here to vote on there choice of who they thought should get the ticket. The loyal readers of this site would be the people with a balanced view of reading each of the entries as Mike linked to above and making an informed decision on who we thought was the best suited candidate from the information provided. Mike’s audience includes some of the most influential and creative people in the internet world and not just the ‘Web 2.0’ field. Your anonymous voters in whatever volume I would say have never been here previous to this and I doubt would ever come back to read the ‘Crunch Network’. Most people who read this site I would suggest took the time to read the entry from each of the candidates. Your MySpace site and a comment here from another myspace user were “How do I vote for Ryan, I cannot see his name there”, that question is answered by the single line of text above the ‘dpoll’. That is not an informed or fair vote IMHO.

    If you were to post an article on Digg (Not related to this competition) and then used all of the social avenues you had to raise the amount of Digg’s on your entry just to get it to the homepage I think you would find the Digg audience would not be very happy with someone trying to manipulate the system like that. People of late have spoken of the ‘Digg mob mentality’, your process is worse than that scenario IMHO.

    I think and we would all understand that some family and friends coming by and dropping in a few votes for you is great and no doubt welcome (even family bribes would be fine). I think when tactics like what you have taken simply shows ‘You don’t get it’ and you want to influence the social rankings of a system by telling people to choose a particular voting option and not letting them choose and vote on each candiate’s merits. One of the main purposes of what is being created with web 2.0 is user choice and not underhand tactics similar to spam to distort the results.

    I must say if this was an open slather grab everything and get as many votes from any place you can think of you would be a worthy winner. You are very enthusiastic and not at all a bad web designer and you will be an even greater asset to the industry after you leave school.

    I wish you the best in your future endeavours.

    Regards,

    CO

  41. Ryan Merket

    January 14th, 2006 at 10:05 am

    So, if you are saying it is wrong to try to influence the voting by asking friends and associates to vote for you then I would say everybody in the runnings is ‘wrong’:

    Lena: Example

    Serge: Example

    Andrew: Example

    Tim: Example - Example 2

    Cris: Example

    Ryan: Example

    All I’m aying is that everyone asked for votes OUTSIDE of TechCrunch.

    “…you want to influence the social rankings of a system by telling people to choose a particular voting option and not letting them choose and vote on each candiate’s merits.”

    See the above links.

  42. Ryan Merket

    January 14th, 2006 at 10:09 am

    Here is one more:
    Lena = Example 2

  43. Serge Lescouarnec

    January 14th, 2006 at 1:22 pm

    Kirk

    Good afternoon

    I do realize the difference between South by Southwest Music and the Interactive part.

    To me anyway both are based on a spirit of discovery.

    My main reason to come to such an event is to get inspired, explore new ideas and meet new and interesting people.

    Serge
    http://www.sergetheconcierge.typepad.com

  44. Barry

    January 15th, 2006 at 8:15 am

    Ryan: I don’t think there’s an issue with people asking for votes on their own website or within their own community, in fact I imagine it was expected. What I object to is your misuse of OUR community in order to garner extra votes.

    I have just asked all our ops (who are all very active in the channel and are trying very hard to make it a useful resource for designers and developers) and not one of them recognises you, further I can only find a few instances of you even being in the channel in our logs, which is why I took such offence.

    Personally I believe your actions to be little better than spamming by email - which I think we can all agree would be out of order.

    Running a channel that accepts all-comers from newbies to hardened design professionals is already a tricky business, we fight a constant battle against spam and misuse, while trying to juggle educating new users and keeping the interest of more advanced users.

    This is one of the few times where it’s possible to make someone misusing our community responsible for their actions, so I apologise if this somewhat personal attack seems petty.

« Previous post
Next post »