Every Friday I get asked the same question several times: "Why am I seeing all these Tweets with just names and #ff or #FollowFriday in them?"
Experienced Twitter users have probably been seeing #ff for so long that they forget how puzzling it can be to newcomers.
#ff and #FollowFriday are terms used throughout Twitter - not just among the comping community. One person may want to suggest to their followers other people that they recommend they follow.It has become a tradition on Twitter that this is mostly done on a Friday, so the hashtag #FollowFriday is used to show that the names listed in the tweet are people worth following. But as a tweet can only be 140 characters long, this is often shortened to #ff. If you are new to Twitter and not following many people yet, it can be a great way of finding more people with similar interests.
You can do a hashtag search for #ff or #FollowFriday but you will see many thousands of tweets. It's much better to look at the Tweets of people you already follow and seewho they suggest to you. Click on the names of the people listed, and if you like what you see, hit the follow button!
If you are a comper, the most likely names you will see being recommended are other compers and businesses who run frequent comps. So all well worth following - as long as you're not too close to the dreaded 2,000 limit!
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Something fishy in the comping world?
Over the past few days, some of the compers on Twitter have drifted right off the subject of comping and been talking about strange ways of cooking. In particular, the idea that it is possible to cook a fish in a dishwasher.
Kay, over at Brink of Bedlam has decided to give this a go, and to make it more of a challenge, has decided to look for sponsors and raise some funds for the RNLI, who save so many lives each year.
The salmon in the photo were spotted on my prize trip to Canada last year - so this post DOES have a comping theme after all!
Do, please have a look at Kay's blog, where she will tell you all about her plans and give you a few laughs along the way. And please, PLEASE if you can spare a few pounds, sponsor her on her Just Giving page Lots of compers like to give something to charity from time to time as a way of saying thank you for their wins - or maybe you could make a donation to see if the concept of "Comping Karma" works for YOU!
And as an added incentive, I've promised Kay that if she cooks her fish, I will blog about my extensive recipe book collection, with books ranging from the historic to the hysterical and the exotic to the erotic!
Kay, over at Brink of Bedlam has decided to give this a go, and to make it more of a challenge, has decided to look for sponsors and raise some funds for the RNLI, who save so many lives each year.
The salmon in the photo were spotted on my prize trip to Canada last year - so this post DOES have a comping theme after all!
Do, please have a look at Kay's blog, where she will tell you all about her plans and give you a few laughs along the way. And please, PLEASE if you can spare a few pounds, sponsor her on her Just Giving page Lots of compers like to give something to charity from time to time as a way of saying thank you for their wins - or maybe you could make a donation to see if the concept of "Comping Karma" works for YOU!
And as an added incentive, I've promised Kay that if she cooks her fish, I will blog about my extensive recipe book collection, with books ranging from the historic to the hysterical and the exotic to the erotic!
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Win gorgeous jewellery for your wedding!
Bridal Designs have a lovely competition for anyone who is getting married this year. They have teamed up with 9 wedding photographers from all over the country to offer a prize of £100 worth of jewellery for your wedding. The competition is open to anyone who books wedding photography with one of them, between 14th February and 14th July (that's the date you make the booking - the wedding can be on any date)
Participating photographers are
http://www.xtraordinaryphotography.co.uk/ Sean and Chris , South Tyneside (Covers North East area)
http://www.bluelightsphotography.co.uk/ Adele,Yorkshire (Covers Yorkshire and Nationwide)
http://www.photographybykatie.co.uk/ Katie , Newcastle (Covers North of England and Scottish Borders)
http://www.nikkiwaterlow.co.uk/ Nikki , North Kent (Covers Kent and neighbouring counties, London)
http://www.mattfryer.co.uk/ Matt, North Devon (Covers North Devon, South West)
http://www.thurtlepower.com/ Greg, Dorset (Covers Dorset and Nationwide)
http://www.29gallery.co.uk/ Michael, West Devon (Covers Devon, Midlands and Nationwide)
http://www.elizaclaire.com/ Eliza, London (Covers London and Nationwide
http://www.exposure-photo.com/ Carolyn, Warwickshire (covers Warwickshire and Nationwide)
Although regions are given, many of them will travel to other areas or even overseas. For more information about the competition and the full terms and conditions, see the Bridal Designs blog
Participating photographers are
http://www.xtraordinaryphotography.co.uk/ Sean and Chris , South Tyneside (Covers North East area)
http://www.bluelightsphotography.co.uk/ Adele,Yorkshire (Covers Yorkshire and Nationwide)
http://www.photographybykatie.co.uk/ Katie , Newcastle (Covers North of England and Scottish Borders)
http://www.nikkiwaterlow.co.uk/ Nikki , North Kent (Covers Kent and neighbouring counties, London)
http://www.mattfryer.co.uk/ Matt, North Devon (Covers North Devon, South West)
http://www.thurtlepower.com/ Greg, Dorset (Covers Dorset and Nationwide)
http://www.29gallery.co.uk/ Michael, West Devon (Covers Devon, Midlands and Nationwide)
http://www.elizaclaire.com/ Eliza, London (Covers London and Nationwide
http://www.exposure-photo.com/ Carolyn, Warwickshire (covers Warwickshire and Nationwide)
Although regions are given, many of them will travel to other areas or even overseas. For more information about the competition and the full terms and conditions, see the Bridal Designs blog
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Keep fit with comping!
Have you ever had a "senior moment"? Yes, even if you are still in your twenties, I expect you get occasional lapses of memory, and common wisdom has it that as we get older they become more frequent. In fact one in ten people over 50 has memory problems, and as many as one in four over sixties shows signs of clinical dementia, which in some cases could be the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease.
When you have a forgetful spell, you may jokingly blame your "grey matter" - and you would be right to do so. The human brain weighs about 1.4kg (3lb) and is made up of nerve cells, or neurones (over 100 billion of them!) connected by pathways called synapses. The neurones are grey, and in a young adult make up about 40% of the brain, so it really is filled with "grey matter". But as you get older, the number of brain cells dwindles until they make up as little as 20% of the brain. So as you get older your grey matter, unlike your hair, will become considerably less grey!
And yet we all know of people who are mentally alert well into old age. Mary Wesley didn't even start to write books until she was in her seventies, and the late Queen Mother was active in public life until well after her hundredth birthday. Is there anything we can do to improve our chances of avoiding the mental slide into senility?
The factors that cause senile memory decline are many and varied, but there is one thing that has been noted time and time again in studies. Whatever other factors were being tested, the people who showed least degeneration were the ones who were most mentally active. In other words, the brain needs to be exercised just like the rest of your body and the motto "use it or lose it" is vitally important. And we compers just love to flex our mental muscles. Puzzles, crosswords, searching for answers to questions, writing tiebreakers - our brains are always busy. Board and card games such as chess and bridge can also keep you mentally active, but researchers think that the very maximum benefit can be gained from using the language-related areas of the brain. So we compers are in the best position of all!
Much research has shown that exercising the brain regularly, in ways such as solving puzzles and creative writing (e.g. tiebreakers!), can help to slow down the degeneration in the brain, by preserving the links between the brain cells that would otherwise atrophy due to lack of use. Although older people have fewer brain cells, a well-preserved brain can use the links between the cells more efficiently, and one study has even suggested that regular intellectual activity can actually help new brain cells to form. And this doesn't just apply to elderly people - the brain starts to deteriorate long before we notice any problems, so it is important to keep it in trim throughout your life. A recent study showed that those who were mentally active in their forties and fifties were significantly less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's Disease in later life. But even those who only became active later in life showed significant benefits from it - it's never too late to start!
Mental exercise have also been shown many times to help to prevent and even cure depression, so once again comping can be a healthy activity. And on the subject of depression, there is some evidence that successfully completing a puzzle releases the hormone serotonin into the body. This helps to combat stress and depression - yet another benefit of being a comper!
Other chemicals are released into the body during concentrated mental activity too - research in Australia has found that the whole of the immune system can be boosted by doing puzzles and crosswords on a regular basis, helping to improve physical health and potentially adding several healthy years to a person's lifespan.
So, whether you are a couch potato or a gym bunny, don't forget your daily mental work out - one you can do in your comfiest armchair with a cup of tea beside you. Bliss! And remember, unlike your muscles, you can't strain your brain!
Please note that this information, although based on published research, is intended to be light-hearted should not be regarded as a substitute for proper medical advice.
When you have a forgetful spell, you may jokingly blame your "grey matter" - and you would be right to do so. The human brain weighs about 1.4kg (3lb) and is made up of nerve cells, or neurones (over 100 billion of them!) connected by pathways called synapses. The neurones are grey, and in a young adult make up about 40% of the brain, so it really is filled with "grey matter". But as you get older, the number of brain cells dwindles until they make up as little as 20% of the brain. So as you get older your grey matter, unlike your hair, will become considerably less grey!
And yet we all know of people who are mentally alert well into old age. Mary Wesley didn't even start to write books until she was in her seventies, and the late Queen Mother was active in public life until well after her hundredth birthday. Is there anything we can do to improve our chances of avoiding the mental slide into senility?
The factors that cause senile memory decline are many and varied, but there is one thing that has been noted time and time again in studies. Whatever other factors were being tested, the people who showed least degeneration were the ones who were most mentally active. In other words, the brain needs to be exercised just like the rest of your body and the motto "use it or lose it" is vitally important. And we compers just love to flex our mental muscles. Puzzles, crosswords, searching for answers to questions, writing tiebreakers - our brains are always busy. Board and card games such as chess and bridge can also keep you mentally active, but researchers think that the very maximum benefit can be gained from using the language-related areas of the brain. So we compers are in the best position of all!
Much research has shown that exercising the brain regularly, in ways such as solving puzzles and creative writing (e.g. tiebreakers!), can help to slow down the degeneration in the brain, by preserving the links between the brain cells that would otherwise atrophy due to lack of use. Although older people have fewer brain cells, a well-preserved brain can use the links between the cells more efficiently, and one study has even suggested that regular intellectual activity can actually help new brain cells to form. And this doesn't just apply to elderly people - the brain starts to deteriorate long before we notice any problems, so it is important to keep it in trim throughout your life. A recent study showed that those who were mentally active in their forties and fifties were significantly less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's Disease in later life. But even those who only became active later in life showed significant benefits from it - it's never too late to start!
Mental exercise have also been shown many times to help to prevent and even cure depression, so once again comping can be a healthy activity. And on the subject of depression, there is some evidence that successfully completing a puzzle releases the hormone serotonin into the body. This helps to combat stress and depression - yet another benefit of being a comper!
Other chemicals are released into the body during concentrated mental activity too - research in Australia has found that the whole of the immune system can be boosted by doing puzzles and crosswords on a regular basis, helping to improve physical health and potentially adding several healthy years to a person's lifespan.
So, whether you are a couch potato or a gym bunny, don't forget your daily mental work out - one you can do in your comfiest armchair with a cup of tea beside you. Bliss! And remember, unlike your muscles, you can't strain your brain!
Please note that this information, although based on published research, is intended to be light-hearted should not be regarded as a substitute for proper medical advice.
Friday, 28 January 2011
Did you meet your partner in 1981?
Because if you did, you could win a year's supply of flowers - a bouquet every month for a year.
Flying Flowers have 30 Red Rose bouquets to be won, with the best entry winning flowers for a year - but the competition is only open to people who met their partners in 1981.
If you fit the bill, email your best romantic story to 1981romance@flyingflowers.com - it could be about
Make sure your entry arrives by noon on February 4th.
Flying Flowers have 30 Red Rose bouquets to be won, with the best entry winning flowers for a year - but the competition is only open to people who met their partners in 1981.
If you fit the bill, email your best romantic story to 1981romance@flyingflowers.com - it could be about
- how you met
- your wedding day
- how one of you proposed
- your partner's romantic gestures over the years
Make sure your entry arrives by noon on February 4th.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Come to a Comping Day!
Some of you may remember reading about the Derby comping day last October http://competitiongrapevine.blogspot.com/2010/10/derby-comping-day-on-18th-october.html
After I wrote about it, several of you asked if there were any similar days coming up,and I am pleased to be able to bring you news of one. It's not until October - but don't put off applying for tickets as events like this sell out very quickly.
Compers Mentis are organising a Competition Day on Saturday, 1st October 2011, at
The Campus, Highlands Lane
Locking Castle
Weston-Super-Mare
BS24 7DX
This is easily found, just off Junction 21 of the M5 with plenty of parking.
Lunch is included in the ticket price. Please let us know when sending for your ticket if you have any special dietary requirements. (Vegetarian, vegan or specific allergies).
There will be table comps, individual comps, raffle, postcard comp, charity raffle, and an entry form exchange amongst other things, as well as lots of fun, chat and laughter!
Everyone welcome.
Tickets are limited to 96 and cost £25.
These are now available.
Money raised will be split between Weston Hospicecare and Macmillan Cancer Support.
For more information and to get details of how to apply for tickets, search Faceboook for Compers Mentis or email queries to compersmentis@rock.com
After I wrote about it, several of you asked if there were any similar days coming up,and I am pleased to be able to bring you news of one. It's not until October - but don't put off applying for tickets as events like this sell out very quickly.
Compers Mentis are organising a Competition Day on Saturday, 1st October 2011, at
The Campus, Highlands Lane
Locking Castle
Weston-Super-Mare
BS24 7DX
This is easily found, just off Junction 21 of the M5 with plenty of parking.
Lunch is included in the ticket price. Please let us know when sending for your ticket if you have any special dietary requirements. (Vegetarian, vegan or specific allergies).
There will be table comps, individual comps, raffle, postcard comp, charity raffle, and an entry form exchange amongst other things, as well as lots of fun, chat and laughter!
Everyone welcome.
Tickets are limited to 96 and cost £25.
These are now available.
Money raised will be split between Weston Hospicecare and Macmillan Cancer Support.
For more information and to get details of how to apply for tickets, search Faceboook for Compers Mentis or email queries to compersmentis@rock.com
Sunday, 23 January 2011
When numbers count
A PRIZE FOR THE 1000th FOLLOWER?
How often do we see, on Facebook or Twitter, somebody offering a prize to the 1,000th (or 500th, or 30,000th...... from now on I will use "N" to represent whatever number they have chosen) follower, and refer to this as a competition?
Well, I have a message for anyone thinking of running such a competition - it is NOT a competition. It does not fit the legal definition of a competition. A competition must be either a free draw from among all entrants (and ONE entrant, your Nth, doesn't make it valid!) or a test of skill and judgment.
And just imagine you have N minus 10 followers when you announce that you are giving a prize to the Nth follower. Anyone who was just about to follow you won't - they will watch and wait, hoping to jump in when you have N minus 1 followers. You are almost certain to find that you lose followers too - they will unfollow you in the hope of being able to jump back in at the vital moment.
So advertising a prize to your Nth follower is actually a good way to make your follower count stay the same or even fall. You'll achieve exactly the opposite of what you sent out to do!
It is only natural to want to reward "milestone" followers - but to stop your numbers dropping, it is better not to mention this in advance at all. Just announce it after the event - say something like "Fred Bloggs was our Nth follower so we have decided to treat them to a lovely surprise". That way you won't cause any friction among your fans - and you won't get lots of people unfollowing you once your "competition" is over. But do check the profile of the lucky person, just in case you happen to have been followed by a spam bot - there are a lot of them about.
If you want to run a competition to get your follower count up, try offering to do a draw among all your fans when you reach the magic number, or on Twitter, ask them to retweet a certain message and then do the draw when you have the right number. Both of those will boost your fans - although remember, you have to keep them interested in what you have to say, sell or share if you are going to keep all those fans!
Readers, I hope you will pass this onto anybody you see offering "A prize to my Nth follower" competitions.
A PRIZE TO THE FIRST 10 TO RETWEET ?
I've had several questions recently from people who have thought they should have won a prize on Twitter because somebody has said that the first, fifth, or however many retweeters would win. They have searched the phrase and seen they were in a winning position, yet when the winners were announced they weren't there, so they think that something dodgy is going on.
Unfortunately, though, Twitter isn't as straightforward as that. You can only see the entries the same way as the person running the competition does if you are actually logged into their Twitter account and using their set up. There are lots of different ways of searching for tweets and hashtags, and every one of them throws up different results in a different order. I can have Tweet Deck, Snaptu and the Twitter web page open at the same time and see messages arriving in three different orders. They might all be timestamped with the same second, but the order they appear within that second differs according to how I look at it. So when a lot of entries arrive at once, the way the promoter gets them could be very different from the way you get them.
Also if you are asked to retweet something and you try to look at the other retweets, you might not actually be able to see them all, especially those done with the RT button. And you don't know whether the promoter will be looking at the "Retweeted by" list, or their @ messages column.
So I'm afraid that all you can really tell if you try to count up where your entry came is whether you stand a chance of being among the early entries or have missed the boat completely. You won't know whether you have actually won until the results are announced. After a few disappointments, I no longer try to work out whether I have won competitions of this kind - I just stay hopeful until I see somebody else announced as the winner.
You may now be thinking "That means it isn't fair" - well, in a way it isn't but as long as the promoter uses the same method of counting up every time, at least they are providing entrants to all their competitions with a level playing field. It would be far better if they drew from among all tweets sent in by a given time, but the range of different ways of running competitions on Twitter is part of its appeal isn't it?
A final note for Twitter compers - if a promoter says a prize will go to the Nth retweeter, or the Nth person to retweet a certain message, they really mean just that - the Nth DIFFERENT person. Retweeting the same message dozens of times, as some people have been doing recently, in the hope of filling all the spaces on the list of N entrants won't work. You'll still only be on the list once - and if you're not careful you'll be in Twitter jail at the crucial moment!
How often do we see, on Facebook or Twitter, somebody offering a prize to the 1,000th (or 500th, or 30,000th...... from now on I will use "N" to represent whatever number they have chosen) follower, and refer to this as a competition?
Well, I have a message for anyone thinking of running such a competition - it is NOT a competition. It does not fit the legal definition of a competition. A competition must be either a free draw from among all entrants (and ONE entrant, your Nth, doesn't make it valid!) or a test of skill and judgment.
And just imagine you have N minus 10 followers when you announce that you are giving a prize to the Nth follower. Anyone who was just about to follow you won't - they will watch and wait, hoping to jump in when you have N minus 1 followers. You are almost certain to find that you lose followers too - they will unfollow you in the hope of being able to jump back in at the vital moment.
So advertising a prize to your Nth follower is actually a good way to make your follower count stay the same or even fall. You'll achieve exactly the opposite of what you sent out to do!
It is only natural to want to reward "milestone" followers - but to stop your numbers dropping, it is better not to mention this in advance at all. Just announce it after the event - say something like "Fred Bloggs was our Nth follower so we have decided to treat them to a lovely surprise". That way you won't cause any friction among your fans - and you won't get lots of people unfollowing you once your "competition" is over. But do check the profile of the lucky person, just in case you happen to have been followed by a spam bot - there are a lot of them about.
If you want to run a competition to get your follower count up, try offering to do a draw among all your fans when you reach the magic number, or on Twitter, ask them to retweet a certain message and then do the draw when you have the right number. Both of those will boost your fans - although remember, you have to keep them interested in what you have to say, sell or share if you are going to keep all those fans!
Readers, I hope you will pass this onto anybody you see offering "A prize to my Nth follower" competitions.
A PRIZE TO THE FIRST 10 TO RETWEET ?
I've had several questions recently from people who have thought they should have won a prize on Twitter because somebody has said that the first, fifth, or however many retweeters would win. They have searched the phrase and seen they were in a winning position, yet when the winners were announced they weren't there, so they think that something dodgy is going on.
Unfortunately, though, Twitter isn't as straightforward as that. You can only see the entries the same way as the person running the competition does if you are actually logged into their Twitter account and using their set up. There are lots of different ways of searching for tweets and hashtags, and every one of them throws up different results in a different order. I can have Tweet Deck, Snaptu and the Twitter web page open at the same time and see messages arriving in three different orders. They might all be timestamped with the same second, but the order they appear within that second differs according to how I look at it. So when a lot of entries arrive at once, the way the promoter gets them could be very different from the way you get them.
Also if you are asked to retweet something and you try to look at the other retweets, you might not actually be able to see them all, especially those done with the RT button. And you don't know whether the promoter will be looking at the "Retweeted by" list, or their @ messages column.
So I'm afraid that all you can really tell if you try to count up where your entry came is whether you stand a chance of being among the early entries or have missed the boat completely. You won't know whether you have actually won until the results are announced. After a few disappointments, I no longer try to work out whether I have won competitions of this kind - I just stay hopeful until I see somebody else announced as the winner.
You may now be thinking "That means it isn't fair" - well, in a way it isn't but as long as the promoter uses the same method of counting up every time, at least they are providing entrants to all their competitions with a level playing field. It would be far better if they drew from among all tweets sent in by a given time, but the range of different ways of running competitions on Twitter is part of its appeal isn't it?
A final note for Twitter compers - if a promoter says a prize will go to the Nth retweeter, or the Nth person to retweet a certain message, they really mean just that - the Nth DIFFERENT person. Retweeting the same message dozens of times, as some people have been doing recently, in the hope of filling all the spaces on the list of N entrants won't work. You'll still only be on the list once - and if you're not careful you'll be in Twitter jail at the crucial moment!
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