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Permalink Reply by Jason C. Blais on January 19, 2009 at 3:45pm

Congratulations Diana! I think this random drawing went to a very deserved candidate! Diana, I really liked your thoughtful response to what makes a Smart Recruiter. As Jason mentioned in the video, that is content that will live on at RBC, and I think it's a great example of experts sharing knowledge. Thank you for your entry.

Jason, absolutely great must-see tv, there as well.... I didn't read below, so the anticipation was killing me!

jb

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Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on January 19, 2009 at 3:55pm

This is absolutely hilarious - I would've loved to know who the ten were-more suspense!
Thanks for the opportunity to "compete".
Congratulations Diana!
;)

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Permalink Reply by Paula Agius on January 19, 2009 at 4:04pm

At the risk of being critical, how is it a competition like this can come down to - basically - a "lucky door prize?" Perhaps it's to do with your lottery or competition laws but I would have much rather seen the prize go to Diana Luger (or whoever) for her (their) outstanding response rather than just for being lucky.

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on January 19, 2009 at 4:09pm

Congratulations Diana! I'm sure you are going to have a great time with this one!

Nice work Jason and the drawing.

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Permalink Reply by Julia Stone on January 19, 2009 at 4:21pm

sugar came close to stealing the show, but I love the presentation Jason!

Congrats Diana, I am sure you will have a great time!

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Permalink Reply by Recruiting Animal on January 19, 2009 at 4:42pm

Hi Paula,

If I could help you take a shot at JD I would. It's fun. And it is frustrating to have the skill involved in a contest totally ignored and see the winner chosen by means of a draw. It seems nuts. Too much like real life. Discouraging. Who'd want to participate in a contest like that?

So there's a problem but there's also a reason for it. Who's going to read through all of the entries and make a wise judgement? That's a lot of work. And you'd probably want a panel to avoid accusations of personal bias. But who's going to volunteer for the panel?

I was on the selection committee for the best blog of 2006. There were five of us. We met a couple of times online and came up with a choice we could all agree on. But we were chosen because we all knew the reasonable contenders before we started. So it was feasible from a time perspective. All we had to do was make a decision. We didn't have to read and score 50 entries and then start to discuss the good ones.

If you're willing to lead a team of judges in the future you should tell JD. I'm sure he'd be happy to hand over that responsibility. But you can't just choose your friends. You have to get people the contestants can trust and respect.

JD is lucky that you voiced the complaint. It's the first thing that came to my mind, too. But I can't see an efficient and easy solution.

Regards from me

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Permalink Reply by Recruiting Animal on January 19, 2009 at 4:49pm

If 5 to 10 people want to divide the entries up between them so each person only has to read a few, I'll have them as guests on The Recruiting Animal Show to report on the best ideas they've seen.

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Permalink Reply by Amitai Givertz on January 19, 2009 at 5:12pm

Paula, you raise a good point. I cannot speak for Jason but this is what I can tell you...

Over the few years since meeting Jason on Recruiting.com I have participated and/or witnessed any number of contests that he has had a hand in.

I have seen judges panels, online surveys, scientific analyses, peer reviews and any number of "fair" processes applied to selecting a winner. In every instance, someone has complained this wasn't fair, that wasn't properly managed, this one gamed the system and that one nobbled the jury.

I know I'm not qualified to say that one person's post is better than another person's post, especially when there's dinner at stake. I guess what makes me a smart recruiter is entirely subjective anyway, regardless of my being right or wrong. So who's going to judge me?

The fact of the matter is that subjectivity and chance are better determinants of fairness than pseudo- processes that require Ernst and Young to validate how the contest was decided.

Given the inevitable dissenting voice, I can only imagine Jason wondering why bother? And yet he does over and over again. Why? Because if you look at the guy's history every contest he has ever run has been about a win-win-win not about one person, one sponsor or one agenda.

Stick around long enough and your reasonable question will one day seem trivial, as understandable as it is in this context.

So, Paula, if you you want balance, fairness, systematic and deliberate selection of winners for our humble little contests, there is an alternative you know.

Diane...

RA RA RA!!!

Paula Agius said:

At the risk of being critical, how is it a competition like this can come down to - basically - a "lucky door prize?" Perhaps it's to do with your lottery or competition laws but I would have much rather seen the prize go to Diana Luger (or whoever) for her (their) outstanding response rather than just for being lucky.

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Permalink Reply by Amitai Givertz on January 19, 2009 at 5:16pm

Animal, once again you beat me to the post.

You see, Paula, nothing is fair.

Recruiting Animal said:

If 5 to 10 people want to divide the entries up between them so each person only has to read a few, I'll have them as guests on The Recruiting Animal Show to report on the best ideas they've seen.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Nuroo on January 19, 2009 at 7:23pm

Loved the dog.. missed the hat? JD.. remember product placement!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Debra Fitzwater on January 19, 2009 at 9:21pm

Sugar is taking the cold weather and the snow in stride! Love that dog and I don't even know'em! This is fantastic. Great contest and I especially enjoyed the video. I missed out, unfortunately I don't get to spend as much time on here as I would like. None-the-less, my loss and Dianna's gain! Great information sharing and Happy New Year to all!

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Permalink Reply by Susan Burns on January 30, 2009 at 7:05pm

Jason - Fantastic to see the turnout for this contest. Loved the video and Sugar looks way too happy lounging in the snow....actually thought she was going to pick the winner ;-)!

Diana - congratulations! Enjoy your dinner!

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