Qatar Airways Photo Competition with Big Prizes

[Guest fountainhall]

For anyone interested, the excellent Qatar Airways is running a competition until the end of June. It’s a Photo Competition based on four themes –

 

- Magnificent Cities

- Vibrant Cultures

- Breathtaking Nature

- Exciting Journeys.

 

Anyone can register and upload 2 photos in each category. The crunch then is that you have to persuade your friends and as many others as you can to vote for them. At the end of June, the photos with the top 120 votes are put forward to judges who will select the best ones. All 120 will win prizes, ranging from a pair of business class return tickets anywhere on the Qatar network to miles in the Qatar frequent flyer programme.

 

There are also 15 random draws with a pair of economy tickets anywhere on the network as the main prize. 85 other entrants will receive miles.

 

Actually there are more crunches. First, everyone who enters must agree to receive Qatar promotional material by email. I have been getting that for over a year and it’s usually just one a month. Another is – it seems, although I am having difficulty working this out – that those you persuade to vote for your photos also have to agree to receive such materials. I cannot see that anywhere in the rules, but when I gave a friend the voting form website, he informed me he had to register!

 

Photos can be shared on Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. I find it hard to believe that your friends there have to register, but just don’t know. Whatever the rules actually say, there’s a lot of incentive to get into the top 120, because then you are guaranteed to win a prize.

 

However, I suppose the last crunch is that I got the information only yesterday morning, and already there are thousands of photos posted. So artistic merit will count for very little. Your chances of a prize are therefore probably pretty slim unless you have a gazillion Facebook/Twitter friends.

 

http://reflections.q...m/qatarairways/

[Rogie]

A better way to run this comp would have certain similarities to a beauty contest. Award prizes based on artistic merit decided by a panel of judges, and rather like the Mr Popular winner in gay venues, award other prizes based on numbers of votes.

 

On a cynical note, small but distinct parts of Britain have quite suddenly (over the space of a few years) turned into blatant cheerleaders for some of the oil-rich states in the Arabian peninsula. The City of Manchester stadium is now the Etihad stadium and Manchester City Football Club seems at times to be almost a satellite of Abu Dhabi. Our dear friend Highbury stadium is now rechristened the Emirates stadium, not sure what the fans of Arsenal F.C. think about that. It cannot be too long before Qatar pounce on one of the English Premier League clubs themselves. And lest we forget, Qatar have controversially won the rights to hold the 2022 (soccer) World Cup.

[Guest fountainhall]

A better way to run this comp would have certain similarities to a beauty contest. Award prizes based on artistic merit decided by a panel of judges,

 

I entirely agree, but if there are already thousands of photo entries, the final number will be well into the millions. I have no idea how you judge that many purely on artistic merit!

[Rogie]

I entirely agree, but if there are already thousands of photo entries, the final number will be well into the millions. I have no idea how you judge that many purely on artistic merit!

 

All I can say to that is if the final number of entries really is that high, I'd be impressed. Impressed with the power of:

 

Digital photography - almost anybody can take a decent enough photo nowadays, upload it to their computer and fire it off as an entry.

 

Word of mouth - such as this very thread

 

Social networking (via the internet) - I don't do it myself but I have to admit it's a powerful medium

 

and lastly, people's love of being in with a chance of winning a prize

[Guest]

- Breathtaking Nature

Do you think they would be receptive to breathtaking naturist photos?

[Guest thaiworthy]

Z, I think you and Fountainhall should enter the contest. It would no doubt result in a tie.

[Guest fountainhall]

Do you think they would be receptive to breathtaking naturist photos?

 

Unfortunately, under the rules, nudity is a no-no.

 

Z, I think you and Fountainhall should enter the contest. It would no doubt result in a tie.

 

Thanks Thaiworthy. Problem is I don't belong to Facebook or Twitter and so cannot automatically get hundreds of votes. I reckon I've a better chance of winning America's Got Talent than this competition - and I'm not even American!

[Guest]

I also don't belong to Facebook or Twitter.

However, within our board, Fountainhall's photography skills and ability to sniff out a good shot would take first place.