This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

As an MSer with a new lease on life, I entered a travel writing/photography contest with the state of New Mexico, and judges recently selected my entry as a finalist. The competition is now a popularity contest, with votes being counted until August 18 at midnight. If I win, I’ll become the “poster child” for the state, which will allow me to shine a searing light on staying active with multiple sclerosis—and in particular the experimental treatment that has put the brakes on my aggressive disease (an autologous stem cell transplant). I could really use the support of the TIMS community. So I ask for your vote. And if you feel so inclined, share this get-out-the-vote effort with friends, relatives and colleagues. Thanks so much. http://nmtruestories.com/entry/2584614?view=full

Dave Bexfield, ActiveMSers.org

ActiveMSers wrote:As an MSer with a new lease on life, I entered a travel writing/photography contest with the state of New Mexico, and judges recently selected my entry as a finalist. The competition is now a popularity contest, with votes being counted until August 18 at midnight. If I win, I’ll become the “poster child” for the state, which will allow me to shine a searing light on staying active with multiple sclerosis—and in particular the experimental treatment that has put the brakes on my aggressive disease (an autologous stem cell transplant). I could really use the support of the TIMS community. So I ask for your vote. And if you feel so inclined, share this get-out-the-vote effort with friends, relatives and colleagues. Thanks so much. http://nmtruestories.com/entry/2584614?view=full

Dave Bexfield, ActiveMSers.org

I tried to vote. The site told me I had to log in with a facebook id. No such thing exists. facebook is part of the problem, not the solution. Situations such as this make me sad to see facebook's flawed paradigm infect more and more sites.

NHE, avoiding FB is easy. When you click vote, you just need to "register a contest account" (it'll ask for your name, e-mail, and to create a password). Totally private and separate from Facebook. I also have assurances from the contest organizers (I checked) that that information in no way will be shared or distributed with anyone, or amount to spam of any kind. It's just to keep the contest on the up-and-up.

> Use your Facebook account to participate in the contest. Facebook Log-in
> Not a Facebook user? Register a contest account or log in with an existing account.

Choose the second option. Hope you can vote, NHE!

-Dave

I enjoyed your entry very much as well as your photos. I don't mean to be rude...but, shouldn't the "popularity" factor at this stage be based on the popularity of the entries of the contestants, not of the contestants themselves? The winner should be determined based on the merits of the entries, right?

Do you want us to vote for you because we like your entry best...or because you have an "MS story" that you want to share? Or is that just a hook to get US to vote for you, the fact that you have MS?

Again, don't get me wrong, I do like your entry. I just really hope people will vote based on the merits of the entries, not on the popularity of the contestants. It seems so "high school" to be voting based on "popularity". I would hate for someone to lose out on winning when they actually had a superior entry simply because they weren't "popular" personally. It goes against my sense of fairness, I think, for entries to be voted on by any criteria but the quality of the entries themselves.

Thanks for the vote, Eric! And you are totally right, it is pretty HS. The "popularity" thing is silly. To get into the finals, judges selected 10 of their favorite entries (mine was one) and the other 10 were the top vote getters in the preliminaries. I didn't ask anyone to vote in that first round because I felt that if I couldn't get into the finals based on merit, I didn't want to be in the finals.

If you look at the other entries, I think you'll find mine to be the best written with some of the best photographs. So that's a good reason to vote in my favor. That I also have MS and run a not-for-profit website for the disease is a bonus. But it's what I am going to do with the goodwill from the MS community after the vote that will count most. Stay tuned (and, if you fell so inclined, keep voting).

-Dave

NHE, did my instructions work? And just a reminder: if folks prefer any of the other stories over mine, I encourage you to vote for them. It won't hurt my feelings (although I might question your judgment, ha).

-Dave

You earned my vote!
I did not use Fb; registering is free and easy.

Best of luck.

Thanks so much, HappyPoet! Only four more days of voting to go. I'll be glad when it is over. I think we have a decent shot.

-Dave

The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. Today is the final day to vote. Let's win this thing.

http://nmtruestories.com/entry/2584614?view=full

-Dave

But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep... —Robert Frost

We did this and I humbly thank all of you. Now it's my turn. Stay tuned.

-Dave

Congratulations, Dave!

You are our GRAND PRIZE WINNER.

http://nmtruestories.com/about

congrats