Congratulations, Saving the Best for Last Competition Winners

Thank you to all researchers who took part in the Saving the Best for Last Competition. A special thank you to Postteam for their efforts to publish all of these entries in the Post, and to Skanyrich who uploaded videos to the h2g2 Aviators' youtube channel.

The Saving the Best for Last Competition first appeared in the June 6, 2011 issue of the Post. At that time, none of us on the Interim Committee knew the outcome of the bid process, we only knew we had given it everything we had. The competition helped me take my mind off of fretting.

During the course of the competition we learned the BBC had approved the bid. Now that the ink is dry on the contract and with less than a month before we bid the BBC adieu, it is (long past) time to announce the results of the Saving the Best for Last Competition.

Jordan won in Category One, Factual Writing with with Homer and Langley Collyer.

In Category Two, Non-factual Writing, Greensleeves won for her lyrics to her latest h2g2 hit, We Will Survive.

Tavaron won in Category Three, Audiovisual, for The Undiscovered Grove.

Category Five, Change of Pace, was intended to persuade seasoned researchers to explore a different side of Guide research work. In this category, Rod won for his audiovisual presentation David and Goliath.

Category Four was meant to encourage researchers whose work doesn't yet appear in the Edited Guide, the UnderGuide, or the Post. It appears not to have been successful, as no entries were received in this category.

Winners in the Saving the Best for Last Competition were determined by popular vote. Fifteen researchers submitted 17 entries¹, and 12 voters selected the winners.

While it is tempting to suggest that the 12 voters came from the set of 15 contestants, it wouldn't be accurate. Of the 15 contenders, 7 did not vote. Of the 12 voters received, 4 were researchers who didn't enter the competition.

I did make efforts to encourage voting on h2g2 as well as other social media, however, a recent study suggests I may have gone about it wrong.

The study indicates that getting people to think of themselves as voters is a more successful strategy than encouraging people to vote. The Procedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the study Motivating Voter Turnout By Invoking The Self after the Saving the Best for Last voting deadline whooshed by.

In that study, half of the randomly selected subjects got surveys with questions connecting voting behavior with the word "voter," such as "How important is it to you to be a voter in the upcoming election?" The other half received surveys carefully worded to avoid that connection, for example, "How important is it to you to vote in the upcoming election?" The study's lead researcher, social psychologist Christopher Bryan said, "Just referring to voting as 'being a voter' caused a major increase in turnout – more than 13 percent."

Bryan's research lends support to the notion that our self-image motivates us. Perhaps there would have been more than 12 votes had I made sure to use language encouraging researchers to see themselves as voters.

I do encourage all researchers to see themselves and their research on the Front Page. The h2g2 Future Guide Editorial Team offers two splendid opportunities to do just that. The Editorial Team is running a competition to be the first researcher on the Front Page after the move. The Showcase offers a second Front Page opportunity.

Thanks again to all researchers who participated, and a hearty congratulations to the winners of the Saving The Best For Last Competition.

Happy Nerd

05.09.11 Front Page

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