[Previous entry: "Blogathon 2005 #4"] [Next entry: ""]

08/06/2005: ""

OK this is my last update. I tried going to my blogathon campaign page and link to it. I went to it and it said "Campaign not found". I sent a email to the blogathon team and I got this message.

Freakin Frankie,
Your campaign was removed because you had no sponsors. Blogathon is a
charity event; the goal is to raise money for charities. As of about
10:30 your campaign had earned no sponsorships, and we require a minimum
of $5 in sponsorships to be removed. You're welcome to participate next
year.

I don't think thats fair. I know I don't have any sponsors, but I thought I would still have 24 hours to get a few. Hell my brother is here and he said he was going to sponsor me today. I was told by Adrian he was going to sponsor me. But since it wasn't by there time table, I get kicked off. That sucks. I was under the impression that I still have 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Now they're getting the raw end of the deal cause I'm not going through this. Hell I've been hyping the blogathon for the past 2 weeks, getting excited, hell I didn't even go out for fun on thursday or friday so I wouldn't be tired today, I even canceled plans that I had later today just for the blogathon in the hopes of raising money for Cancer research. The reason I wanted to do the blogathon to raise money for the American Cancer Society is that April Fools joke I did earlier this year in-which I made light of cancer. I know cancer is a serious thing, thats why I used it in my joke to add that sense of realism. I wanted people to see it and think "Its april fools day, but it says he died of cancer. It could be a joke, but he could of really died of cancer. Why would he joke about that?" Its that seriousness in there that probably threw some people off. And now I wanted to make amends for my joke and now I can't really do that.

So I ask you to do this. Go to the American Cancer Society website and donate as much as you can. Email me the amount you donated and I'll post it on my site. Even tho I'm sure its wasn't going to be a whole lot, I probably would of raised a nice amount of money for them. Last year during the project blog I started out with no sponsors, no chance of making the full 24 hours and after it was over I raised over 50/60 bucks I don't even remember. I want everybody that sees this to donate atleast $5 to the American Cancer Society. Just to see how much I could of raised today. And this is the last year I even try and participate in the blogathon. To hell with them next year. Its not even worth putting up with this shit. Next time around this year, I'll post which charity I would like people to donate to and give you some incentive to why you should or what you'll get out of it. Keep in mind the whole tax-deduction thing when donating.

EDIT (9:14 am): I removed the little thing on the side that links to my campaign page/blogathon, and the amount raised cause, whats the point of keeping it up. I put the ads back up, or in actuality, put my original site template file back. I'll leave the webring up on top for now. That way you can see the next site thats in the blogathon. Also check out blogathon-cawanpink.blogspot.com. I want to thank him/her (sorry, I'm sure your gender and I don't want to get it wrong) for their support, but it's not needed now. Sponsor him/her while you're there.

ANOTHER EDIT (10:17 am): I went looking through the FAQs on the blogathon site, and I don't see anything that explains the reason why I was kicked out. I don't see any rule or explanation that says "You must have X amount or money raised by X time.". I never received any heads up, or an email that said that either. I never even received an email that said I was removed before I started updating this morning. What a bunch of asses. They should atleast post ALL the rules before enforcing them. If I would of known I needed a certain amount by a certain time to even participate, I would of still been in the blogathon right now cause I could of told a bunch of people that said they would sponsor me to sponsor me yesterday. I had no idea, they never made that clear, and now I'm feeling like shit and pissed off from their unabilty to make things clear. To hell with them.

Replies: 6 Spoke to me

on Saturday, August 6th at 09:13 AM, Nuhaa said

hey no wonder i coulnd't find your campaign! i was about to sponsor. no matter. i'll go the American Cancer Society to donate. hope that helps make you feel a bit lighter.

on Saturday, August 6th at 06:44 PM, Cat said

The "no sponsors, no blogging" has been a rule in the past, but you're right--it isn't in there now. I don't know that it will do any good at this point, but I did write Sheana to point this out.

on Saturday, August 6th at 07:35 PM, Sheana said

It is there, and has been since we first put the site up.

http://www.blogathon.org/?page_id=2

on Saturday, August 6th at 07:44 PM, Freakin Frankie said

I'm sure you just barley added it now to cover your ass. Like Cat said above you, it wasn't there when she looked.

I don't even care anymore.

on Saturday, August 6th at 11:11 PM, sennoma said

Hey Frankie,

Cat says it was there when she looked, she just missed it (I'm her husband). I agree it should have been more prominent.

The "no sponsors no participate" rule is there to stop assholes from doing it just to get traffic to their blogs. An exception should be made for bloggers who, like you, are acting in good faith but just happen not to have any sponsors by the deadline.

In defense of the 'thon team, I will just say that running the thing is a job from hell. I was with Cat in 2002 and 2003 when she did it. So the team just doesn't, right now, have the time or resources to be more fair to you. If I'd come across your site when this first happened I'd have lobbied for a change of decision then, but you're already doing something else by now and understandably pissed off.

I'll be pursuing this issue with the 'thon team and I'll get back to you on what solutions are devised. I hope you'll give the Blogathon another shot.

on Sunday, August 7th at 01:57 PM, Freakin Frankie said

Well when I wrote the whole entry, I was pretty pissed. I went threw all the hassles to get ready for the blogathon, get sponsors from people I talk to over the internet, or people that visit my site, but I already knew a few friends and family were already going to sponsor me. I really wanted to make up for my joke on April Fools. I have no hard feelings to the team right now.

I understand that it could be hectic running it, especially when its sort of on short notice, but what should of there should of been is a pre-TOS when someone signs up to participate in the blogathon, pointing out all the rules with bullet points. If the 'no sponsors, no blogging' rule was in there, I could of missed it by skimming through it to get the basic rules, but since I've done the blogathon in 2003, I thought I already knew the rules.

I don't remember if I started with any sponsors or not when I did the blogathon in 2003, maybe thats why I didn't know about that rule in the past.

I might or might not participate next year. I would suggest making any requirements to sign up or stay with the blogathon in bold or give someone advanced notice if he/she is going to kicked off or is kicked off. It would prevent any posts like this from somebody that was put into the situation like me.