"Maine State Police are investigating the legality of an essay contest launched in March to win the historic Center Lovell Inn."
[S]ome participants have come forward claiming the contest, which required entrants to submit a 200-word essay and $125, was rigged in the favor of hospitality pros, not wordsmiths with a dream. A Facebook group called Center Lovell Fair Practices Commission has surfaced as a clearinghouse for jilted participants. It had 100 members by Monday evening....
“We need to make sure it’s a game of skill, not chance,” said [State police Sgt. Michael Johnston of the Special Investigations Unit].... Running an unlicensed game of chance is a Class D misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of $2,000 and 364 days in jail. Sage did not have a license to do so, Johnston said. “That is the only aspect we are investigating. We expect to have it wrapped up within a week or so,” he said.
So the police are not investigating what the Facebook group is complaining about.
Cortney Potts, a chef from Nebraska who entered the contest, said, “What bothered me was the inconsistent information.” She claims the Facebook page associated with the contest did not jibe with the online rules. “The flow of information was not handled well. It’s disappointing that the winners already have a restaurant. That upset a lot of people,” said Potts, who filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office stating that the contest was unfair. “They are hiding something, and we need to figure out what it is.”
It seems as though the police are investigating whether there were any standards —
any judgment of the essays — or whether it was a game of chance. The Facebook group is complaining about the standard applied in judging the essays — were they looking for an aspiring dreamer or somebody with experience and know-how?
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If I start a Facebook Page about how women shouldn't say "Sorry" all the time as the start of a sentence, will Maine Police investigate women who do?
Yeah it sounds like people are complaining of fraud while the police are worried about gambling.
Paying $125 to enter an essay contest... Is that a good idea? The prize is so big... but isn't that a reason to think they're just taking your money and conveying the prize to someone they already like?
Have you ever judged an essay contest? I judge essays all the time in that I score exam essays and the grades are curved, so it's kind of a contest, pitting the students against each other, but there isn't one winner and everyone else a loser.
I did once judge a recipe contest! This was back in the 1970s when I worked for a big ad agency. I must confess that I did not prepare the recipes! I just read them. I won't identify the product other than to say it was something you could add to a lot of recipes. It wasn't salt.
I'm sorry, but the chef who curates the facebook page likely has lots of recipes for sour grapes.
I suggest she just embrace the fact that she was a sucker and lost the $125 entry fee sort-of fair and almost square.
Judging an essay contest is subjective, so it's pretty much a game of chance. But it isn't a game of chance in the usual understanding of it as it applies to gambling. Seems like both the losing contestants and the cops are wrong here.
Jubilee! Full employment for poor lawyers that spent winter and spring snowed in.
We don't often have crime stories here in Maine, but when we do they're usually interesting. Or stupid.
William Faulkner is disqualified for Southernness in the First Degree. He makes insanity sound too normal.
I know of a Nigerian Prince whose money is tied up in government bonds who would pay good money to acquire the names and email addresses of those essay contestants,
7000 people entered. At $125 each, the owner raked in $875,000.
Remember when Ben & Jerry started a contest to pick the next CEO of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and the winner, surprise surprise, happened to already be the CEO of a large company?
At least Ben & Jerry didn't charge people $125 to enter. Suckers.
At one a minute, it took 4.86 days for all of those suckers to be born.
Time to ban essay writing.
Everything is better with the random chance of criminal prosecution!
If it were a legit contest, I'd assume they were looking for both.
"The police are investigating..."
Why? What concern to the public (and the public's tax dollars) is this scheme?
Caveat emptor. If you're dumb enough to get scammed by this scheme, it is of no concern to the government, or the rest of us.
The Spitfire Grill 2: Chance and Jibe
Synopsis: When a historic inn finds itself in financial trouble, only Robert Irvine can help. But first, he must write an inspirational essay in the midst of hi-jinks and crazy companions! Guest starring: Pierce Brosnan, Patricia Heaton, Jerry Seinfeld, John Leguizamo, Ben Stiller, Amy Poehler, Matt Damon, Tim Allen, Jim Carrey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Victoria Jackson, Brad Pitt, with Jerry Lewis as the Contest Judge. It's a mad, mad, mad, mad kitchen!
The Facebook group is complaining about the standard applied in judging the essays — were they looking for an aspiring dreamer or somebody with experience and know-how?
Back when I was a teenage Marxist high school senior, I came in second place in a local bank sponsored "Future Leaders Essay Contest".
Judges were from Brandeis University and Bentley College, the latter a business school. A Brandeis judge came up and whispered to me that my essay was the best, which led me to believe I split the judges ideologically and that's why I came in second.
"Caveat emptor. If you're dumb enough to get scammed by this scheme, it is of no concern to the government, or the rest of us."
-- I think that there's a difference between getting something you didn't want for what you paid [so if you buy a low quality, cheap thing for a lot of money without doing YOUR due diligence], and the people selling you something LYING about it.
"...were they looking for an aspiring dreamer or somebody with experience and know-how?"
These things are not mutually exclusive. Plus, running a B&B is hard work. The previous owner certainly knew that. Perhaps she wanted to give the inn to someone who understood what they'd be getting into and who would have a good chance to succeed. Handing it to an "aspiring dreamer" with no idea how to run a business could destroy the inn and destroy the dreamer's life.
It was a brilliant idea. The $125 isn't enough to get worked up over. Maybe bitching online, but it's not like you're going to buy a plane ticket and fly to Maine in order to.... do what?
It's $125.
I'd love to do it with my house in California, but California has too many damn laws that prevent such things from happening.
I wonder whether French kids could explain how the losers are coping.
The only fair way to conduct a high stakes essay contest would be a type of blind audition. All identification information other than an identification number would be stripped from the essays and maintained by a neutral party. Once the winning essay is selected, you can find out who wrote it.
Truthavenger said..."The police are investigating..."
Why? What concern to the public (and the public's tax dollars) is this scheme?
Interesting question--TosaGuy calculates that they effectively sold their hotel for $875,000. What are the tax implictions of the "contest" format?
I was also going to mention The Spitfire Grill. We went to the play just two weeks ago. In the play, the waitresses ending up winning the contest.
Toby says: "Perhaps she wanted to give the inn to someone who understood what they'd be getting into"
This. Heck, back when I sold my 1974 MGB, I made damn sure the successful buyer knew exactly what he was getting, and was not going to be pissed off and come back to me with a bunch of garbage about "that crap car you pawned off on me." and that was hardly a major financial commitment, unlike a B&B.
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