Not to long ago, when Pat first started the Mr/Mrs Personality contest there was a person who wrote a scathing article about what a scam the contest was because the rules to enter the contest included having to join the StarWalkers group … a group that costs a small L$50 fee to join.
I’ve thought about this for some time. My initial reaction was not that nice toward this person, knowing Pat the way I do, how much work she puts into StarWalkers and the contest AND how much out-of-pocket expense is involved in running a contest such as M/M Personality. Lets think on this a moment … the cash prize for winning the contest is L$20,000.
Ok, let’s do that math *whips out her trusty calculator because you can’t trust math done in Filipa’s head 
*. 20,000 divided by 50 is … 400. Ok, so, to break even THIS YEAR only, she needs 400 NEW group members. hmmm … that’s a lot! Now, this is an annual contest so, this would mean Pat needs to gain 400 new members EACH YEAR, just to break even!
Ok, so … StarWalkers has it’s existing member base which will probably participate, so no new member fee’s there. Once people join, if they plan to participate in the contest each year, they probably wont leave the group (besides, once they see the benefits of the group, they probably wont leave anyway) … so, no new membership income next year on those participants either.
WOW! Pat’s REALLY rakin it in, isn’t she???
Alright, but lets step back from that for a moment shall we? Let’s talk about StarWalkers a moment. The group consists of true professional models, designers, photographers and fashion professionals in SL. How do we know that? Well, they’re serious about it, it’s why they’re in the group.
“But how do you know they’re serious Filipa??” Well, that’s not too difficult a stretch actually … first off, the group provides a lot of valuable information that helps us become better at our chosen professions, on finding work (yes, members of StarWalkers work hard to do what we do) and also and top of the list for the main topic of this article … because StarWalkers members gave up their Linden’s to be a part of the group and to stay in the group.
Think about it … what’s one good way to ensure the people who join your organization are really serious, truly want to be in the group for the purposes of the group? Make them part with something valuable. In SL, we have Lindens. Think further … is L$50 really a HUGE stretch for most if not all SL’ians??? I don’t think so. Honestly, I would have paid more to be in this group!
So in conclusion, I would suggest to that person who wrote the scathing article, to think a bit more about things before she runs off at the mouth about things she obviously has not thought through completely.
I’m sure … no, I’m POSITIVE that she thought she was doing a good thing for the community, but honestly, all this negativity floating around, don’t you think there’s enough without piling on more?
So, my request to her and the world at large … think of both sides of the coin before you form an opinion, don’t jump to judge others so quickly (actually not at all would be my preference) and try spreading positive thoughts/energy around instead … it will come back to you 10-fold!
Hugs,
Filipa
PS: Already posted this to StarWalkers’ Blog: http://mspatyoung.wordpress.com.
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