[CQ-Contest] Excessive solicited spots and QSOs

[Mark Beckwith]

Reading about all the packet spots, my two cents:

Marketing of contest operations used to result in "why didn't I think of
that?"  It didn't start with packet.  For better or worse, now consensus
seems to have shifted to accusations of  "spam" and "unfair advantage."

The good news - it's easy to ignore.

George (K5TR) asks if we want contests to be defined by skeds, emails,
spots, buddy-Qs, T-shirts and/or banner ads - I think as long as multipliers
have a dominant effect on score, these other things won't define contests.
You're probably going to need the guy on 6 bands no matter how he's
publicized, and you're probably not going to boycott him just because you
object to his solicitation practices.

Did the excessive spots get more people to decide to work ZF2MM than would
have otherwise?  Probably.  Should it be against the rules?  Probably.

IMHO the sponsor is obligated to clarify the rules.

Mark, N5OT