Private Messages to CH

I usually only respond to CHs when they message me privately. Otherwise, I enter my explanations in the comment section of my entries. I did have a CH that private messaged me through the email section, or whatever it is called, and I had asked her a question during that time, but requested that she post her response to the comments on the contest itself, so that all the Creatives would see it and get the same information. I didn’t want to have an unfair advantage and felt it was the only honest way to respond to her. She did do that. I mean, I do want to win, but I want to win on my own merit, not because I’ve gotten an advantage that other Creatives aren’t receiving. I’ve not been here that long, only about a month, and have 1 private message in that time, so I’m assuming the private messages are those that are available on the contest themselves, because the CH had sent me multiple messages through the email thingy, and I would respond to her.

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Private-ish issues could be addressed in the comments. Anything more private than private-ish probably is too private.

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Maybe private messages should not be allowed to be initiated by the creatives.
I’m pretty sure that new users aren’t able to contact the CH via private message already.
If the CH sends the creative a private message, then they would be able to reply.
That way nobody can point fingers and accuse each other of cheating or gaining an unfair advantEDGE…lol (Sorry I couldn’t help myself on that one)
Everyone would know that all private messages were initiated by the CH.
Thoughts? @Dan

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I’d only been a user for about a couple of weeks when I was able to message the CH. I believe it was based on points earned and then maybe had to wait another week or something. But I hadn’t been here very long before I was able to do so. In 2 more days, I will have been here for a month.

@LisaMac,

As shared previously, there are two ways for creatives to send private messages to CHs. Many creatives use comments on their entries to communicate with CH. We believe it is important for creatives to continue to have the ability to add comments to their entries to provide additional background about those names. If we take away the private messaging feature, and continue to allow the private entry comments, it will just mean that more creatives will start using the private entry comments to send their messages to CH.

Therefore, instead of removing this option, we will continue to monitor the private messages from time to time and take action when we find someone is misusing this feature to gain an unfair advantage.

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I wasnt aware that the comments you send with your entry are considered private comments, even though no one else can see them. I use it to explain my submission. I meant the private message button under the CH name. I have mistakenly hit that instead of entry button.

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i’ll use the pm if I use my entry name in message as to protect it .

There is merit to the notion, in my opinion, that as creative intermediaries, we should not have direct contact to the client (CH) except through our employer, SH. It’s a nuanced highwire, which we tiptoe across, hopefully, successfully.

Perhaps the demarcation is that private messaging is initiated by the CH. I think that channel is less cumbersome, perhaps, than a channel started back upstream by the creative. SH’s perspective on this is key.

Yes it’s hard to tell the full scope of the situation without knowing what the CH sees. For example, the Comment section when making an entry is downright necessary I think, many need an explanation and many CH WANT to see how you came up with the name.

However, I’d assume THOSE comments are only seen if the CH clicks on the name; they want to know more about or comment on. Also, I’d assume that a Private Message to CH falls under a different page/tab like a mailbox, which is what I have a problem with if that is the case.

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To my knowledge the CH only sees an entry comment by clicking on the actual comment link. This means they don’t even see the comment if they click on that particular entry.

If that’s true I feel the comment should be visible when viewing the name, even at the scrolling stage. They should be a packaged deal. If the comment has not been viewed then the CH has not truly considered this entry and potentially never will. (Limit the amount of charachters viewed at scrolling stage. Full view if name is clicked on, the first time it’s clicked on)

I imagine it’s easy for a CH to become numb to the process and just start scrolling names, looking for a gem to pop out. This is bad news for the committed creative that spent time researching and needs their comment read for the entry to properly shine! If the CH is in, or nearing the “scroll only” stage, the 2-3 clicks between them and the comment might just be too far unless that name ALREADY looks like a gem :confused:

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If I remember right, Dan said the CH does get alerts when a comment is posted with the name or when we add one later…

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Just wondering - Is this still being done? :neutral_face:

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@AlwriteyThen,

Absolutely. We audit the messages from time to time, and take action when we find someone is taking advantage of private messaging or violating our messaging policy.

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Are the PM counts and stats even accurate for creativrs? Noticed pm counts haven’t changed for some in months

Hmmm I don’t send any PMS don’t seem to win others send lots and seem to win What are the rules again for pm’ing? Just wish you would cancel that option

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I thought one of the SH Admins said they were going to disable that feature, so that any questions for the CHs were seen by all the Creatives, and that only the CH could initiate PRIVATE messages between them and a Creative? :confused:

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BTW, the newest contest re bedsheets won’t allow creatives to submit entries. When I try, I get a message that says “Bad Request” (not Bed Request.)

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It’s been fixed! Thank you!

Umm i have 2 private messages, one was to reply CH’s message to me, one for asked question. I saw some of the new creatives have a lot of private messages, and yes they won more. So i think private messages indeed help haha. Did they do wrong by sent many messages? No, cause theres an opportunity to do so,

What if theres a limitation of how many messages that can be send by the creatives? lets say 10 messages in a month? so creatives still have opportunity to send messages, and CH still able to reply without getting overwhelm.

I dont think its good to put off private messages and if all questions for CH were seen by all the creatives then when CH answer it, i do think many people tend to follow one direction, and it reduce the creativity.

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