Cheating and the Spirit of the Undie Awards

We've been informed by some folks in the forum that there has allegedly been one or more people who were nominated for an Undie Award that have gamed the system to alter the outcomes of the voting; ie. Cheating.

The whole idea of the Undie Awards and why we leave the voting open to the public is because this is supposed to be the awards for the ukulele community. Theoretically, if you win an Undie, you should feel great as your video has been chosen not by some exclusive voting body but your peers, your fellow UUers who took the time to watch your video and deem it the best for the category nominated.

Before I go any further I should clarify my definition of cheating in the Undies. Cheating is taking action above and beyond what is considered reasonable to change the results of the voting. It's kind of vague so perhaps some examples would be helpful

Not Cheating: Asking your friends to vote for your video.
Cheating: voting for your video over and over until you single handedly change the outcome (to do this you would have to do some IP resetting or other shenanigans because we limited voting to 1 per IP which is why it is above and beyond reasonable).

We'll be looking into it but to be honest, this is probably one of the most disappointing things I have ever heard come out of the boards. If you have cheated and are going to win an award tomorrow, I cannot see how you can be happy, congratulations you've defeated the WHOLE POINT of the Undie Awards by preventing your peers from having their voices heard. Your award is an empty as you have not earned it.

I guess we will be discussing the future of the Undies and anyone who can be identified as having cheated. Who knows maybe this is the last one we do, if not this person(s) shall at least be disqualified for any other awards in the future and may possibly be banned from the forum altogether. We put a lot of time, energy and money into these awards and for this kind of stuff to happen its pretty much a slap to the face saying we are wasting our time.

As a recurring defeated nominee for an Undie Award every year, may I just say to the cheaters:

I second that

Also:

Incredibly disappointing to hear of this. I would have thought the honour of being nominated was reward enough in and of itself. The ukulele is a beautiful instrument because of its inclusive, humble nature. These acts go directly against the grain of what it means to be a part of this community and all it values.

Another problem with this issue is that doubt is cast over everyone who has been nominated. So there is in a sense a kind of default guilt by association. In my opinion, which may be harsh, the perpetrator(s) of the cheating should be publicly named and disqualified automatically, to protect not only the integrity of the awards , but the honesty and integrity of the other nominees.

It's sad that people stoop this low to win an award.

I would have loved to have a reason to cheat.

Very unfortunate if the allegations are true. Hope the Undie Awrads will continue in the future.

I won't go into the technicalities but, up until a while ago, I took part in a postal competition for RC model glider thermal soaring in the UK.
Although the flights needed to be witnessed it was easy to cheat so why bother running such a contest?

1) If you cheat then you are cheating yourself.

2) Sooner or later you will get found out.

3) accept the fact, if you need to cheat then you're really not that good.


Although I've not taken part yet, I hope the awards carry on 'cos I can see it's greatfun for the majority.

eugene ukulele said:

Incredibly disappointing to hear of this. I would have thought the honour of being nominated was reward enough in and of itself. The ukulele is a beautiful instrument because of its inclusive, humble nature. These acts go directly against the grain of what it means to be a part of this community and all it values.

Another problem with this issue is that doubt is cast over everyone who has been nominated. So there is in a sense a kind of default guilt by association. In my opinion, which may be harsh, the perpetrator(s) of the cheating should be publicly named and disqualified automatically, to protect not only the integrity of the awards , but the honesty and integrity of the other nominees.

Click to expand...

Right on!!! Name those POS in public. How sorry is that of them to do some low-life stuff like that. I say ban them from the forum also. Name 'em and ban 'em!

Wow. I don't know what to say. Is winning an Undie so important that one would soil their character to do it? I guess if you even would consider doing it (cheating) in the first place, it says what kind of character you have to begin with.

I would propose giving those involved the opportunity to fess up ahead of time and right a wrong. No questions asked and appology accepted. We all make mistakes.

for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, sound familiar? Cheaters should remember that before they act.

Perhaps a solution to this for next year is that UU members nominate the videos, then let the UU staff pick the winners. In other words, skip the finalists list altogether. It would give the UU staff more work, unless they form a committee of trusted UU members to do the picking.

so:

1) have a nomination period of 2 weeks.
2) UU members post their nominations in designated threads
3) close the threads
4) have the awards committee choose the video for awards.
5) partyin' partyin'

UKISOCIETY said:

Perhaps a solution to this for next year is that UU members nominate the videos, then let the UU staff pick the winners. In other words, skip the finalists list altogether. It would give the UU staff more work, unless they form a committee of trusted UU members to do the picking.

so:

1) have a nomination period of 2 weeks.
2) UU members post their nominations in designated threads
3) close the threads
4) have the awards committee choose the video for awards.
5) partyin' partyin'

Click to expand...

I like #5 the best!!!

UKISOCIETY said:

Perhaps a solution to this for next year is that UU members nominate the videos, then let the UU staff pick the winners. In other words, skip the finalists list altogether. It would give the UU staff more work, unless they form a committee of trusted UU members to do the picking.

so:

1) have a nomination period of 2 weeks.
2) UU members post their nominations in designated threads
3) close the threads
4) have the awards committee choose the video for awards.
5) partyin' partyin'

Click to expand...

This is an excellent idea. I don't want The Undies to disappear entirely. It's a shame that this year's awards have been dirtied in such a way. I know that certain people were immensely proud to just be nominated - that should be enough for anyone.

I know for a fact that thejumpingflea cheated when he won because that dude doesn't have a lick of talent.

Thats pretty sad when someone feels the need to cheat their way to the top in a friendly awards contest. You were nominated for heavens sake, let that be reward enough! Suck it up, be a man/woman and do better next year! Geez people!!

Is it OK to ask friends to vote for you in a talent contest?

Why don't we just close the voting to UU members? That way we have the membership names to reference instead of anonymous IP addresses?

UKISOCIETY said:

Perhaps a solution to this for next year is that UU members nominate the videos, then let the UU staff pick the winners. In other words, skip the finalists list altogether. It would give the UU staff more work, unless they form a committee of trusted UU members to do the picking.

so:

1) have a nomination period of 2 weeks.
2) UU members post their nominations in designated threads
3) close the threads
4) have the awards committee choose the video for awards.
5) partyin' partyin'

Click to expand...

Good ideas, maybe a panel of 20 or so well known UU members could help with the voting. Cereal