All About Pocket Knives

The past 12 months of the monthly knife giveaway have yielded 6 months where the first-place winner claimed the knife and 6 months where the second-place or third-place winner claimed the knife. After some public commentary on the subject in the open community forums, I took the matter offline with my colleagues who own, moderate and administer this site, and we were unanimous in deciding that a change to the monthly knife giveaway rules is needed.

Beginning in September of this year, to be eligible to win the monthly knife giveaway, you must be 18 years of age and either (a) have made at least 100 total forum posts at the time of entering the monthly giveaway or (b) have previously donated successfully to at least 1 prior monthly knife giveaway. The monthly postings will also have a bold red note to all participants to ensure that their Board Preferences Miscellaneous Notifications are properly set to notify them via email when someone sends them a Private Message (PM). Lastly, The first-place winner will have 3 days to respond to claim the knife, and the second-place winner and beyond (if ever needed) will have 1 day to respond to claim the knife.

If you notice carefully, I said eligible to win, not play. Rather than block someone from playing in the monthly knife giveaway (which we don’t do today), I will validate the winner’s eligibility as part of the monthly process to declare a winner.

It is the great hope of Bryan and those that support his mission here at AAPK that this rule change will minimize or eliminate anything other than first-place winners and stop the practice of becoming a member, signing up for the monthly knife giveaway, and then making small or no contributions to the health of our forums. Forum member participation (posting and not just reading) is the lifeblood of any online community, and the monthly knife giveaway is now a “perk” afforded to forum members who (by their total forum posts) participate in our little community of knife enthusiasts.

Thank you to everyone that provided me with feedback and a way forward. I look forward to continued success with the monthly knife giveaway and am proud to offer this "perk" to those that have earned it. Peace

All great changes Tom. Thanks

Sounds like a well thought out plan. I noticed yesterday there are
quite a few people who regularly posted here do not anymore
(this has nothing to do with winning and the giveaway).
Sometimes you just wonder what happened to these people.

Bob

Totally agree. Great initiative, this way active posting members are the beneficiary's of this kind practice.

Yes, by all means, changes have been made that are needed.

It’s unfortunate that this change is necessary, but long overdue IMHO. Too many “one post wonders” signing up and entering the GAW but never checking back to learn that they were winners. And, for the most part never to to be seen here again.

Hopefully this change will benefit those who actually participate, whether they be new or longtime members.

Ken

Thumbs up for Bryan & the Mods. A much needed change.

Good idea!

Thanks Tom for your time and work...

Seems like a change was needed if one half of the winners did not claim the prize. Thanks for the effort to make things better.

Thanks for the support and kind commentary. In this world we live in where inclusion and equity are the trends, this rule change kinda goes against the grain but was driven by supportive data hence the initial positive reaction from our contributing forum members. I know how hard adaptation to change is, I've dealt with it every day in my 45 year career, and change here at AAPK isn't any different. I'm sure there will be some rule change haters but that's ok, everyone is entitled to an opinion.

The further validate the rule change, this is one of the requirements to open an AAPK store: Approval for selling on the AAPK member store platform can be granted based on participation on the AAPK Knife forum. The AAPK team believes that members who have 100 or more quality posts have displayed a level of commitment that demonstrates a high probability that the individual is not a here today and gone tomorrow type member.

Thanks again!

The changes all make sense to me. I guess I'd better turn on e-mail notifications of PMs now.

I don’t see ever going 3 days without checking in. I check in here 3 or 4 times a day. Lol. I’ll see a pm here before I’d see an email.

The flip side is that sometimes I’m a little absent minded. Winning something and not even knowing, or forgetting I even entered is something I’ve done.

I donated the July knife and won 2 knives and a book on 3 different karma give aways on different forums in July!

I had to wait to ship my give away knife because the first winner didn’t reply. It wasn’t the end of the world.

Post #8. This is going to take awhile!

Post #9. Only been a member for about a year. Not sure l need another knife this bad.

Post #10. Nope. I don’t. I quit.

Smalleyds wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 11:37 am Post #10. Nope. I don’t. I quit.

So I take it you don't agree with the giveaway rule changes as described above?

Doesn’t make since for me. I’m on here several times a day reading old posts. I just don’t have much to say. Oh well. Not my game, not my rules.

Posts are important on a forum (any forum, not just AAPK). They are it's life's blood. Without posts, there would be no forum.

Simply an explanation of why posts are important. I hope this helps.

If there weren’t any posts you, nor any one else, would have a reason to be here “several times a day”. And if you’re here several times a day I’d guess you’re a collector or knife enthusiast - show us your knives and tell us about them. What they are, where you got them, why you like them, etc. It’s not difficult to find something to share and something to say.

Welcome to the forum!

Ken

Sounds reasonable to me! I don't have a whole lot to say but I check the new posts at least three times a day because this is an active forum. I'm a member of another forum that is drying up simply because people aren't posting much anymore. I'm mostly a switchblade fan but I like all kinds of knives and like to see what others are getting even though it may not be my cup of tea. Lots of good people here showing their knives and I hope it stays that way for a long time to come.

Also kind of shocking to me how many people there are here on AAPK who are here every day posting, reading, and providing links to off site websites who are not Premium Members. I was somewhat surprised that Premium Membership was not also added to the requirements for entering the monthly knife drawings.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 5:40 pmI was somewhat surprised that Premium Membership was not also added to the requirements for entering the monthly knife drawings.

OC - it was considered but in the spirit of inclusiveness we determined that ALL members regardless of subscription status would be eligible to participate as long as they have made at least 100 total forum posts at the time of entering the monthly giveaway or have previously donated successfully to at least 1 prior monthly knife giveaway.

Hope this helps provide some clarity. Tom

"Beginning in September of this year, to be eligible to win the monthly knife giveaway, you must be 18 years of age"

I'm glad I am 18.