Reason #30 we should go to Thailand: We don't have hanging chads

With voting for the semifinalists in the UTE competition now closed, I must admit I feel a slight sense of loss. As Amber wrote in our last blog, we've put a lot of time and energy into supporting our own efforts and that of the teams we endorsed, sadly none appear to make the finals. That said, the workload devoted to the contest should decrease for us, but that doesn't mean I'm done writing here. In fact, I have some final thoughts on voting I'd like to express. (psst... Louise, I'm about to get mean.)

There's been a lot of complaining as the contest came to a close from various voting blocs and contestants pussyfooting around accusations like this gem: "Yes, it is quite impressive to gain 25% of your total votes in 1 nite (from 2,000 to 2,500 in the middle of a california nite)." No one wants to come right out and say, "I think this group is cheating" for fear of being chastised by TAT or being labeled as "bitter" or a "sore loser."

Do I think some groups cheated? Most definitely. I was frankly disgusted to see how Ben & Brian moved up like they did at the end after sniffing at view counts and for claiming the moral high road. Having friends and relatives coming out of the woodwork to suggest the move was all hard work was a bogus rhetorical strategy. I really thought they were better than that. I think Alex complaining about this is laughable. The way his group shot from 4th to 1st in two days weeks into the contest is just as suspicious. We all know Robert & Kelly cheated, and I referenced this in a wall post on the UTE Facebook page. Of course, all the Filipinos freaked out even though I wasn't talking about their token representative. Sure it was suspicious when Michael Paul & Jennifer jumped up like that, but they're professionals with lots of media contacts and a rabid fanbase voting for them simply based on their ethnicity. (Right, Melona?) Finally, the way Curtis & Mark roared into first after treading water for weeks is more than friggin' shady.

But the important thing to remember is that TAT allowed this to happen. By publishing vote counts just as they did views, they incentivised the process. Teams had a target, and they knew if they just got 40 more votes here and 24 votes there, they could vault into first. You also had a virulent voting bloc organized by Frank and Melona threatening teams to grovel before them to earn their votes. "Any team is cordially invited to present itself here, 250 daily votes are at stake :) Just let us know, why we should vote for your team." Their endorsements were not placed on value, but how well you curried favor. Rana & Sherri were picked for their "good looks" and Michael Paul & Jennifer were chosen because of Frank's anti-American resentment, "We definitely want to see non-Americans in this heavily US dominated game!" By hijacking the contest, they upped the ante.

Then halfway through the contest, TAT changed the rules, allowing anyone to plug an email in with no confirmation. I'm surprised more cheating didn't occur. Robert & Kelly egregiously blew from 5th to 1st having never made a Tweet, a status update, or a blog post to do so.

Meanwhile, TAT stayed silent. When I engaged them on a variety of topics on the UTE Facebook page, they deleted the discussions. In the waning days of the contest, they finally spoke to the reasons for the rule changes, and the way in which voters were confirmed. It was too little too late, as many posters had clearly formed their opinions. Had TAT been as effective communicators as Theo and Amber, perhaps the open hostility could have been avoided.

We voted for the same people every day. We supported them on the UTE page and our fan page, as well as our blogs and tweets. Sadly, it appears none them shall move on, unless TAT surprises us again, "TAT reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest and select winners from among all eligible online entries received." Huh, maybe Amber and Theo still have a chance! See you next time.

Reason #29 we should go to Thailand: We put substance over style

As the voting for the semifinalists in the UTE competition comes to a close, we've been reflecting on the various ways that different teams have promoted themselves to find voters and to show how they would support Thailand. We've seen a lot of creative content, but we've noticed one difference between some of the promotion material we created and that of some other teams. We always put substance ahead of style.

We'll be the first to admit that our video wasn't the most slickly produced, but we would argue that it succeeded better than most in answering the questions asked in the application. We talked about what we hoped to see in Chiang Mai, what we would do to promote the city, and why we had the best experience to do so. The other videos we have produced for this contest were similar in this way. Instead of just showing us having fun at a restaurant, Theo and I told our viewers how they could make their own Thai cuisine; we shared our iguana Dorian's favorite fruit; and we even took our viewers along to share the Colts game day experience with us. Our Facebook posts and tweets have been similarly informative. We've always done more than implore that followers watch our video, as we've offered up a new reason why we're the best team to become the Ultimate Thailand Explorers almost every day. I haven't counted the number of words we've written on this blog, but I will be the first to admit that I've spent more time and attention writing blog posts than I have on my own academic work this semester.

As we've made clear many times before, Theo and I are effective communicators. We know how to craft a message that will be both informative and entertaining. We know that a good video needs more than a popular song over some random, if pleasing, images. The audience wants to learn more about what makes Thailand an amazing place, and that understanding comes through content that draws them in and teaches them something about the land and its culture. Theo and I have spent a great deal of time crafting our message as UTE contestants. We hope you've learned something about us and something about the qualities the best UTE candidates should possess. Thanks for reading and listening.

Reason #28 we should go to Thailand: We're educated, and that makes all the difference

As we've mentioned about 100 times on this blog so far, Theo and I are graduate students. And we're not talking about two-year professional program graduate students. Theo and I have spent most of our lives and more than our incomes pursuing advanced degrees; we have made long-term commitments to academia. I have a bachelor's degree from Albion College, a master's from Ball State University, and I'm finishing up my PhD at the University of Illinois. Theo has both a bachelor's and a master's degree from Ball State, and is working on a second master's at Northern Illinois University in preparation for a PhD.

Some might see all of this time spent in universities in the Midwest as a bad thing; we haven't been out to "experience the real world." Yet our time spent in school has provided us with opportunities many others don't have. (And I'm not talking about the "meet new people and have fun" kinds of typical college experiences.) Theo and I have had the opportunity to develop our academic and creative talents in a variety of ways, from performing on stage to planning lecture series; we've been exposed to new ways of thinking from world-class professors; and we've even published some ideas of our own. Our academic experiences have given us an open minded view of the world; we're always ready for the next adventure and the next challenge.

Our studies have also physically taken us beyond the boundaries of campus. We both had the opportunity to study abroad as students, taking advantage of our universities' connections with institutions all over the world. We've already written a great deal about those experiences on this blog, from my studies in Spain and Ireland, to Theo's in Japan, Korea, China, and Germany. On these trips we were not just tourists but students. Our universities placed us with host families, and we were given the opportunity to experience life from the local point of view. As students, we approached each new destination with an eye for adventure, but also an appreciation for history and culture that we would take with us back to the States. What better way to study Irish poetry than from Yeats' tower, or to study art history by exploring 600 year old palaces in Spain? Studying abroad taught us to bring the skills we had learned in the classroom to our other experiences; each day gave us the opportunity to learn something new.

Because of our study abroad experiences, we've always seen travel as not only an opportunity to have fun and relax, but an opportunity to learn. We learn as much as we can about the history and culture of a place before our visit, and we plan our sightseeing adventures with an eye toward the historical especially. As teachers, we also know how to take the information we've learned and present it to others in a manner that's engaging and entertaining. Given the opportunity to promote from Chiang Mai, Thailand, we would show our audience much more than a typical vacation. We would make sure you learned as much as we did.