Our cartoon caption contest was once on a regular every-other-week schedule, but has become a bit more sporadic over the last few months. Reader response has dropped off a bit too. Are those two things related? For the first year or two we were getting well over a hundred entries each time. Now its down to between 40 and 50. I’d be interested in bloggers’ suggestions as to how we could improve it. Should we go to more national topics? Pocketbook issues have provoked higher turnout in the past, somewhat predictably. Are local issues just not doing it for you? Or should we just stick a fork in it? Should the cartoon caption contest go away like the Wranglers are about to do?
At any rate, here’s the current winning caption from Brad Allen of Wichita. Click on the above image to enlarge. Some other noteworthy entries: Roger Neugent of Haysville submitted "Hey Wilbur, I hear you are being replaced as mascot by ‘Limpy’ the Lame Duck!" Several readers sent in jokes about giving a forwarding address, among them: Jim Cummings of Wichita and Dawn Lane of Goddard. Barry Leabo of Clearwater sent "Hey, Mister, could you jot down the directions to Springdale, Arkansas?" Bruce Cole of Wichita had this caption: "Here, take this ball with you when you go. I got all 9 of your fans to sign it." Richard Julius of Peck sent "What’s it gonna be…hit and run or cut and run?" From Jim Holler of Bentley came "Could you have the grounds crew sign this for me? At least I know they’re not leaving!" John Reisch of Wichita said "I need you to cross off your name." Reflecting our town’s love for WSU baseball, Ted Ayres of Wichita sent in "Are you sure you can get Coach Stephenson’s autograph?" From Wayne Binn of Wichita: "What does my father mean by ‘and the horse you rode in on???’" Finally, Larry England of Medicine Lodge took a little swipe at Arkansas’ backwards image with "Dad said I need to get the team’s autographs while they still remember how to read and write."
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12 Comments
I say keep the contest.One of these days I might even come up with a witty caption to enter.
Yea, i would come up with something too but i cant seem to keep my thoughts into one or two sentences…
I like Bruce’s the best. He hit the nail right on the head.
Yes! Keep the contest! Maybe the winner could receive a free month on their newspaper subscription or perhaps you should partner up with a local vendor that would fund a gift card, i.e. Johnson’s Garden Center, Lowe’s or Home Depot etc, etc.
Keep the contest.
Ditto!
Put a fork in it.
Keep the contest. I always look forward to seeing who comes up with the best line. Maybe a mix of local and national issues would interest more people, but please keep it!
Keep the contest, it’s probably the only time I’ll get my name in the paper unless I get married, die, or committ a felony!
Agreed. Keep it!
I’d like to see you keep the contest. No matter how often you have it, make it regularly scheduled – and available on-line.
Better Late Than Never – You should try to keep the contest a bi-weekly event (with an occasional slip to 3 weeks when you need to). It is easier to forget to look for the entry cartoon when it isn’t a regular happening.I seemed to have had an easier time coming up with entries when you first started the contest. Maybe that was just me, but, it seems that over time, the way that some of your cartoons are drawn – the expressions on the faces of those who are talking (e.g. anger vs. a more generic look) or which particular person is ‘obviously’ talking – have narrowed the range of comment possibilities, thus, maybe narrowing the entry submission potential.I am also of the opinion that entries should be limited to one per person (a “give it your best shot” approach). That would also make the selection process a bit easier.