Hi Everyone,

The points contest, while it had a few kinks getting rolling, it seems to be effective.  It has encouraged many members to surf around and check out the photos, videos and blogs posted by other members.  We have seen a dramatic increase in how many comments are being left on members' videos, photos etc.  There has also been a huge increase in the amount of members handing out star ratings.  This flurry of new activity is truly exciting for us. 

There have even been eleven new coloring pages submitted.

SO, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE for participating.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Starting at 4:00 PM today (Friday, August 21, 2009) we are going to be increasing the amount of points earned on certain activities.  We have chosen these activities because they will benefit in the growth and strength of this online community.

Adding Tags: Adding tags to photos, videos, blogs, member profiles etc will greatly help everyone show up in searches now and in the future as this grows.  You can add tags to your own items and to those of other members.  We do ask that all tags be on the subject of the item.  For example, you would not put the tag 'tiger' of a horse photo; you would instead put horse, horses, equine, things like that.   Tagging is very important.  everyone wants their items to come up in searches on here, so help other members by adding tags to their photos and videos if they haven't had time to it themselves.

Giving Stars: Giving star ratings to photos, videos, blogs etc not only encourages the member who posted them, but also helps new members find the fun stuff.  So, we are upping the points earned for giving star ratings.

Comments On Media: When a member takes the time and effort to post a photo, video, blog etc it is always encouraging to know what other members think of it.  So to encourage more commenting we are upping the points earned for comments left.  PLEASE, keep the comments genuine and on subject.  It is more about encouraging each other and communication than it is just getting more points.

Coloring Pages: During the holidays we have some projects planned that will be made more fun for kids by having coloring pages added to them.  So to encourage members to create and donate more coloring pages the points for turning in an animal coloring page will be doubled.  Visit this page to see coloring pages already turned in: http://www.bigcatfun.com/games/coloring_pages/index.html. PLEASE REMEMBER: we can only use coloring pages that either YOU have drawn free handed or that you have traced from either YOUR OWN animal photos or from our animal photos.  We don't want to risk any copyright violations when we use the submitted coloring pages in our animal projects.

Adding Profile Photo: Having a profile photo is fun.  To encourage everyone to have a profile photo we are dramatically upping the points for adding a profile photo.  If you already have one, HURRAY.  If you want to keep it that is awesome, if you want to change it, that is fine too.  You can either use your own photos for your profile photo OR you can use some that we have provided for members to use.  We will post more over for you to choose from.  f you have a favorite animal or a favorite cat at Big Cat Rescue, drop me a message and I'll check our photos and see if we have some of that animal species (about any wild animal we have photos to upload) or of that particular cat that I can upload to the Profile Photo Sharing Section.  Here is the link to the profile photos we have posted so far: http://www.bigcatfun.com/free_profile_photos/index.html

Inviting New Members: Being on a site like this is much more fun if your family and personal friends are on it, too.  So we are upping the points earned for inviting new people to join www.ChatBigCats.com and are also upping the points earned when those invited people actually signup, login and surf around. IMPORTANT: Please be thoughtful and invite people whom you feel would enjoy this all animal themed online community.

Uploading Animal Videos & Photos: It is always exciting to log in each day and see what new stuff has been posted.  So the points earned for animal videos and animal photos being uploaded is going to be upped as well.

Flash Game Distribution: Last but not least, we are adding a point earning category.  On our goodies website, www.BigCatFun.com we have begun adding some fun flash games that will promote traffic to our main website www.BigCatRescue.org You can now earn points by helping us distribute these little flash games around the Internet.   

If you have your own website and post our flash games on your website you will earn points for each game you post on your website.   If you do not have your own website, and you still want to participate in this project, drop me a note and I'll post a list of public websites that allow people to upload flash games to their games galleries.

SO In Summary: After 4:00 PM today, Friday, August 21, 2009, visit this link: http://www.bigcatfun.com/contests/cbc-august-2009.html as by then, I will have updated that page to reflect to new updated point earning list.  If you have any questions, please drop me a message.