How Much Does Quality Matter (voting by review)?

Question:  Hi.  I really enjoy your site and have been following it for the last few months.  My question has to do with the quality of the reviews figuring into the voting.  Do you editors look at 'well-written, lengthy reviews' the same as some of the barely literate comments that I've been seeing posted? Thanks, Ada

Answer:  Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ada. We enjoy all reviews because we appreciate anyone who takes the time to participate on our site and they are never to be criticized for their opinions.  We have had to delete some submissions that criticized other reviews, although this is rare. 

As regards the way we consider quality for the awards program, we have made it very clear small reviews receive one vote, large reviews three votes.  However, the perception of the editors is influenced by quality reviews.  Let us explain:

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Just as if you were to ask for a recommendation for someone to work on your house - which would you prefer?  Someone who says, "Yeah, they're good," or someone who gives specific reasons why they are recommending a certain contractor, giving details about, dependability, quality, punctuality and so forth.  As editors, we of course want the details.  So our opinions, which count for a portion of the vote, are shaped by the quantity and more importantly, the quality of what we read. 

We look for 'keywords' in reviews that fit the description of what we want on our submission page.  Even though this is the Fan's Choice Award of Branson, the editors have to play 'umpire'.  The umpire does not play in the game but is directly involved and has to make calls and make sure the game is played fair.  So we look at the big picture and compile that information to 'pick a winner'. 

Though reviews have the biggest influence on the awards, a common sense approach to good reviews results is the judgment of the editors, otherwise we could just post straight polls for every show in Branson and whenever it closed, that's who won.  That latter idea would be a very poor formula for choosing a winner, indeed. 

So continue to write the best quality review for the show and highlight the performer that you want to win in that review so as to influence the editors' decision.