Well just give people a vote but secure veto rights so you can pick from a runner-up. Not that complicated. Crowdsourcing can be wonderful but it does have its pitfalls for the lowest common denominator.
tips fedora
Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
11–20 of 150 posts
Re: Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
#12Remember that episode when Colbert managed to get 17 million votes to get a new Hungarian bridge named after him? That's versus ~10 million of total population of Hungary. The outcome was highly predictable, but it didn't make the process any less entertaining :)
Re: Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
#13What is so wrong with it? Does it sound like every other seagoing vessel before it? No but who cares. It's unique and wonderful that human beings have a sense of humor. Maybe public works projects need more of this.
Well for one She is a Ship not a Boat - and Maritime types get quite upset if you refer to their ship as a boat. (think Pissed off Gibbs from NCIS)
I did like that "Forward Unto Dawn" (the ship in halo) was 4th at one point
Re: Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
#14They should run with it, the positive PR now and in the future when the RSS Boaty McBoatface docks would be worth it. It would also show a sense of humour and make it something fun.
> They should run with it
Hell they should embrace it and have a good painter put a "thomas the train" face on it or something.
Re: Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
#15To be clear, the U.K. Govt website [1] allows people to submit suggestions, and the NERC are not obliged to use the highest ranking suggestion. Although personally I liked 'what iceberg' as a name Edit: added link [1] http://www.nerc.ac.uk/press/releases/2016/10-ship-naming/
> Although personally I liked 'what iceberg' as a name
That's a very Culture ship name.
Re: Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
#16Possibly a bit late, but I'd love to suggest: "Experiencing A Significant Gravitas Shortfall"
I know a Tribute to the Late Iain M Banks would have been great.
Re: Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
#17They should just admit that Boaty McBoatface is a stupid name, that asking "the Internet" to decide was a stupid idea, and quickly bury this idea behind them. At least it would set a precedent. I can't ever remember anything like this turning into something cool or favorable.
I know it was for the publicity. It worked, so good for that boat-line.
Re: Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
#18They should run with it, the positive PR now and in the future when the RSS Boaty McBoatface docks would be worth it. It would also show a sense of humour and make it something fun.
I completely agree, the ongoing publicity would be enormous. There's even a very close precedent! https://twitter.com/Hants_fire/status/711962085320728576
Re: Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
#19They should run with it, the positive PR now and in the future when the RSS Boaty McBoatface docks would be worth it. It would also show a sense of humour and make it something fun.
There was a similar situation a few years back - some local Hungarian government were running an online poll to decide the name of a new local bridge and more importantly you were able to submit your own proposal. Some internet community got wind of this and mobilised to vote the name "Stephen Colbert Bridge" until it was at the top of the standings.
Even though they never went with the name (they elected to use "Megyeri Bridge") Hungary got a bit of a PR boost when the Hungarian Ambassador appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss the issue. Sadly I cannot find a video clip, but the wikipedia description captures the moment nicely:
" On September 14, 2006, András Simonyi—the ambassador of Hungary to the United States—announced on The Colbert Report that Stephen Colbert had won the vote. Unfortunately for Colbert, Ambassador Simonyi declared that under Hungarian law, Colbert would have to be fluent in Hungarian, and would have to be deceased in order to have the bridge named for him. However, after saying the rules could most likely be bent, he invited Colbert to visit Hungary and view the construction in person and gave him a Hungarian passport and a 10,000 HUF Bill, with an approximate value of, as the ambassador put it, 'fifty dollars, fifty good US dollars'. Colbert promptly tried to bribe him with said money. "
Edit: yikes, Hungary has had a rough few years - I just checked the fx rates and 10000 forint is worth only $36 nowadays.
Re: Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
#20Similar thing happened in Iceland a few years ago.
Before starting work to review the constitution, they ran a facebook poll to get input from the population.
Top suggestions were "Free Ice Cream"and "More Volcanoes":
http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/31/icelands-crowdsourced-con...