Merry Christmas - and that's an order!This time last year I was already in a festive mood, writing about a comper’s Christmas and extolling the virtues of tradition at this special time of year. My first thought this month was to start a tradition of my own (if only to emphasise the importance of the concept, of course!) by simply rerunning last year’s article, and doing so every December from now on. But then I realised that Jane would never let me get away with it, on top of which last year’s mini flurry of especially seasonal tasks and prizes has sadly not been repeated in 2004. There’s still time of course, one feature of many Christmas comps is that they have a shorter than usual shelf life, so still keep a look out. But it seems that 2003’s mini renaissance of snow-covered entry forms and on-pack flashes is unlikely to be matched.
Instead then, as a result of a couple of queries and suggestions from readers, this month and next I’m going to look at a genre of comp that does seem to be making a bit of a comeback lately – the Order Of Merit (or OOM as it’s sometimes known in comping parlance). This task was very popular in the past, but fell out of favour as fashions changed. Now it appears to be making a return, albeit in a slightly different format that seems to favour promoters (but of course!), but the general underlying skills and techniques needed to tackle an OOM successfully remain the same.
Those of us who have been comping for a long time will doubtless recall many books and articles written on the subject in the past, packed full of permutations and matrix strategies. I don’t intend going into such detail here – Christmas is supposed to be a fun time, after all! And frankly, the number of OOM tasks today – whilst on the increase – is still nowhere near the levels enjoyed (or endured!) in the 60s and 70s. So a typical 21st century comper only needs to be armed with a general overview rather than an in-depth analysis of the subject. That’s my intention over the next couple of months - we can obviously revisit the subject at a later date if needs must.
Historically, OOM tasks were a diverse bunch. The number of items to put into order varied between 3 and 20. Those items might have been statements, photographs – you name it! – with prizes going to those most-correct entries. But today’s typical OOM is much more predictable, usually a list of 10 statements with prizes only being paid out to entrants who get the task 100% correct. Sadly, because of the odds involved, this often means that no prizes are awarded at all – hence the OOM of today being saddled with a somewhat dubious reputation. True, sometimes the odds are ridiculously high, or the statements that you need to rank might be ludicrously indistinct, and in these cases you must simply make a judgement call and choose whether to ignore the promotion. There are plenty more fish in the sea, after all!
So how then do you work out the odds in an OOM? Put simply, you just look at the number of statements that you need to consider at every stage of the task, and multiply them together. So if, for example, you need to rank 10 statements in order, then your calculation would be 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1. In other words, when you’re deciding on your top ranking statement from the 10, you have all 10 statements to choose from. By the time you consider your second best, you only have 9 statements remaining to select from. Then 8, then 7 – and so on. By following this calculation through, we find that the odds of correctly ranking a 6-statement OOM are 1 in 720. With an 8-statement task, the odds increase substantially to 1 in 40,320. With 10 statements to rank, your chances diminish to a meagre 1 in 3,628,800. And with 12 statements, an improbable 1 in 479,001,600. Small wonder then that the OOM is coming back into favour with certain promoters!
And don’t be fooled either by those easier-sounding tasks that tell us that we ‘only’ need to rank – say – 10 out of 12 statements correctly. The method of calculating the odds remains essentially the same, the only difference being that you limit the number of numbers to be multiplied together to the number of statements being ranked. So, in our ’10 out of 12’ example, the calculation would be 12 x 11 x 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 (i.e. 10 numbers), but if your task was to rank the top 8 from 12 then the calculation would be 12 x 11 x 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 (i.e. 8 numbers). Which gives us odds of 1 in 239,500,800 and 19,958,400 respectively. Still an almost impossible task, despite being cleverly worded to sound a much simpler challenge. If prizes are being awarded to ‘most correct’ entries in these cases, then obviously the comp would still be worth a go since someone must win and you’re in with as good a chance as anyone else. But given the current trend of prizes only being awarded to totally correct entries, I think that you must ask yourself some serious questions before undertaking the task. By all means give it a try if the qualifier is inexpensive or something that you use anyway. Otherwise, my advice would be to forget it and concentrate instead on another comp that is much more likely to reap rewards.
So then, you’ve worked out and taken stock of the odds and have decided that you want to give a particular OOM comp a go. Next month, I’ll be looking at some of the basic techniques that you can use to turn the odds in your favour and will also flag up some of the main pitfalls to avoid. With OOMs, it’s particularly important to read the instructions and understand exactly what’s being asked. If you listed ten attributes of Compers News, for example, and put these in order of importance for, say, a beginner, an experienced comper, an internet comper, a typical glossy magazine reader – I could go on – then your answer will (or at least should!) be markedly different every time. And how do you differentiate between seemingly similar statements such as ‘it saves me money’ and ‘it’s great value’?! Again, it all depends on exactly what it is you’re being asked to do. All will be revealed next time!
MY GRAND CHRISTMAS COMPETITION
As regular readers of my page will know, I’ve been trying over the last few months to recreate forgotten comps that have been fashionable in the past. And, luckily for all of you, I came across this idea to replace the counting task that I had originally planned. Don’t start jumping for joy just yet though, since my festive challenge might still take you some time. Well, I’m sure that you wouldn’t want it any other way!
This Christmas, I want you all to send me a few gifts. Actually, make that 15. Nothing big though, everything that you send me MUST fit into a standard size, small matchbox. My festive wish list is below. All you have to do is find as many items on the list as you can, cram everything into a matchbox, gift-wrap it nicely, and send it to me. Easy! There are three prizes up for grabs. One for the person who sends me most items from my list (the most original interpretation of the final item on the list will be chosen as the winner in the event of a tie). One for the person who sends the best-decorated and wrapped matchbox, irrespective of what’s inside. And one by way of a draw of EVERYONE who has entered this comp, regardless of the number of items sent and / or standard of gift-wrapping. So, everyone who sends in at least an empty matchbox has a chance of winning a prize! Then again, an empty matchbox isn’t much of a present for me is it? Surely I deserve better than that!
The prizes are very frustrating – yet totally addictive – “Find It” puzzles – rather apt given your task! These are brilliant devices, sealed transparent tubes filled with tiny beads which are shaken around to try and spot the 47 objects that have been hidden within. They come complete with scorecards, and are the perfect distraction for the office, at home, or to keep everyone amused on long journeys. I’ve had one for weeks and still haven’t managed to find everything – although most of that time seems to be spent retrieving the puzzle from work colleagues who tend to borrow it an awful lot! Each prize is worth £15.
The closing date for this competition is Friday 7th January 2005. Please send your entries to “Smid’s Christmas Gift” at PO Box 427, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 3WY.
You must be a current Compers News subscriber to enter. Only one entry per person is allowed, but each entry will be eligible to win more than one prize. Please note that entries cannot be returned, so please don’t put anything valuable inside your matchbox! Also ensure that your name and address details are clearly shown.
My Christmas List:
First produced in 1963, coloured ones featuring promotions widely appeared in the UK for the first time in 1995. One example please – any type or colour.
Latin name Ilex Aquifolium, Gaelic name Chuillin. Some greenery from this seasonal favourite please.
This confectionery brand was launched in 1936, and was named after a play by the author of Peter Pan. Any single wrapper please.
There are roughly 220 billion examples of this toy in existence – around 37 for every person on the planet. I just want one!
Versions of this coin have variously featured Britannia, a ship and a crown on the reverse. Any one please – old or new pence.
This iconic design first appeared in 1967 and is the world’s most reproduced portrait of all time – with over 150 billion copies and more than 2,000 variations having been produced to date. Any one example please.
Boy racer Jensen’s favourite fastener? One example please.
Known as a thumbtack in the USA. Please send me just one Great British equivalent.
To be found on varieties of particular products that carried two of the most talked about comps of 2004, please send me original barcodes with the numbers 5000127743755 and 5000328746395.
Please send me any UK coin from the year in which we said farewell to Agatha Christie and LS Lowry.
Launched in 1962, more than 25 million rolls are bought every Christmas alone. I only want a small piece, please – unused!
This sweet was first sold in 1948, and 100 million are consumed each week in the UK alone. Please send me a single example – mint and unsucked!
Patented in 1900, the world’s largest weighed 602kg and was unveiled near Oslo in the inventor’s honour. Please send me a more typical example.
And last but not least, please send me a gift tag, on which you illustrate and / or describe in 15 words or less, a perfect Comper’s Christmas.
And that’s it - a total of 15 separate items in all. Please note that all coins will be donated to a charity.
Good luck! All that remains this month is for me to wish everyone a very happy Christmas, and a prosperous – and winning! – 2005. Cheers!
Smid x
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