Jim,

Yes contests are a good way to attract new community members, in addition to being a way to build loyalty towards existing members and also, in some respect a fun way of rewarding existing community members.

I have absolutely no problem with new people registering on the GWW Community and participating in the contests so long as they follow and meet the contest rules and minimum criteria.

The people i have problems with lurking, are those that without fail, every time we have a contest, or there is a contest on any other board, (the same people) suddenly start logging in an posting, perhaps one or two posts to make it 'appear' they are around, then, as soon as the contest is over, they disappear again until the next content starts on GWW or whatever other board is running a contest, these are the ones i take issue with.

For all intents and purposes, its theft, theft of a prize of significant value that should be going to regular contributors of the GWW Community, or going to someone who NEEDS help growing their business, not someone who just posts whenever there is something to be 'won'.

I mean lets be honest, would you have rather had Bec win the 200000th post contest, or someone you had never heard of, and only seen when a contest was underway, despite having been registered on GWW for over 3 years?

Regards,

Lee