Erik Moeller wrote:
Through months of lobbying I and others have managed to erode that opposition somewhat
I think that 'lobbying' unnecessarily disparages what you've done. "Calm and reasoned argument, discussion, and explanation" is more accurate.
I, for one, can still be counted among the skeptical with respect to voting, but I've been persuaded by Erik and others that it can properly play a much bigger role than I had previously imagined.
One of the advantges of a well-done vote is that it can become a focal point for consensus. On the other hand, one of the disadvantages of a poorly-done vote is that it can become a focal point for "party behavior" or rivalries.
You can vote on virtually every aspect of the contest -- logo format, number of pixels, number of colors, Wikipedia text or not, etc. In the wiki world we try to avoid voting and seek consensus instead. Someone proposes a specific guideline and if people do not agree with it they express their dissent. This was what happened here. Some people felt the deadline was too short, some people felt it was too long, in the end we voted and there was a majority for extending it. I see no point in wasting time on *voting* on the *voting* deadlines as well.
I don't know, maybe we should vote on whether we should have votes to determine voting deadlines? ha ha.
--Jimbo