Thanks for sharing the judging criteria. As requested by many, can you please share the scores of each couple? I don’t think this is too much to ask for. This will really help us in reducing the pain of not making it to top 100.

Unfortunately the score sheets are confidential and may not be shared.

First of all congratulations to all who could make it. But I would just like to request the TGDC members to clarify something. In the terms and conditions pages you had mentioned that incomplete entry forms wil be disqualified. Which I asume must mean the application. Now I noticed that in the application all the fields were mandatory barring the google map. And any field not filled or included showed up as incomplete forms eg- 75% complete or 80% . according to the inclusion of flicker twitter etc…2 or 3 applicants in the top 100 had not covered some of the fields which shows that their application were not complete as per rules. so???

May i ask how

https://greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/1247139038093751/

this couple - Sapna get selected ?

1st you publish “Mad O What” then
“The curious case of 3 sapnas”

Still - How did they get selected without completing their profile i.e. 100%, they have
no travel plan,
no maps,
they are not on orkut,
they don’t even twitter!

Why did every one else waste time to create all these! What was the 100% completion of profile for, when this girl clearly slapped it on your face!

Have the guts to publish this? Don’t worry, i will, everywhere!

Coz cheating is what i CANNOT STAND!

Hi Sandip,

If it is not asking for too much, can you share our individual scores atleast ( via email). That would enable us to brush up on where we are lacking and improve ourselves for the next round

Regards,

Narayan

To be honest, this criteria was posted by TGDC already in their blog earlier which made us get less anxious over other profiles gaining over 1000 votes overnight!

We trusted TGDC and we are happy to be part of the top 100 profiles.

Three cheers to the TGDC team for their fair play.
Good luck to all the contestants for the next steps.

Would like to clarify that people were not required to create a social network page - they were expected to share an existing link if it did exist. Many people created blogs with just an intro post - unfortunately that was not a ‘convincing evidence’ of someone’s ability to blog.

As social media specialists, we are aware that people make any one network their home, and do not necessarily use all services. In some applicants, it was Facebook, for some it was flickr, or orkut or twitter, or their own blog. Many people write all their stuff (blog) and pictures on Facebook. An extraordinaryly high degree of participation on any one network was proof enough of an individual’s social network savviness.

I guess in the end for many applicants, quality prevailed over quantity, and in case of other applicants their extraordinary amount of effort prevailed over supposedly mediocre quality, to determine their position in TOP 100.

As you can see we have critics of both these pool of applicants.

Thanks, TGDC…all the more reasons that the result does not make sense anymore.

You know I took it in my stride for a while but my the dissappointment really came in when I came across some applications which did not really meet the standards…yet they made it.

If you guys consider yourselves different from other competition including reality shows…then make this transparent enough…

because end of the day there are many couples here who were deserving, avid drivers and are market opinion influencers…of a brand…even if they are not in your top 100…

considering that cedia sports is not the most popular brand on Indian roads…and certainly not a multi terrain car…trust me many of you have not driven the terrains that we have…so we can give our verdict here…So all the more reasons you need to go ahead and share the scores or accept that there has been certain errors in judgement and you are not in position to rectify that at this stage…that will clear the air of ambiguity…

best regards,
Chandrani

I don’t need to do this but then guys lets not be bad people!!

Guys Sapna Bhavnani is a celebrity and not an ordinary one but the sort that gets published in newspapers, magazines and has a hundred odd portals vying to get her to write something for them….. the jury saw what was not written in the application due to brand recall.

Sonali told me about her when she read the three sapnas piece…. she knew of Sapna before having read the blog

...so there that’s why she’s there…. apparantly she is a legend as far as road trips and travelogues go… and lets face it this is not a contest of who is the best driver (they’re not hiring chauffeurs), nor the best photographer(not hiring a paparazzo), nor the best writer(not hiring someone to write a book), nor the person who knows everything about everything in a car(not looking for a car mechanic).....  they are publicizing a car. The top three would be people who can do all of the above to say 75% accuracy and at the same time also project a lifestyle that would say “yes we want to be like this couple”..... the aspiration qoutient of a couple is what is going to get Cedia the footfalls in the showrooms and that’s the target…. abhi without shelling out the $$$ if they get someone like Sapna Bavnani on the parade it would really have to be a brain dead marketing team to say no no we don’t want her coz she hasn’t told us about herself “duh it’s like going to a party and saying no we don’t recognize SRK coz he hasn’t told us his name yet!!! yeah right!

We’re in and I feel it’s got something to do with the wifes attention to detail(she read the rules properly), my writing and clarity of thought (wow did I just blow my own bugle) I did not expect it but it happened…. similarly I do not expect to be in the top 9 leave alone the top 3…. guys lets be good people and enjoy the journey…. the destination is not what matters coz what if it’s raining when you reach?? Get my point?!

Thanks Sandip. I know it won’t clear the air for a lot of people since FB pages are restricted to friends of users only and people will still be put off by this particular case.

Having said that, your explanation is top notch and is exactly what was required - objective and factual.

Regards,

Imtiaz,

You are right, and the jury would have been mad not to consider Sapna.

I also do not think we should be taking any names here…it is almost attcking that individual which is not fair. I could draw a few xamples but deliberately have not. That is not in the spirit of the game.

Sapna is one case.Keeping that aside there are a few more which do raise a doubt. But what has happened has happened, and people should move on.

As for you and Sonali, best of luck…and would love to keep in touch.

Chandrani

@ Imtiaz

Are you trying to say that if Sapna is selected than all the other 99 couples should retire right now!

Coz that’s what it means, literally!

Go to her FB and she has told her friends to vote for her again and again, and friends have openly admitted to doing so!

So is someone at TGDC hiding something to make sure she enters?

What you are saying is that - she can just write in her name and does not need to finish anything else!

Here is the winner - why wait for the 12 day drive then!

@ Sandeep

“Foot in Mouth” is the right word! I was the first one to write to you when you published “Mad O What” anyways, the word has spread!

The “Fixed” winner has been witnessed by all, if you check her FB, there are friends clearly announcing cheating and voting for her again and again - who cares!

This is what her FB status reads right now

“Arijit N I made it in the top 100 of the Great Driving Challenge…. Thank you so much for all your love and support… Now just have to kill the other 99 couples and win this shit…..”

By the way - what is the “shit” she is referring to?

Agree with Joseph Radhik. We haven’t made it and are perfectly at peace about it.

Hi Sandip,

I liked the way you replied.

But let’s face it, she is a celebrity, and the blog had two posts on her just when she joined.

And talking of social media activity, all her Flickr shots have been uploaded between 10th of July 2009 and 11th of July 2009. We can’t know about her facebook activity, since it’s not for public. Don’t get how the jury would get to know about the levels of activity.

I am perfectly alright with Mitsubishi selecting her for the campaign - after all you want people to notice the campaign (though I am of the opinion that getting a celebrity would not work), so if a celebrity decides to participate give her the red carpet by all means. But then this whole activity was not needed.

You could have just asked her to go drive the Cedia and made a TV show about it. I’m sure the people would have still watched.

Hi Guys,

I would suggest that 20th July 2009 the domain name should be changed from https://greatdrivingchallenge.com

to

http://www.greatdrivingsouthindianschallenge.com

Thats obvious if you will see the top 100 they have selected, anyways from next time onwards no one should take these online contests seriosly.

Cheers

Dear Imtiaz,

If celebrities were to be chosen than why were people asked to do things which they did sincerely. Dont you get to know names of celebrities without arranging a contest, do you have to go for such a huge campaign if you want find celebrities?

What s the need to oraganise a competition if celebrities are to be selected..

And the truth shall set you free.

Presenting the list of the top 100 applicants,
searchable by name (just hit Ctrl+F), with
links to profiles. Also featuring profile
pictures.

http://syktgdc.110mb.com/

@TGDC: I’m an avid supporter of everything TGDC.
And this is my contribution.

@ Sandip

How can you even entertain an individual who does not respect this event. (Im talking about Sapna Bhavnani). As pointed out by Imtiaz, Sunil and many others, so many of the participants would have treated this event with respect and gave their hearts working on their profiles, including me.

You must give the readers an explanation on how you arrived at her selection when many better ones were available for this event. The scores breakdown simply does not justify her selection.

I am selected, but after getting an insight to the many profiles, i am feeling bad that even events like these are getting corrupted by easier means of promotion (Which is exactly what cheap B grade actresses do in a Reality show)

Regards Man….

Arvind

Sandip,
If everything was fairly done then why don’t you guys let out the individual scores scored by the contestants on each of the judging parameter on their profile page? Make it transparent & public, it will be easy to compare apples to apples for a lot of dis-heartened guys & the cat will be out of the bag. Because, at the moment, it seems though you have a happy hundred, there are a lot more unhappy hundreds & has resulted in defeating the very purpose of this buzz activity by Cedia Guys. Think over it in the larger context of the Brand Association.

TGDC Team….
feel cheated out n leave behind sour taste. something surely went udner the table. i cant belive my application got rejected where last 7 days i drink eat breath the great challenge. my profile took 10 long days for approval at 1st so i worked harder to make up for lost time. being a hardcore Mitsubishi guy using lancer 6 yrs n Cedia 1 year, yr results have put a slap on Mitusbishi brand as a whole to me.

Since, moderator is going to filter this, i dont know if you will allow this or no. Whatever, you have made many hard core buffs unhappy. Good luck to rest who selected but than top 3 will also be ppl who are good at doing under atble marketing….

Sandip

We’re part of the top 100 but all the excitement we had a little earlier is now completely gone after we went through all the profiles of the top 100.

It is very clearly evident that the votes had very little or no value whatsoever. We feel stupid for having spent so much time, energy and effort canvassing for ourselves and for having put a lot of our friends through the same.  if it was not important, we should have been informed and please dont try telling us otherwise because there are people who have got less than 100 votes and not really impressive profiles.

Looking at the way things are progressing, i honestly am beginning to suspect the fairness of the game and this is coming from a couple who have been extremely impressed by the format of this challenge up till now and have told you so several times also. we feel that you’ve sold yourself out and you’ve picked the people who will show off the brand the most.

If this is the way the rest of the challenge is going to pan out, i think you have already chosen your top 3.

This may well be spoiling all our further chances but we couldnt be like some of the top 100 who can blatantly see what is happening and still keep quiet.

And our apologies to all the deserving ones who didnt make it.

Leena and Sai.

Team GDC placed the selection process in hands of a qualified Jury to make a decision on which couples “deserved” to make it to the Final 100. We trusted their collective judgment, and will abide by the decision they have taken and communicated to us.

Yes - like someone mentioned, some people made it to the list, even though they did not have the most impeccable voting records, or completeness of profile or power of written English. It is with lot of pain, that we decided to open certain comments pointing fingers at these specific individuals. We did it to demonstrate our commitment to encouraging open discussions, without fully appreciating the pain that we caused, by exposing them to unnecessary scrutiny.

Our apologies.

It is really time to move on from here, and get ready for the next phase.

Hi TDC Team,

We haven’t made it to the top 100, so we have missed the chance this time. Though we made a late entry we thought we had a good chance inspite of lack of votes and testimonials. There must be a fair reason why we couldn’t make it to the top 100. And we respect your judgement.

I read the earlier comments. I have something to say after validating them.

1. How come the TDC team selects a couple which shows disrespect to the very contest designed by them? Irrespective of who that participant is, I dont understand what was TDC team possibly thinking here.

2. There are some really good profiles who are down to earth. I wish they make it to the Top 3. This challenge is about people like them and not about celebrities.

3. The last I read, I saw in one of the blogs that there were 8000 odd applicants (If my data is correct) Now assuming two panelists (assuming this is correct) spent entire two and half days to select top 100, that gives them 60 hours-meaning 3600 minutes each, 7200 minutes together. So I dont know how much time the panelists got for each profile. The job of the panelist in such a scenario is indeed highly difficult. Was it that there was a first level quantitative filter of votes and testimonials applied to zero down on a smaller list? If so how big was this list? Did this led to dropping of some better profiles who didnt have votes or testimonials? Was it enough for the panelist to do their job? These are some questions that TDC has to mull over. And if they have answers, great.

Winning or losing is not the question, we just want to see that a deserving candidate is not left out of the top 100.

Nagraj - If you read my post above, we mentioned a few quantitative filters were applied at the very start of the process, and the list whittled down to a few hundred.

We missed some good applications in the process, but we did not have any better choice, with the constraints of time and resources. We mixed some quality with some quantity and handed over to the Jury. They shut one eye to names of friends, creative email IDs, and eliminated only those who flagrantly violated the system; and yes they certainly did smile and tolerate some edgy humor.

Fair enough Sandeep. It was indeed great to participate in TGDC. It was fun.