TAC Voter Questions Big Jason Henderson’s Surge

14 Comments by Thor Schrock on June 10, 2008 under Audition Information, General Show News

I received an email this morning that questioned Big Jason Henderson’s sudden surge in the rankings and suggested that he must have a friend in the TAC production team. We knew that as things got down to the wire, emotions would flare.

A similar rumor surrounded Big Jason when he was working to get on Joel Comm’s show, the Next Internet Millionaire. That rumor turned out to be completely false, as he was one of the first men eliminated from the show.

I spent some time on this reply, so I thought I would share it with everyone so these kind of rumors can end now instead of later.

Lynn wrote:

Just wanted to let you know that since about the beginning of this month I haven’t been able to vote every day (not for lack of trying). Most of the time the site is not responsive (hangs forever) or is just down. Had no problem last month. Seems to have become like this since you uploaded the last contestants. It is an unfair advantage to most of the contestants who are winning due to sheer number of loyal supporter who vote a 10 every day. The only one who seems to be benefiting is the 2nd place guy who looks like he is there because of his super votes. (Come - on… you honestly gave this guy an 8?!!! The production is of poor quality & lacks imagination — must be a friend or something. Very disappointing & questions your credibility.)

I responded:

Thank you for your email. My direct email address is thor@topaffiliatechallenge.com. We were aware of the website page load problems over the weekend. I addressed it here.

As for Jason Henderson’s position in the rankings, he received a high base score for his video for multiple reasons. He is driving more traffic to the TAC website than any other contestant - 25% more than the second highest contestant. (Although it should be noted that his profile is NOT the most viewed profile on the site, suggesting that his traffic is not converting as well as others)

Secondly, he somehow managed to get Shoemoney to cut a video for him. Shoe is very busy and a personal friend of mine. He doesn’t do that kind of thing for everyone who asks. We thought it showed forethought and drive that he was able to get that endorsement. With that said, the gurus on the show can say anything they want anytime they want, we don’t control them and we certainly would never intervene on the behalf of any contestant (I have been asked by numerous contestants to do just that, and I have turned them all down).

With regard to Henderson’s sudden super vote surge, that is all above board. He purchased the strategy guide and is implementing one of the suggested strategies very successfully.

We knew going into this that some people would be hurt that they did not make the show. We have tried give contestants as much control over their destiny as we possibly could. The only thing we control is the base score, and while that is a powerful tool, anyone with any base score can make it on the show at this point if they can market themselves effectively enough online. We have a LOT of sleepers, so I wouldn’t get too concerned about who is in the top 10 at this moment.

On a final note, we have one more twist in store for for those who end up in the top 25% (2 of which will make it on the show). Just because someone is not in the top 10 doesn’t mean they should give up just yet.

Normally we do not take the time to identify why a person got the base score that they did. I hope this clears up any doubts as to the credibility of myself or our staff.

Thor Schrock

14 Comments... What do you think? Subscribe via RSS
  1. Wes Wyatt said on June 10th, 2008 at 9:10 am

    Jason had more “Movers / Shakers” testimonials than I’ve ever seen on one of his last videos - so it doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s getting incredible traffic!

    Plus - let’s face it! The guy has more Rabbit Feet around him than any of us! So he’s bound to have things going for him!

    Thank you for drilling down to the facts Thor!

  2. Ty Hurd said on June 10th, 2008 at 10:08 am

    Any base score? Isn’t 10 x your base the highest you can get mathematically speaking?

  3. Chad Van Norman said on June 10th, 2008 at 11:34 am

    Ty,
    The formula is explained in the Strategy Guide. (page 18)

    Total vote score, number of votes, number of Super Votes, Base Score, etc. all have factors in the formula.

    Chad

  4. Ty Hurd said on June 10th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

    I’ve seen it and understand it completely. It’s just a basic algebraic equation.

    a $100 says no one breaks 10 x their base score - any takers? ;-)

  5. Ty Hurd said on June 10th, 2008 at 1:15 pm

    Who’s profile is the most viewed? Just curious…

  6. Devin Hunter said on June 10th, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    Ty,

    Let me get this straight, you are saying no matter how many supers someone dumps this week or the last minute, it is mathematically impossible for someone to get 10X their base score according to the formula in the strategy guide?

    i.e
    base 6 can only get as high as 60
    base 7 can only get as high as 70
    base 8 can only get as high as 80
    base 9 can only get as high as 90

    This is very interesting, if this is the case and you are 100% sure, then people will be throwing their money away for nothing.

    Devin

    P.S. I wish I had more money to dump in, but I’m tapped. So good luck to everyone.

  7. Chad Van Norman said on June 10th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

    I am curious about the most viewed profile also.

    Ty,

    I’m confused about what you are saying “10 x their base score”,
    where does the 10 come from?

    Chad Van Norman

  8. Chad Van Norman said on June 10th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    Anyone else getting the 502 proxy error when trying to view http://topaffiliatechallenge.com ?

  9. social proof is cool said on June 10th, 2008 at 2:35 pm

    i’m not getting any errors due to my deal with thor. i just bought like 200 super votes for myself, jonathan and gaj just like I said I was going to do on the forum…. oh wait, it was other people who said that. my bad

  10. Ronda Del Boccio, The Story Lady said on June 10th, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    Wow the site is slow as molasses in January, as my 3rd grade teacher would say - even now!

    This is really getting fun, and there is more drama yet to come.

    And Thor, naturally I want to know whose profile is the most viewed. I suspect we all do!
    Ronda
    http://Storyation.com/gorilla.htm

  11. Ty Hurd said on June 10th, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    Chad,

    We discussed earlier - but to anyone else that’s wondering the 10 comes from the highest you could vote, and thus average (i.e. the 1-10 scale)

  12. keep hating me...it's the cool thing to do said on June 11th, 2008 at 10:26 pm

    @Wes Wyatt

    hahah. rabbit’s feet. good one

    looking forward to having you on the imaginary tactic of getting other people to buy you tons of super votes tomorrow night.

    shhhhh……. we don’t want too many contestants waking up to reality my friend

    ;) ;)

  13. Let's BUY Our Way Onto The SHOW!! :) said on June 13th, 2008 at 10:08 am

    I think The One Major Flaw with the way the voting has been worked out is the fact that people can buy their way onto the show..

    Next Year TAC should LIMIT the amount of supervote that one can buy to say, 10 Supervotes MAX..

    I know this limits the amount of money it brings to the show but it makes the competition fair.

    Because of this i am having to BUY as many supervotes as i an to get bak into the TOP 10.

    I have a base score of 8 and according to Thor, anyone wth a 8 or higher would be guaranteed to stay in the top 10?

    Well i hope Thor takes this into consideration and makes next years TAC auditions more FAIR

  14. relationships rock said on June 15th, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    totally agree on this one.

    that way all the hypocrites from this year who publicly approved of buying your way on the show will have to rely on their promotional powers or lack thereof

What do you think? Join the discussion...

How do I change my avatar?

Go to gravatar.com and upload your preferred avatar.