Here’s to positive energy for Adam and everyone here, it’s going to be a great show tomorrow and thanks to everyone’s efforts I believe Adam is going to be our next American Idol.

It’s been an amazing experience here over the past few months; Adam’s fans are so eloquent and passionate that while I expected just to post my first message, the questions and information have been so interesting that it’s been a pleasure to stay involved. And in answer to questions about the future, there’s some good news I’ll mention after the Finale.

Regarding official merchandise, back on May 6 I mentioned:”Yesterday I posted about merchandising and here’s an instant reaction :)… This message was posted here on the AI website: American Idol Gear on CafePress:

Want to show your Idol support from head to toe? American Idol is partnering with CafePress to allow fans the opportunity to create and buy gear designed by the fans and inspired by the show and its contestants. Visit CafePress to choose from thousands of Idol themed designs created by Idol enthusiasts. Many of the designs are finalist specific and some showcase the name of an Idol’s group of fans coined right here in the MyIdol communities. Other shirts are themed for the judges and host. Fans are adding hundreds of new designs everyday, and all are available for sale in the CafePress American Idol Fan Portal.

Here’s the Industry part: At the portal there are publicly posted rules for merchandise you may not have thought to look at. I thought the guidelines were really interesting and worth pointing out — they’ll give you an idea of how hard the moderators work here and how complex and carefully considered everything is. The products made available are officially licensed merchandise, so that’s the place to go to support Adam.

Best, Michael

AMERICAN IDOL FAN PORTAL MERCHANDISE RULES
All images created for the Official American Idol Fan Portal must comply with the following rules. Please note that these rules may be updated from time to time.

* No use of the official American Idol logo
* No alterations, reproductions, or resemblance of the actual oval logo
* No substitution of words, catchphrases or images to be used inside of the oval logo
* No use of any images of contestants (past and present), or images of host Ryan Seacrest, or images of any Judges (past and present or guest) including without limitation Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell
* OK to use contestant names only
* OK to use names (first and last) for Ryan Seacrest, Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi, and Randy Jackson
* No use of cartoon, caricature images of contestants (past or present), judges or Ryan.
* No reference to drugs or medication
* No derogatory reference to race, gender, religion, mentally handicap, obesity or physically impaired
* All images must be tagged with “american idol”
* No use of Simon Cowell’s name, image or likeness
* No use of profanity, vulgar or hate language
* No use of explicit sexual language, images or graphics
* No use of copyrighted material from the television series or its promotional materials (e.g. no use of images of the television series, television series posters or from the television series website)”

ETA May 19, 3:00pm: Please see my recent post on the Industry message board regarding voting; based up Moderator comments I think it’s best to focus on cellular, landline and AT&T text voting but of course it’s an individual choice.

It was great to read the messages over the weekend about getting ready to vote and all the outreach to non-internet based voters… as mentioned, I think many viewers only engage toward the end of the show and haven’t seen many of the performances or know the back story; they’re just going to watch tomorrow and vote. So enlightening them about voting, how the show works, and how important it is to vote is a great way to support Adam.

Several people asked to move up this information about VOIP voting, there have been a lot of messages here and in the voting threads. As you’ll see in the message below, Moderators have confirmed VOIP voting isn’t “power voting,” it’s just an internet method of making calls because you initiate each call (a lot of people only have Vonage or other VOIP methods).

After reading the Moderator’s reply, I installed and tried vBuzzer and it worked; be careful when you install because like many software programs, they’ll ask to change your homepage, add toolbars to your browser etc (uncheck the boxes). The USA’s phone code is 001 (Denmark is 45, Japan is 81), so if you’re using a VOIP dialer for an 866 number you’d enter 001-866-xxx-xxxx.

I think everyone’s doing a great job understanding the best ways to vote, trying things out in advance, and keeping in mind that we want Adam to win fairly by following the rules and rocking the vote!

Have a great day! Best, Michael

May 13, 2009 at 10:56am:

Hi everybody! Here’s an aside because this is an area that’s been brought up frequently:

We’ve talked about “speed/power voting” which is against AI rules as discussed in this thread. Moderator EcceFama had previously mentioned, “The term “power voting” has been used for a few different things. Most often it means using a computer to submit your votes in rapid succession. Idol has stated that their software can detect these and filter them out.  So it sounds like a waste of time. As for the 10-at-a-time text votes, we have never heard anything that says those are a problem.”

Last night, several people brought up voting with vBuzzer, which is a subscription phone service (though toll free numbers do not have a charge) that works like Vonage, Net2Phone, Comcast digital and others; those are called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) technologies.

I wanted to follow up on those VOIP methods, and last night asked the Moderators: “I’ve read in the FAQ (below) that Sky pe and other VOIP methods are OK to use to cast votes. Other VOIP subscription applications include Net2Phone, vBuzzer and Comcast digital voice. I wouldn’t think any of these were “power dialing” in the sense that there’s no “rapid succession;” each call has to be individually placed. Would you confirm that the answer below is correct that VOIP services comply with the voting rules and will be tabulated please? With regard to the routing and busy signals mentioned in the answer below, if while using Sky pe or Net2Phone you receive the “thank you for voting for contestant xx” message vs. the fast busy signal, can we take it to mean that the vote is counting? There’s no way to know where/how the routing is going, so if you could clarify that hearing the “thank you” means it’s working would be really helpful.”

Here are the AI rules from the Frequently Asked Questions page:
Q: Can I vote if I subscribe to a digital phone service or VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) service? A: Yes, you can vote if you subscribe to some digital or internet-based phone systems, such as Vonage or Sky pe. However, note that digital phone and VOIP services often re-route outgoing calls to a different geographical location from which the call is being made. As a result, you may only be able to vote in the voting window to which your call has been re-routed. If you are trying to vote in the regular voting window for your region and your call is re-routed outside of your region by your service provider, you will not be able to vote (instead, you will hear a fast busy signal). However, you still have the availability to vote during the other voting window. For further information, contact your digital phone or VOIP service provider.

This morning (with thanks for such a fast reply) an AI Moderator replied, “That is the correct information regarding VOIP.  And as far as the recording vs busy, that should be right as well.”

So my understanding is that the “speed/power” dialers continue to be in violation of the rules,  but subscription VOIP services that require you to manually dial each time (like the services above) are approved for authorized voting. Hope this is helpful and you’re welcome to use my message on Adam voting threads if you think it will be of assistance.

Posted in: Industry Perspective by nymichael / Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, Cafe Press, Internet Voting, Official Merchandise, VOIP