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We have our photo competition, which is still going after more than 2 years.
We have had a few answerathons, which are great but do require daily activity and do not suit all of our users. (Answer an older question and get it upvoted you get 48 hours to answer and post it) and the winner is the one who manages to do it longest.

I would love to see a different kind of competition, one that everybody has a chance to participate in and one that is not going to be won automatically by someone who has been around for a long time. But I am out of ideas and ask the community for ideas.

If you know of a Stack Exchange site with a good competition which would fit here, copy/steal the idea, adjust it and post it here.
Or think up a new competition.
If you have an idea, please add how often you think we can run this competition, like once a day, week or month, only once, or regularly?

Other answers, why you do not want a (new) competition are also welcome.

10 Answers 10

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A competition around travel recommendations - which is against the rules on the main site, but could be a fun Meta competition topic. I.e. we have one user provide their list of criteria for their next vacation and then people compete in providing them with the best travel plan - the more details/recommendations the better!

We could run this competition monthly.

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  • I was thinking the same thing reading the question. Only I think weekly would be a bit too often too keep it going for a while. At least we can get ideas from questions closed on the main site.
    – Bernhard
    Commented Dec 25, 2020 at 16:14
  • @Bernhard agreed, amended to monthly
    – JonathanReez Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2020 at 1:54
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A competition around guessing where a given photo was taken (has to be a travel photo). If no one gets it right after 24 hours, add a second photo from the same spot and so on.

We could run it monthly.

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    Great idea. I hope people will not use reverse image search though!
    – Bernhard
    Commented Dec 25, 2020 at 16:15
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What about thematic trip ideas?

We all known the top summits - to visit the highest summits on all continents or the highest summits in all countries on one continent. Or the biggest zoos. Or the art galleries. Or historic places connected with a famous person.

Can we find something new? Like, the deepest swimming pools? The highest water towers? Or anything more or less uncommon, but definitely not a list from a '1000 places to see and die hard' mass travel books?

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    You can even create a ranking. So not just one winner based on votes, but an answer score based on some predefined criteria (in terms of height, depth, whatever). Would be interesting to keep scores over a year or more.
    – Bernhard
    Commented Dec 25, 2020 at 16:17
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A competition on finding the cheapest way to get from A to B. I.e. "find the cheapest way to get from anywhere in the US to anywhere in the Himalayas". Then people look up cheapest flights/trains/buses to get from one place to another.

We could run this competition monthly.

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I think Jonathan's trip idea comes close, but I would (also) focus on daytrips centered around a specific theme. This allows most users to participate, because almost everyone can come up with a daytrip centered around a universal theme. The benefit of this narrow scope is that users will bring useful ideas that they may have experience with in their own lives. In the end, the question will have a list of nice suggestions at different places in the world. whenever you're planning your own trip, you could check that list to see if any of the day trips can fit your own schedule.

Day trip suggestions should consist of one or more highlights (the main attractions) and optional secondary suggestions regarding food / lodging / transport / view points / smaller attractions (not necessarily fitting the main theme) along the way (as appropriate in combination with the main attractions). Additional information may be given as appropriate, examples include:

  • Prices (e.g. entrance or activity fees for more expensive attractions),

  • Highly recommended gear (e.g. binoculars or a telephoto lens for national parks where you won't see the animals well without them).

Some ideas for topics (to get a sense of what I'm thinking about):

  • Animals: this is very broad ranging from zoos to wildlife and from rescue centers to animals working with humans.

  • Nature: from city parks to jungles, daytrips involving nature come in different shapes and forms around the world.

  • City views on a budget. I you want to take some nice skyline photos it's best to know where to take them. Getting a list of rooftop bars is easy, but it's more fun to have some insider knowledge of good spots where you won't have to pay for overpriced cocktails.

  • One day road/cycle/walk trips. What's a nice route that you can drive/cycle/walk in a day with a number of sights along the way? Any great places for lunch? What about lodging (day before and after, possibly the same depending on the route)?

  • Water: again a very broad concept with sights or activities involving seas, rivers, lakes, swimming pools, maybe even snow, ice or hot springs?

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(special one for Mark)

Passport stamp bingo - publish a bingo card where each cell is a country name. People check their passports to see if they've visited any of those countries - then people who can fill out an entire row win (could be multiple winners).

We could run it a couple of times, based on interest.

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    I love it but with less than ten stamps in my whole life, I will not do good in this competition.
    – Willeke Mod
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 19:46
  • My problem with this idea would be countries without stamp (many islands on the Caribbean where I stayed less than a day) and also expired passports, which my issuing country takes them back before giving me a new one. Besides that, I like the idea! There is even an online visited countries chart one can fill with places they've visited.
    – gmauch
    Commented Dec 29, 2020 at 14:56
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Adaptation from this other answer

An online scavenger hunt. One of the participants shares a picture of a location. It can be anything, from a historical landmark like the Eiffel Tower, or just a roadsign or shop. The other participants guess what the coordinates of the picture are (so the coordinate of the picture, not of the object being photographed).

Scoring can be done in multiple ways (i.e., just points for the best answers, or a running total/average of the distance to the right answer)

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A real life scavenger hunt. One of the participants buries something small somewhere in the world, then other participants race there to be the first to dig it out.

Could be run passively a couple of times per year (post COVID).

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  • I like this one but I doubt it is going to be one that 'everybody' can join in on.
    – Willeke Mod
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 19:38
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    This is a good idea but not practical.
    – Xnero
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 23:59
  • Sounds a bit like geo-caching. Can we think of a digital alternative? I.e. we take a screenshot from Google Maps. People post answers with a google maps location. Closest one wins. (A bit like GeoGuessr)
    – Bernhard
    Commented Dec 25, 2020 at 16:18
  • @Bernhard thanks.+1
    – Willeke Mod
    Commented Mar 21, 2021 at 21:47
-2

Best travel gear competition. Have folks take photos/video of their backpacks or other travel equipment, then see who's got the most original set.

Could be run once a year.

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Prediction contest: predict the day of the year when we'll have the largest traffic/question/answer count on a 7-day rolling average. Each person can choose 1 day and the person who gets it closest wins.

Could be run once a year on January 1st.

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