eBay's Town Square Has Halloween Spirit
by Zigmund
eBay Staff Member

Over two years ago, a "ghost" began a fun tradition on the Town Square discussion board. In 2001, tompainesghost, a longtime "Townie" who also happens to love Halloween, unveiled his idea for a Halloween contest, which has since become one of those traditions members have learned to anticipate.

"Halloween is my favorite holiday (appropriately enough for a ghost) and I wanted a way to celebrate on eBay and share the fun with my fellow posters."

For the past two years, tompainesghost has created a game of both trivia and tasks that other eBay members can participate in, while he keeps score and even sends out prizes! "The prizes are related to Halloween. Last year's first place winner won a ghost cookie jar filled with moon pies."

Outside of the celebration of Halloween, there was another important reason why tompainesghost created the contest. "There had been some fighting amongst posters on the Town Square in 2001, and I hoped the contest would help improve Community spirit." To meet this goal, Town Square trivia became Part 1 of the three-phase game. "I had questions about various posters' hobbies, pets, families, states and such in order for posters to learn more about each other, find common interests, and feel friendlier towards each other."

Questions are pulled from everywhere--from previous posts to About Me pages, always focusing on positive, upbeat subjects. "I've had people tell me that being the subject of a question or answer made them feel like a part of the Community."

Each year, Part 2 consists of a subject a little closer to home for tompainesghost. "One reason I haunt the boards is to make people more aware of Thomas Paine. (colonial writer and author of The Age of Reason) Therefore, Part 2 is Thomas Paine trivia." While this is the shortest part of the contest (and known as the toughest), it definitely gets the point across. "At least one person last year joined the Thomas Paine National Historical Association!"

Part 3 of the contest has varied over the past two years. The first year was a scavenger hunt around eBay, but "that gave an unfair advantage to those who happened to be online when I posted the questions." Remembering his original goal of bringing people together with the contest, tompainesghost changed it last year.

"I got the idea to have players visit other boards and invite the people there to visit the Town Square. I hoped this would foster a sense of Community spirit across the boards and that posters would have fun seeing what other boards were like."

The scoring is straightforward, with one point given for each correct answer (although points for completing tasks can vary). tompainesghost tracks all of the scores himself and monitors all the players' progress. "About 15-20 people finished all three parts last year, but quite a few others played some and then dropped out along the way for one reason or another."

But like many sports, this contest has a dynasty. "notmye-mail is the reigning champion, having won both previous contests." However, even the two-time champ hasn't completely mastered the game. "No one has ever answered all the questions right, and I doubt anyone will."

So will members get to challenge for the crown this year? Only the ghost knows for sure. But he did offer this sneak peek: "Let's just say I'm very proud of my new kittens, I think the Town Square quilt is great, and knowing about Thomas Paine is a very good thing." Better start brushing up…..