City of Portland backs down on web contest

A design contest for PortlandOnline was meant to spark public interest, and boy, did it — so much that the government recast its experiment before a single entry arrived.

The episode highlighted growing friction over crowdsourcing: a trendy term for contests that invite public submissions, usually for a creative project, and let voters weigh in.

by Laura Oppenheimer, The Oregonian

Full Story: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/09/city_of_portland_backs_down_on.html