My apologies for taking so long to get back, but I know you understand as many projects that you devote yourself to. Mine are more selfish, as I read things and then lose my time investigating, lol. I took a stab at the contest as it is a worthy project. It was rough, as most of those who began around the time I did that I connected with are either over 50 rep or they quit, which signals the need for this project. I had to randomly pick a third person because of this.

Hope all has been well. Guessing you are back into the flow of your work day now that you have been back a few weeks. Looking forward to your posts on SP, bidbots and such. I have formed an opinion on the bidbots that leans towards them being negative for most, as my experimentation with them showed me that more often than not they result in a loss for the buyer/profit for the bot owners and those who delegate to them. I am unsure there could ever be a solution though as before their existence they say the whales just circle voted one another and it was still a handful of faces dominating trending. I do think newcomers time is better spent cultivating connections such as ours and putting whatever rewards or Steem they purchase straight into their SP.

I will admit that part of what brought me here were videos (some by witnesses) that showed posts making hundreds, but there wasn't mention that the votes were bought. I feel that lie is bad for the platform and a more truthful sharing of what is to be expected should be put out there. It serves the site no good to make people think it would be a breeze to earn out hundreds per post. Probably plays some part in the low retention rate here. Thankfully I am stubborn and stuck to the same losing formula long enough to find people like yourself, hahahaha.