I have been nominating a number of local businesses from our high street, the coffee shop and baker’s were accepted immediately but I am now struggling with the others and I fail to see why they aren’t being accepted.
This business is 27 years established, its a barbers and a bar, and is run by a local family. I guess I could add more to the supplementary information but tbh I entered much less for the coffee shop and that was accepted immediately. I can’t appeal so I will have to renominate. Is there anything I’m missing out?
Every wayspot has to meet one of the key criteria:
- Exploration
- Exercise
- Social
A barber’s shop does not do this by default. A coffee shop with seating does as often people often go there specifically in order to socalise. A baker’s with no seating should not get accepted; if it is also a cafe, it is eligible.
If a barber’s shop is a key social element in your local community, you need to say this and provide evidence.
Focus on Carol’s Bar - you only had a few words for this, yet it is the reason people would socialise here.
But they are the same shop, I realise I didn’t include the title but it is for ‘Xtreme Cutz & Carol’s Bar’ and perhaps I should make that clearer in the listing. I’m missing the part where the criteria specifies seating as being a part of a social space and I thought this nomination perfectly fits the category: ‘A favorite gathering place for friends or strangers alike, where you can share a drink or meal’. For the exploration criteria, unusual or unique local shops are explicitly listed as an acceptable wayspot, which the Baker’s shop is but this nomination should also cover that category, it’s both unusual and unique.
why do I need to show seating though? There’s nothing in the criteria definitions to state it needs to have seating and it’s safe to assume that a barbershop has seating?
It is hard to say that a cafe without anywhere to sit is a social place, as people go there to buy coffee/cakes and then take them away. People do not stand around socialising in cafes - they sit down.
Don’t compare things. Look at your POI to see how it meets criteria, not how other things do.
I’m just confused by the suggestion of seating as I’ve not come across that criteria, this listing also failed under the exploration criteria which is what I was going for anyway.
The nomination failed on the exploration criteria which is what I was going for anyway, I will add this extra info for the social category to see if that improves things, thanks
A barber’s shop will very rarely meet Exploration criteria. Think about Exploration as somewhere that people would be excited to show other people as in interesting thing on a walk, or ever somewhere to travel to just to see that.
You can try going both way. But i suggest you to find weblink to support any of your claim. Simply saying is not enough because people tend to say anything to get their nomination approved.
A restaurant which is just a takeaway cannot meet socialisation criteria, as it is just somewhere people come to takeaway food, not a socialise at. A restaurant with seeing can meet socialisation criteria, as it is is somewhere people come to eat, often with others.
There are spaces where people socialise without sitting down, but not cafes. This doesn’t need to be spelt out by Scopely Explore.
This cafe does have potential - focus on the cafe, not the barber’s.
I would disagree with the no seating means no socialising, spaces like this can still be a place to gather or draw people together to share an experience, which is all that it asks in the criteria, they list Post Offices as an example of these. I feel like Scopely does need to clarify these things because reviewers are just applying their own version of common sense and it’s becoming a very frustrating process.
I said a cafe without seating is hard to socialise at. I was not talking about other social places.
Post offices are considered to meet Social criteria because you send letters, which was definitely a way to keep in contact and socialise with others, although that is not done as often now. They are not a place where to go to socialise in person with others. This is an example which shows why comparing different things is not helpful.
You are perfectly entitled to continue with your line of thinking and ignore the advice you are being given..
Don’t take the comments as being told you are wrong, they are just stating what the likely reason is for the rejection and what you need to address if you want to get your nomination accepted.
These people have years of nominations and 100s (maybe 10000s) of successful wayspots. Use that knowledge.
No, thank you for the advice, I will be applying it when I renominate but I am frustrated by the lack of clarity in the criteria and how there is so little information that we are forced to make comparisons between their examples or just try to guess what assumptions the reviewers will be adding to the process. I thought a barbershop with a bar that is clearly visible on the signage was an obvious candidate on the social side and being a unique local business had it covered for exploration but I will be including more details in the information to cover both bases.
I am wondering if you do any reviewing. “Generic business” is a rejection reason, and the rejection reason on your contribution shows that reviewers chose that.
The advice you are being given is to get reviewers to stop thinking this is a “generic business” by proving that it meets any of the Eligibility Criteria of a great place to exercise, explore, or be social.
The easiest way to show that a business meets any of the criteria is usually the “social” criteria. If you can demonstrate that this place is designed for people to come together and interact with each other, such as with seating, that can be a way it meets criteria.
Another way to show that a business meets critieria could be the “exploration” criteria. If you can show that this is a destination worth seeking out, then it could qualify. But what about this business is special and unique? What awards has it won? Where has it been mentioned?
I review regularly and I have hundreds of accepted nominations. This was not rejected for being a generic business, I included it on the original snapshot, it was rejected for not meeting the exploration criteria. I usually keep the supplementary information short because I have experienced nominations where all the details have been there but it obviously isn’t read. In the original nomination I mentioned it is award winning and the unique combo of being a bar and barbershop but I will now be including evidence of this but in a way it actually gets read because I don’t think it even got read on this post.
