A visitor writes:

hi chris, great website. i think both these features would be enhanced if you would make all the pics you put up for votes available for download after the votes are in, not just the ones that win. you would increase your web traffic and make it easier for people to access these pics. thanks and happy new year!

What a great question -- let's see how I do answering...

You're not the first who has requested that the photos remain available after the votes are tallied. However, to this point I've purposely resisted with the following reasoning (whether it be sound, or just crap...) -- there are hundreds of sites out there that feature tons of galleries of photos, and with Google Images any photo is really only a few clicks away. Instead I'd like to focus on the fun competition/election/contest aspect.

You're very true that this probably hurts my traffic numbers as far as total visitors goes -- but at the same time I think the caliber of visitor is a little different to the site, too (you're a prime example!) On a gallery site (and I've visited my share!) generally folks are in-and-out... they go in for what they're looking for, save it locally, and never return. If the Hunk of the Day was just an "add-on" for a gallery site it wouldn't have nearly the promenance (or following) that it has had over the last 6 (wow... has it really been six?) years.

I'm definitely not saying it'll NEVER happen -- I certainly have the bandwidth and disk space to spare -- but at this point if you're interested in collecting 'em as you go I'd suggest the admittedly-not-well-publicized Yahoo! Group. Each day the winner's photo is e-mailed to the group... sign up for a gmail account and voila! Instant historical archive! ;)

Thank you, sincerely, for your feedback -- I really do love hearing from visitors with their comments, concerns, and suggestions. I can be swayed, and will certainly take your suggestion to heart when that option comes up again.

Check out: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WhosTheHunkOfTheDay

If you agree with our visitor, let your voice be heard!

Thanks for writing -- I really do love getting e-mail from readers and visitors. If you have a suggestion, comment, question, or concern -- drop me a line!