Name the Sandwich Contest Was “Dumb”

So says Ed Shamy, of the Burlington Free Press. I previously wrote about how he organized a contest to come up with a new name for a Sub/Grinder/Hero/Hoagie that would be unique to Vermont. Shamy now admits the contest was a failure, describing it as:

A fiasco from the instant I dreamed it up.

Well jeez, when I wrote about this previously I tried to warn him. The entire premise behind the contest, that Vermont needed its own name instead of just saying “sub” or “grinder,” was silly.

After selecting 10 finalists, 247 people contacted Shamy…but only 81 of them voted on the finalists. 67 people proposed different nominees and another 99 used the opportunity to take a swipe at Shamy or ridicule the finalists. Yikes! That is what we in the business call a “terrible response rate” (note: I don’t know what business I’m referring to, but if i was “in” the business, I’m sure I’d call it that).

The winner? With a whopping 22 votes, Ed Shamy’s contest for a new name for sandwiches in Vermont settled on “Champ.” Yes, “Champ”, as in the mythical Lake Champlain monster.

Odds of anyone EVER using that term instead of “sub” or “grinder”? Slim to none.

You know in the time Ed Shamy spent organizing this contest, he probably could have eaten about 13 grinders…oh, sorry, I mean Champs.