Want to win a new NikeTalk fitted cap? Help us make history!

[Methodical Management]

On December 10th, 1999 NikeTalk officially opened to the public.  Though I doubt our population exceeded two dozen after that first day, we soon developed a reputation as the online home to the most knowledgeable sneaker fans on the planet.  

Fifteen years represents a lot of history - and it's high time we acted to preserve that knowledge.  

To celebrate our community's 15th anniversary, we're giving away three of the new NT fitted caps as part of our NikeTalk history project.  

NikeTalk has always been, and will always be, a forum-based online community, but, when we relaunched on our current platform, we had the opportunity to add a new tool to make our community a better and more organized resource for sneaker fans:  our article system.

Forum threads are perfect for persistent, fast-moving, and constantly evolving conversations - but we all know how challenging it can be to find specific information buried within a 300+ page discussion topic.  That's where articles come in to play.  

Imagine an encyclopedia of sneaker knowledge, continually updated by NikeTalk's expert contributors.  An article about the Air Jordan V can list and link to individual articles about each specific colorway and release.  An article about [article="8706"]Scottie Pippen​[/article]  can showcase every shoe worn during his legendary career.  Articles can exist to cover every aspect of sneaker culture - or even document the history of our own community.  

Those of you who choose to help contribute to this new storehouse of knowledge this week will be entered to win one of three NikeTalk fitted caps.  (Public release to be announced later this month.)

Here's how it works:

To enter, simply create or contribute to any relevant article by noon EST next Friday, December 12th.  

Your article or contribution should be at least 250 words in length and must conform to NikeTalk's community rules.  You may cite external sources, but plagiarism is strictly prohibited.  To make these articles as useful as possible, including links to related content on NikeTalk (forum threads, image galleries, other articles) is encouraged.

You're free to contribute to as many articles during the entry period as you wish.

We'll have access to a full edit history, so anyone who tries to do something abusive (like deleting someone else's articles or replacing them entirely) will be eliminated from contention and, if necessary, banned from the site.  

On December 12th, our team will choose two users who have, in our opinion, made the greatest overall contribution to NikeTalk's articles to receive a NikeTalk fitted cap for free in his or her preferred size.

We will also randomly choose one winner from among everyone who has made at least one qualifying contribution.  

Thus, those who submit the best content have the best chance to win, but everyone who contributes something of substance will be eligible.  

Full contest rules are available here: http://niketalk.com/a/win-a-new-niketalk-fitted-cap-contest-rules

Not sure what to write about?  Here are some ideas:

• Articles about specific sneaker models or signature lines. 
• Articles about sneaker technology.  (Nike Shox, Foamposite, Reebok Instapump, L.A. Gear Catapult, Converse React Juice.) 
• Articles about athletes or endorsers.  
• Articles about famous sneaker ad campaigns. (Mars Blackmon, The Fun Police, Bo Knows, Grandmama Johnson)
• Timelines charting the evolution of a sneaker line and/or an athlete's career
• "How to" guides to sneaker cleaning and maintenance, customization, or purchasing.  (e.g. How to choose the ideal basketball shoe for your body type or position.)
• Best practices to recycle unwanted/used sneakers (e.g. where to donate unwanted/used sneakers, or creative uses for unwearable shoes.) 
• Category rundowns and recommendation lists (e.g. 2014's best running shoes, 10 best kids' sneakers under $100)

Showcase your expertise and creativity, and, of course, be true to the community's standards and values.  

Need help getting started?  Check out our  [article="7508"]Article Tutorial​[/article]  .

Articles are waiting to be created in our Shoes Wiki, Athletes & Endorsers  section, and How To  area.  There's even a Miscellaneous Articles  section, for those of you eager to create a guide to NikeTalk's slang or .gifs.  

Good luck, everyone, and stay tuned to find out when you can purchase the new NikeTalk fitted cap, avaiable exclusively from ecapcity.com later this month.  

 

[jordan novice]

Whoa. It's happeninggg

 

[solewoman]

The hats look AMAZING

 

[jjs]

 

[JetLife84]

Lookin good fellas. 

  GREAT IDEAS!

 

[dcypoe81]

win or lose, Im definitely interested in making information easier & more streamlined (pretty much my goal whenever I post in the SB Thread)...will definitely look into this 

 

[Methodical Management]

 
win or lose, Im definitely interested in making information easier & more streamlined (pretty much my goal whenever I post in the SB Thread)...will definitely look into this 

Exactly.  The applications for this are almost endless.

Consider the NBA Feet thread:   [thread="607991"]Nba Feet 2014 2015 What The Pros Are Wearing This Season​[/thread]  

Traditionally, all the pictures have been jumbled together.  Want to know what KD is wearing?  You'd have to sort through dozens of pages filled with pictures.  Well, we hope that will change soon.  We've restructured the topic post to make use of our product pages - which allow us to centralize ALL product reviews and serve as a hub for every post and classified listing related to that item.  The next step is to build out individual PLAYER articles.  

Imagine going to a [article="8683"]Kevin Durant​[/article]  article where you can get a listing of every shoe he's ever worn - all neatly organized by year.  For one individual, this would take ages.  Together, it's a goal we can accomplish for every major player.  All it takes is the forethought to organize the information by article rather than just dumping it into a chaotic forum thread.  Threads are PERFECT for discussions, but they're not always the best format for organizing information.  

Together, articles and threads can work hand in glove.  They're a tool to make our ongoing discussions easier to navigate and more useful than ever. 

Earlier this year, our platform and hosted services provider, Huddler, was acquired by Wikia.  (NikeTalk is still independent, of course.)  The great news is that, in time, we hope to provide their best-in-class collaborative knowledge base technology to our own site.  To reach that point, however, we first need to prove the concept - and today marks our first meaningful step in that direction.  

 

[Good Ol J.R]

Exactly.  The applications for this are almost endless.

Consider the NBA Feet thread:   [thread="607991"]​[/thread] 

Traditionally, all the pictures have been jumbled together.  Want to know what KD is wearing?  You'd have to sort through dozens of pages filled with pictures.  Well, we hope that will change soon.  We've restructured the topic post to make use of our product pages - which allow us to centralize ALL product reviews and serve as a hub for every post and classified listing related to that item.  The next step is to build out individual PLAYER articles.  

Imagine going to a [article="8683"]​[/article] article where you can get a listing of every shoe he's ever worn - all neatly organized by year.  For one individual, this would take ages.  Together, it's a goal we can accomplish for every major player.  All it takes is the forethought to organize the information by article rather than just dumping it into a chaotic forum thread.  Threads are PERFECT for discussions, but they're not always the best format for organizing information.  

Together, articles and threads can work hand in glove.  They're a tool to make our ongoing discussions easier to navigate and more useful than ever. 


Earlier this year, our platform and hosted services provider, Huddler, was acquired by Wikia.  (NikeTalk is still independent, of course.)  The great news is that, in time, we hope to provide their best-in-class collaborative knowledge base technology to our own site.  To reach that point, however, we first need to prove the concept - and today marks our first meaningful step in that direction.  

You had me at article. I'm in.

 

[SC kid]

?

. http://niketalk.com/t/571314/stay-strapped-the-25-greatest-strapped-nikes-of-all-time-vol-niketalk

I just want a hat.

 

[blastercombo]

I want a hat

 

[Methodical Management]

?

. http://niketalk.com/t/571314/stay-strapped-the-25-greatest-strapped-nikes-of-all-time-vol-niketalk

I just want a hat.

What we're really looking for here is to start the process of building out a comprehensive Wikia-style knowledge base for sneaker culture.  

Creative articles similar to the one you posted will also be considered and are valid submissions as miscellaneous articles, but, to be eligible, you'd need to update that for 2014 and submit it as an article. 

 

[lovehateself]

I want a hat

 

[dtrx22]

is it possible to set up a group buy?  if so that will be fantastic!

i was a fitted NT New Era Cap so bad!

please make this happen!  

 

[solewoman]

group buy...? laughable

 

[dtrx22]

group buy...? laughable

yeah i am sure many other nike talk members want this hat 

 

[solewoman]

^ EVERY NT member wants this hat just about. look at the other thread. How would it be fair for this "group" to get a hat over others?

 

[shotsrangout]

Make it a snapback since snapbacks clearly are better

 

[Bert.]

I want a hat

 

[bendover]

Don't know if I missed it but,
Where do we submit our article?

 

[Coromanti]

Time to rev my typing engines and put on my Adidas football cap.

 

[Methodical Management]

Don't know if I missed it but,
Where do we submit our article?

Articles can be created and edited in our articles section:  http://niketalk.com/a/

If you need help figuring out how to create or edit an article, check this guide:  [article="7508"]Article Tutorial​[/article]  

 
Make it a snapback since snapbacks clearly are better

The caps are already made.  They're fitted caps, New Era 59/Fifty. 

 is it possible to set up a group buy?  if so that will be fantastic!

i was a fitted NT New Era Cap so bad!

please make this happen!  

The caps will be sold exclusively on ecapcity.com at a time to be announced after the conclusion of this contest.  Given the number of interested members, sales will be limited to ONE per person.  

A total of 288 caps were produced.  Proceeds will benefit the Equal Justice Initiative. 

I want a hat

Then this is the contest for you. 

 

[dtrx22]

Thanks. 

 

[halftime]

Meth what if I need to cite Wikipedia for player personal info? Is a copy/paste okay in that situation?

 

[bentrill]

Havent wrote an essay ina minute, but for a chance to get my hands on a NT fitted, im starting an encyclopedia.

 

[murkn3m]

288 hats made? This will not end well