I agree entirely Petra. Part of the fun of the contest is instant gratification (or disappointment)
as the case may be. Roger has already expressed his dissatisfaction with the current
system of waiting for CNSS to enter data (or not). It will be impossible to generate any
interest in these contests if a winner is not declared within a day or two (to wait for late
earthquakes in some cases) after the stated end of the contest. That, in turn, means
little fun for the contestants.

The reason for the contests in the first place was to add some fun to the board, so if
that is not happening, either the rules need to be changed to allow it to happen or
(your solution here).

To restrict contestants to California forecasts would, in my opinion be too restrictive. After all,
many who read this board do not live any where near that state and actually have
little interest in California seismicity. Besides the restriction on time is already
quite confining, especially for sensitives whose sensitivities are often not easily
restricted to a given time period.

What do you mean by the "daily reports" as the source of data?

Anyone else who would like to suggest rule changes to the contests - your comments
are certainly welcome. Remember, the purpose of the contest is fun, not to make
a world shaking prediction, but to practice making any predictions, to learn something
about seismicity in the process, and to have had a fun and interesting experience when
the contest is over.