Just letting everyone know that the prizes for the Open Mic contest will be reduced until further notice.
@pfunk has been donating Steem to go towards the Open Mic contest. He usually gives at least 200 Steem and I kick in another 100 Steem each week.
Unfortunately, for the last few weeks, @pfunk has slipped to the number 21 position as a witness. That means he earns less and as a result has been donating 100 Steem and I have been making up the difference with another 200 Steem.
I don't earn enough Steem to continue doing that. It's a lot of work to run Open Mic and I don't mind the work or even paying for it, but it is not sustainable at this point. I'm actually losing Steem giving that much as a prize.
So until we can get @pfunk back into the top 20 or find some other sources of funding, or get enough upvotes on the Open Mic posts to cover the Steem prize I have no choice but to reduce the prize payouts.
I hope everyone understands.
You can upvote @pfunk as a witness here
https://steemit.com/~witnesses
Just scroll down until you see his name and upvote it. You will need to log in with your active key to do so.
Thanks for understanding and I will let everyone know if this changes in the future.
The new payout, for now, beginning week 86 will be: (Week 85 will still payout 300 Steem as promised)
100 Steem from @pfunk
100 Steem from @luzcypher
Prizes
1st: 80 Steem
2nd: 40 Steem
3rd: 26 Steem
4th: 26 Steem
5th: 26 Steem
