Maybe they aren't the best way, but contests can make things more fun if you don't take them so seriously. I don't think he's scouting for cheap work to capita

Maybe they aren't the best way, but contests can make things more fun if you don't take them so seriously. I don't think he's scouting for cheap work to capitalize on, rather he's just looking to get the Ruby community's help involved in building a pretty looking site (hence why he isn't offering it on 99designs) and offering a prize to make it more fun.