Any up vote before 30 minutes = more money to the author and less for curators. So if I was to instant up vote my posts it would screw the the curators. So I usually do mine the day after so the most can go to people who follow me. If you check my curation rate you will see it is 23%. Most top posts have a 15% rate. You can find out this number with division. Your idea for different types of contests is a good one. Thanks for the idea.