Are Blog Fests Time Warps?

I found myself on a blog fest recently, actually it 's still going on, and had no idea I was a part of it until I received a call from someone else in the voting alerting me to it with a "congratulations!" It turned out that my husband nominated me and there I was and am. What I've found is that it's making me very competitive and desirous of winning -- what, I'm not quite sure, but none the less winning. So each level of competition that I've moved up into finds me sending out an e-mail blast to friends, family, and colleagues to vote for me. Time Warp Number One.

Of course I now need to write a blog about this and urge readers to vote, too. Time Warp Number Two. Well, not exactly because it gives me a blog subject to write about even if it's not related to my market. It has gotten me to wondering whether these blog circuses, blog fests, or blog bashes are really worthwhile.

I don't expect to see new clients from it. I am not even sure if I'll get new readers. Who out there has participated in these and what's been your experience? Just curious.