Note: This is a follow-up to the TalkFreelance logo contest thread here.
Originally Posted by nomatch 
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This is a good (old) vent. I can see the draw of running one of these contests but I have now seen it from both sides and it needs to be stopped.
As a designer I know that I will throw max 10 mins work into a logo and hope for the best. By the time I rack up 10 logos I have entries in 10 competitions for a couple of hours work, but I have no personal involvement or pride in any of the work.
As a contest holder you end up with 99 crappy logos to review, 96 of which you have to physically restrain yourself from telling the designer to get lost and find another job. You might hit on 1 or 2 interesting concepts which at the end is what you are looking for, but if you sit down with other stakeholders and dedicate a few hours of genuine thought to your brand, you could easily discover these yourself.
Ultimately moving forward I think TalkFreelance needs to take a stance against 99 Designs. We need to represent the feelings within the industry.
If we have a strong enough opinion and publish it well this could become a marketing asset. If we attract quality freelancers that hate 99 Designs, we are going a step in the right direction.