Chris Brogan posted a question on Twitter (as he so frequently does) that garnered a lot of attention (as they so frequently do). He asked if anyone liked 99designs, and a couple of designers thumbed their digital noses at it.

In case you’re unfamiliar, 99designs is a place where you can launch an online contest to make designers compete against each other for a monetary prize you agree to supply. And for the record, I’m not a designer. I’m a converted journalist. So why am I commenting? Don’t worry: everything will become clear in a minute.

I can see the objection here, though I don’t agree with it. It comes from the concept of doing work “on spec”. For those not in the know, writing an article “on spec” means you’re agreeing to do work without the promise of being paid for it. Usually you are asked to do this kind of work only when you’re just starting out, as an editor has no way of knowing that you’ll produce quality work.

It’s not an ideal agreement for the content producer, but it does serve to protect the interests of the publication. Freelancers don’t like this kind of work, because there’s a chance they could be wasting their time researching and writing an article that an editor won’t subjectively “like”.

Of course, as a freelancer, there’s nothing that says you have to take this kind of work.

Still, there’s a prevailing attitude that publications that request this kind of work from authors are somehow damaging the industry. There’s no way of me knowing for sure, but I’m guessing that this is true of designers, as well. Yes, the creative work that journalists and designers do is worthy of payment. Yes, if you want a designer to do work for you, you should do your research and pick one that does good work.

But if you’re not looking for ultra-high quality work — or if you’re looking to give an upstart creative a break — what is wrong with running a contest? In the first place, 99designs lets designers pick the level of reward they would like to submit for, so designers who think their work is worth more are free to submit for higher-paying gigs. In the second place, as I mentioned before, this isn’t the only way for designers to get work. Freelancers are, by definition, free to pursue only those jobs that they want.

I hated doing work on spec. It was nerve-wracking waiting for that email that said I was going to get a paycheck for all the work I did. But if I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have built up my portfolio to the point where I could begin a career in journalism. (And then subsequently abandon it for a career in marketing, which I much prefer.)

Is “on spec” work a necessary evil? Do contests rob other designers of opportunities? Or is this a case of may-the-best-man-win? You decide.

UPDATE: An awesome conversation about this topic is happening over on Chris Brogan’s blog right now. Go be a part of it!