AlanRatcliffe
After years of hard work for no reward, Rene has bowed out of running the monthly challenges. Kudos to him for all he's done on this front.
Now, entries have been falling off of late anyway, so I'm wondering if it's worth keeping going in its current format. Yes, it's valuable exercise and a learning experience for those who take part, but it is time consuming for someone to run and often many of us just don't have the time to take part.
So, as I see it, there are two ways to approach continuing with it:
1. Appoint someone else to run it and keep it as is. Preferably someone who will also take part (I don't see a problem with that - it's member vote-based not judges) and someone who will nag people to take part and help winners choose open-ended topics that will draw more entries.
2. I run it myself, but make it a once-a-year special event with sponsored prizes, a long lead time and generally a lot more bruhaha.
Opinions? Comments?
arjunmenon
I pick option 2.
Incentives would draw greater participation
PeteM
I too would like to thank Rene for the managing of the challenges.
I believe the challenges have done a hell of a lot for the interaction of members on the forum and has also pushed members to perform beyond their expectations... certainly in my case. So, I think that it would be a shame to lose them. An annual challenge is a good idea, however I don't think it would replace the weekly/monthly vibe and should be an additional 'competition'.
In the early time of the forum the challenges were treated with a lot of fun with friendly banter among the members. Later, they kind of became a bit too serious, in my opinion, with too much attention being paid to the rules and the like, which I believe kinda put a damper on things.
I would like to volunteer my services to manage the process, with the objective of bringing back the fun aspect. However, I would only be able to start in about February of next year after having settled into my new home in Jozi.
NorioDS
PeteM wrote:
I would like to volunteer my services to manage the process, with the objective of bringing back the fun aspect. However, I would only be able to start in about February of next year after having settled into my new home in Jozi.
I agree with everything you said and would love to see you run 'em. I've enjoyed (and been thoroughly blown away by) your entries. You've taken each as a "challenge" to do something outside your norm and, IMO, outdid yourself each time. (I still love the theme song you did for us.)
So I have a very strong vote in favour of Pete's suggestion. (ie: We do the annual thing, and he runs the monthly/weekly challenges)
I would also like to offer a few of the un-sold slots in the header-space to be used for promoting the current competition (and other things that are purely for fun). I can sponsor one banner-ad design per month. I'll probably use a professional but need someone to send me the wording each month.
V8
PeteM wrote:
I too would like to thank Rene for the managing of the challenges.
+1, Rene has been great over the years. Thank you Rene!
A change in the concept may well be a good idea. A yearly comp with incentives would be quite sweet, although I would miss the more frequent challenges.
PeteM wrote:
In the early time of the forum the challenges were treated with a lot of fun with friendly banter among the members. Later, they kind of became a bit too serious, in my opinion, with too much attention being paid to the rules and the like, which I believe kinda put a damper on things.
I've interpreted the rules as a guideline - the ultimate judge is if the voters had a similar interpretation (usually not :?)
The banter around challenge time does help keep one motivated to start & finish a entry - while I'm not always satisfied with my entries, I'm always stoked to have a completed entry.
Norio wrote:
I would also like to offer a few of the un-sold slots in the header-space to be used for promoting the current competition (and other things that are purely for fun). I can sponsor one banner-ad design per month. I'll probably use a professional but need someone to send me the wording each month.
Great idea! Now if we can convince more beginner/first timer entries...
Chocklit_Thunda
I'm with Pete here. I've never participated because I'm too poor (read: Irresponsible with money) to have a proper recording system but I've enjoyed them and hearings the different takes on the topics etc etc etc... I don't think they should be done away with but I do like the idea of one large contest with prizes and stuff. Maybe if the monthly competitions are kept for the fun of it and not as serious as they may have become and then we have one annual competition that's more serious and offers those incentives.
domhatch
hi alan
running the challenge on a monthly basis must be a serious job for someone to take on board. i think your suggestion of making it someone who is going to take part is a good one - and maybe it should rotate every so often. perhaps the topic should stick around longer - two months? give people longer to tackle? maybe that's a dumb idea, it's probably the whole premise of the thing to hit it within 3-4 weeks.
maybe the winner of X month's challenge could take over organising the following month's? after all, they will set the topic for next month - so they're likely to take part and be invested.
but i also like the idea of a once-a-year super-challenge.
so why not both?
dh|
Psean
Chocklit_Thunda wrote:
I'm with Pete here. I've never participated because I'm too poor (read: Irresponsible with money) to have a proper recording system but I've enjoyed them and hearings the different takes on the topics etc etc etc... I don't think they should be done away with....
+1
I hope they stay. It's really good listening to all the entries. I'd like to enter one day too.
domhatch
Norio wrote:
but need someone to send me the wording each month.
i write for a living. if you need my services, i'm happy to volunteer them. there are others lurking about who do the same...
dh|
Stoffeltoo
Cudo's to DomHatch for the suggestion.
Incentive inspires creativity. Competition stretches performance.
To expand on Uncle Dom's suggestions the competitions could include standards for example acoustic version of song X and a rock version of the same song.
Winners of each session go through to the year end compo. I also propose that judging is done by forum members who cast 1 vote for each category within a set time of one week.
Draws to be settled by Alan, Norio and some selected hero members
Just my two twangs worth
NorioDS
Oh and another thing that might be nifty is if we added the current challenge and last month's winner to every newsletter. I'm very happy to make that happen and I think it will help drive more participation, if only because it reminds people that it's there.
(I, for one, keep forgetting that there are challenges right up until a winner is announced.)
FruitarGeek
I like the direction this thread has taken. So yes, if anything add more to the competition than taking away from it. Lets keep the monthly challenges, but lets keep them light and fun. Pete thanks for offering your services, its real good of you, and Rene, thank you soooooooo much for all you have done. I think every PM I ever sent you was related to the comp. You did a stellar job.
So can we have both the monthly and the yearly competition. Lets promote this part of the forum a bit more. The challenges are a real great tool to enriching each and every one of us!
ftcl
I agree that the challenge should stay, and would like to second (third? fourth? ?) the suggestion of keeping the monthly challenge along with having an annual one.
Perhaps do something similar to Unofficial Warmoth: each monthly winner is put into the draw for the annual prize(s) of something like better recording gear or studio time or a course on recording (this would be the kinds of prizes I'd like to see, if at all possible). Or, it could just be the prestige of being the annual winner?
Of course, one might need to ensure that your monthly entry is good enough to stand the test of time ?
DonovanB
What could change with the challenges is the method of choosing the topic.
An incentive would be cool too. Even something small like a set of strings or random accessories. (Red sharkfins for the loser haha)
DaFiz
Thank you BIG time to Rene for this... I appreciated the effort and enjoyed the contributions but failed to participate, partly because I did not have the technology available and secondly because the competition was just too great.
I do believe the show must go on ?
NorioDS
Don, I was considering something like that (set of strings for the winner, each month) and I think we even had a sponsor at some stage but that fell away. Might be something we'll do ourselves though.
I also actually agree with a different method for picking the topic. The current method seems, to me, to result in rather weird topics. Weird can be good but it can also be so incredibly hard to understand that no-one partakes.
G-Man
Thanks Rene, you have always done a good job with the compos and I hope you will be able to enter from time to time now that you don't have to do all the organizing. ?
I can't wait to see what you guys decide to do with the compos.
FruitarGeek
I just want to know, will there still be challenges for the months of Nov, Dec and Jan? i.e. the time before Pete's reign?
I hope so, soon I will have time on my hands again, and will gladly contribute. I don't even mind doing the admin for the competitions until Pete takes over, unless of course someone else is doing it
chris77
Man, I haven't entered one of these in AGES ☹ Not really anything to do with the Topics though, they've been fine imo. Just too many distractions from my side.
It was easier for me to enter when the entry period was shorter, because it then forced me to focus on getting the entry done by carrying through with theme warts and all. The luxury of time however means that I instead spend ages tinkering with the Tone, then the drums, then this and then that and before you know it it's sleepy time and nothing's been recorded. Until the next time you have an hour or two to spare..... aaaaand repeat the cycle. >☹
NorioDS
chris77 wrote:
It was easier for me to enter when the entry period was shorter, because it then forced me to focus on getting the entry done by carrying through with theme warts and all. The luxury of time however means that I instead spend ages tinkering with the Tone, then the drums, then this and then that and before you know it it's sleepy time and nothing's been recorded. Until the next time you have an hour or two to spare..... aaaaand repeat the cycle. >☹
Tim Ferriss said: Parkinson's Law dictates that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. It is the magic of the imminent deadline. If I give you 24 hours to complete a project, the time pressure forces you to focus on execution, and you have no choice but to do only the bare essentials.
Maybe we could only announce the theme 1 week before the deadline. That might actually improve the chance that people will enter because there's less time to try and "perfect it" and only just barely enough time to think of something and record it. It is a challenge, after all.
