An apology to members

[madbean]

I've had some time to reflect on the recent fallout from the Fall 2014 contest. I've also asked for and listened to opinions from some key forum members whose input I value very highly (not that I do not value any and all members here...these are just a few of my personal confidants). We had at least a few days of some very tense back and forth between members and moderators, contestants, et. al. about the perceived lack of communication and follow-through on the contest. There were a few exchanges I really hated to witness, and I know that I am not alone in that.

I would like to extend an apology to all members, and especially the contestants, for both the failure of the contest to be concluded in a reasonable time-frame and for the heated discussions that ensued because of it. The responsibility is ultimately mine and I take that seriously. Any failure here is my failure and no one else need take any of that on for themselves. And, I am not perfect by any means. I could have been more involved, and I could have framed some of my infrequent interjections in a more productive way.

I care very deeply about this community. It is basically a large part of my livelihood. I have my family, and I have my madbeanpedals family. I need both of these things to be whole and just as an argument with the wife or kid creates unease in my personal life, and argument, misunderstanding or feeling of disappointment by people in my madbeanpedals family also affects me in a very personal way. I think that many people here might feel the same.

So, please accept my apology on my behalf. There are many members here who are absolutely essential to the continued success and timbre of this small part of the DIY community. The thought of losing anyone from this community because of a failure on my part is very troubling. The idea that this could become something less than a supportive, welcoming and fun environment for all...well, it is pretty unthinkable. So, I will do better.

Moving forward, we need to decide whether or not we will continue to have contests and if we do how they might be framed to prevent any negative experiences like we recently had. My first inclination is to immediately try to right the wrong; have another contest, conclude it quickly and prove that this is something we can do successfully. But, perhaps that is not the thing to do...maybe a small cooling off period is in order to kind of smooth things over and reset naturally. I do think if we move forward with additional contests, it will be set up with solely a popular vote and one sponsor per contest, one grand prize. To me, that's the absolute minimal ingredient for success and we have done that before.

I will listen to any input, comments and/or criticisms you guys have to offer so feel free to express yourselves. Be assured that I do not take criticism personally....it's not about me as a person. It's about what we are here and what we want it to be. I would also like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Jacob for putting the contest together and concluding it successfully. It was a tough job, and even though it became bigger and more complicated than he imagined and it took much longer than we might have wanted, he saw it though. And, that matters.

Lastly...seriously? I didn't even place in the contest? This is a frikkin tough crowd. I mean...my box had frikkin lasers on it! And a wolf!

[billstein]

I think the contests are great,  but this one was way to complicated. I'm not sure anybody understood all the categories and how it would all work. Keep it simple. First place, maybe second, determined by popular vote. It closes on time the winner is announced and it's done. Easy peasy.

[Luke51411]

The one thing I liked about this contest which also unfortunately contributed to its complexity, was the feeling that when entering there was actually a chance I might win something. Not that it's about winning but there are soooo many GREAT builds around here that it can be intimidating to even enter and really, the participation is the fun part. I don't know how you would remedy this but it's just my 2 cents. Maybe have an ugly pedal contest? Or messiest wiring contest? Haha
The bar is set very high which to me is inspiring and intimidating at the same time if that makes any sense.

[flanagan0718]

This last contest was (I think) set up for failure. It was very complicated and the categories were not that well thought out or planned. Simple is better. Have 3 judges and 3 prizes. 1st place, runner up, and popular vote (decided after 1st place and runner up have been decided / announced). The prizes don't have to be big (the $25 is great, I think), and its (in my case) something I've already built. I don't build anything for the contests, I build for fun or a friend and enter them in the contest.

[Cortexturizer]

Personally, I think the apology was not needed at all, as I understand completely that a contest this complex needed a lot of time to close successfully.

I already expressed my opinion in the winners congrats thread - have em quarterly, offer three awards, nothing fancy, just enough to get us going, and that's it. I don't think only one victor per contest is a good idea because a lot of people will get discouraged fast and decide not to post their builds (I mean really, with some of the magnats posting here, it's no wonder).

Cheers!

[micromegas]

Personally, I think the apology was not needed at all, as I understand completely that a contest this complex needed a lot of time to close successfully.

I already expressed my opinion in the winners congrats thread - have em quarterly, offer three awards, nothing fancy, just enough to get us going, and that's it. I don't think only one victor per contest is a good idea because a lot of people will get discouraged fast and decide not to post their builds (I mean really, with some of the magnats posting here, it's no wonder).

Cheers!

Nothing more to add. I think Cortex expressed my opinions perfectly. I haven't entered a contest yet (shame on me), but I do love seeing how people pushes themselves to build special things. It would be a pity to lose such a thing.

[bcalla]

I spent many years in my (soon to end) career supporting direct response marketing promotions.  Obviously - even though you accept any build as a contest entry - the goal for you has to be to drive more traffic and ultimately generate sales.  Promotions that are so complex that they take more than a few sentences to explain are likely to fail to deliver sales and in extreme cases can be counterproductive.  Also, you have a great community and getting the community involved adds to the fun.  I think you already got some good suggestions in this thread so I won't bother to repeat them.  But thanks for the great site and unnecessary apology.

[culturejam]

I would like to see a contest in which a requirement for entry is that the pedal must use a Madbean fabricated PCB. No categories. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and People's Choice winners. Done.

[playpunk]

I would like to see a contest in which a requirement for entry is that the pedal must use a Madbean fabricated PCB. No categories. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and People's Choice winners. Done.

Maybe I'm simple, but I like this idea.

[pryde]

I am not even sure what happened as I have been pretty tied up the last few months and not spent much time in the forum until recently. Hope it all gets worked out. I need to go look at the contest/winners now. 

[cooder]

Personally, I think the apology was not needed at all, as I understand completely that a contest this complex needed a lot of time to close successfully.

I already expressed my opinion in the winners congrats thread - have em quarterly, offer three awards, nothing fancy, just enough to get us going, and that's it. I don't think only one victor per contest is a good idea because a lot of people will get discouraged fast and decide not to post their builds (I mean really, with some of the magnats posting here, it's no wonder).

Cheers!

I also agree with this. Keep the judging simple so it is managable and maximise the fun.
Quarterly is great, we'll keep building anyway and having a showcase like a regular contest compliments the build reports section.

And really no apology needed, this is a fantastic place. It is great to care and look after that, acknowledge that and foster it.

[madbean]

Thanks for the input so far. Keep it coming.

Let me say that the reason an apology is necessary is because 1) I do genuinely feel sorry that things went down that way and 2) it is important to show accountability when things go wrong. So, let's not focus too much on the necessity of it, if that's okay.

[pickdropper]

I've judged a couple of these now and I think the next contest should be popular vote only.  It's the fastest and cleanest way to get the results which would help get the contests back on track.  You set up a definitive entry cutoff and then give a day or two for voting and then have a definitive vote cutoff.

I know Brian has been hesitant to limit entries to Madbean boards only, but I think doing at least one contest that way would be fun.  If it feels like it's unfairly forcing people to buy boards, it could be opened to Madbean layouts so people could buy fabbed boards or etch their own.

[Luke51411]

I would like to see a contest in which a requirement for entry is that the pedal must use a Madbean fabricated PCB. No categories. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and People's Choice winners. Done.

If anything you could do madbean and affiliated sites. That would give plenty of variety.

[micromegas]

Another thing that just occured to me is to focus the context around something more specific that just a madbean board:
For example:
    a) You have to build an overdrive on a madbean board or a 2-in-1 using at least one madbean board/layout, etc... or a modulation effect

   b) A new board is released and the contestants have to use it to create something special, artistically special or paired with other effect or just mod the hell out of it