An apology to members

[selfdestroyer]

Keep it simple and personally, i'd prefer not knowing or being able to see the vote count until the voting is closed,  keep everyone on the edge of their seats, an element of surprise, it's not over until the last ballot is counted.
dave

I like this idea also.

Cody

[wgc]

The sniping dialogue associated with the most recent contest was isolated, but a real bummer and had me avoiding threads on otherwise interesting topics (which of the fantastic builds were in for prizes?).  That doubly sucked, for me anyway.

I hope this isn't referencing my comments in the voting thread, which I eternally regret making.  Not my brightest moment by any measure; I pray I will react more constructively the next time I am dealing with many painful things, as I was then. 

Regardless, I am deeply sorry if I caused you or anyone else to avoid any topics or posts you may have otherwise enjoyed. 

I am thankful to still be a member, even if I'm less active these days.

However, if my continued participation is taking away from other's enjoyment, I will leave you all with my very best wishes... 

But I sure hope that's not the case and that I can continue to try to provide positive support where I can, even if its just to say "awesome!" on someone's build report. 'Cause it is.

[Leevibe]

I agree with Cody and Dave that communication along the way would have probably kept everyone happy. Personally, I wasn't particularly bothered by how long everything took, but I also wasn't expecting to win anything once I saw the popular vote and the onslaught of amazing builds my pedal was up against.

For the contestants who were really eager to see something happen, I think a weekly update would have sufficed, even if the update was to say, "Sorry y'all. Life is just too crazy right now. Maybe next week."

As far as how to run the contest, I was kind of glad to have the mix of popular vote and judges panel. My pedal was white noise in the popular vote. I feel like some of the aspects of my build that were really challenging might not have been apparent to most people. It was really affirming to read what Jacob wrote about my build and to know that the work didn't go unnoticed.

Maybe in the future the judges could decide which categories pedals are entered in instead of having the contestants choose. I was also thinking it might be cool to have 3 "simple" contests and one "epic" contest in the course of a year. Although if the judges are saying, "never again," I understand.

I hope contests don't go away. This was good for me. I thank Stomptown for nudging me into it or I wouldn't have done it.

I also appreciate what Brian has built here and that he is careful to foster it to stay positive. It's the only forum of any kind that I participate in because I don't feel like I have time for drivel and flame wars. His decision to not lock a volatile thread was wise and showed faith in this community. Bravo.

[jkokura]

I'm hearing pretty continually here that people would have appreciated more communication.

I'm really sorry for letting the community down in such a manner. I tried my best, but I failed. I feel really awful about it, and for the conversation that ensued. I'm sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness.

Jacob

[billstein]

I'm hearing pretty continually here that people would have appreciated more communication.

I'm really sorry for letting the community down in such a manner. I tried my best, but I failed. I feel really awful about it, and for the conversation that ensued. I'm sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness.

Jacob

Hey Jacob, the way I got it figured is when the rest of us are perfect and never over commit and never have life get busy and never fail THEN we have the right to get mad at you. But until we stop messing up, I guess we should probably just extend love and grace. Don't beat yourself up brother. The issues have been addressed, the lessons have been learned. Now it's time to move on and build. 

[Stomptown]

Keep it simple and personally, i'd prefer not knowing or being able to see the vote count until the voting is closed,  keep everyone on the edge of their seats, an element of surprise, it's not over until the last ballot is counted.
dave

I like this idea also.

Cody

I like this idea too!  I've always been a fan of the judging process for the reasons Leevibe mentioned but it really makes sense to keep it simple going forward.  This does not mean we can't have a big contest from now and then with judges but it is a lot to ask to do quarterly contests with judging no matter how simple we try to make it; and it sounds like there is a lot of desire for quarterly contests, which I support. 

In addition to Dave's ideas I think we could reduce voters bias towards aesthetics by requiring voters to use each of their votes for different criteria.  One vote could go for aesthetics, one for best guts and one for best design, etc. The three pedals that receive the most votes would still win the prizes but this would increase the likelihood that a great design or superior soldering/wiring job is recognized too. Of course, this cannot really be enforced but we've got a great group of guys who could make this happen! Like Dave said, we wouldn't know any of the results (if possible) until the bell sounds.  Thoughts?...

[pickdropper]

Keep it simple and personally, i'd prefer not knowing or being able to see the vote count until the voting is closed,  keep everyone on the edge of their seats, an element of surprise, it's not over until the last ballot is counted.
dave

I like this idea also.

Cody

I like this idea too!  I've always been a fan of the judging process for the reasons Leevibe mentioned but it really makes sense to keep it simple going forward.  This does not mean we can't have a big contest from now and then with judges but it is a lot to ask to do quarterly contests with judging no matter how simple we try to make it; and it sounds like there is a lot of desire for quarterly contests, which I support. 

In addition to Dave's ideas I think we could reduce voters bias towards aesthetics by requiring voters to use each of their votes for different criteria.  One vote could go for aesthetics, one for best guts and one for best design, etc. The three pedals that receive the most votes would still win the prizes but this would increase the likelihood that a great design or superior soldering/wiring job is recognized too. Of course, this cannot really be enforced but we've got a great group of guys who could make this happen! Like Dave said, we wouldn't know any of the results (if possible) until the bell sounds.  Thoughts?...

I like the idea of different categories, but I think it would be fun to do it per contest.  One contest is aesthetics, the next one could be wiring, or something like that.  People may plan their builds differently if the entire contest is based on one criteria.  It might also help folks sharpen specific skills.  Just a though.

[cooder]

I'm hearing pretty continually here that people would have appreciated more communication.

I'm really sorry for letting the community down in such a manner. I tried my best, but I failed. I feel really awful about it, and for the conversation that ensued. I'm sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness.

Jacob

Hey Jacob, the way I got it figured is when the rest of us are perfect and never over commit and never have life get busy and never fail THEN we have the right to get mad at you. But until we stop messing up, I guess we should probably just extend love and grace. Don't beat yourself up brother. The issues have been addressed, the lessons have been learned. Now it's time to move on and build. 

Well said and so true, completly agree.

[alanp]

I like the idea of different categories, but I think it would be fun to do it per contest.  One contest is aesthetics, the next one could be wiring, or something like that.  People may plan their builds differently if the entire contest is based on one criteria.  It might also help folks sharpen specific skills.  Just a though.

If we do a contest based on aesthetics and attractiveness, I think I'd win the booby prize

Agreed with what Leevibe and others have said.

[blearyeyes]

Perhaps judges give points for technical achievement then the popular vote is added to that for the final outcome...

Just a thought..

I missed all of this but I really appreciate the personal feelings of those involved. It is the reason I hang around here. This is not a pretend community. It is at least as personal as an Internet based community can be. And as with all endeavors, it filters down from the top. So impressed with Brian falling on the sword. A good man with feelings for his people. Thank you Brian.

[Stomptown]

I like the idea of different categories, but I think it would be fun to do it per contest.  One contest is aesthetics, the next one could be wiring, or something like that.  People may plan their builds differently if the entire contest is based on one criteria.  It might also help folks sharpen specific skills.  Just a though.

If we do a contest based on aesthetics and attractiveness, I think I'd win the booby prize

Agreed with what Leevibe and others have said.

Alan said booby!  Hehe! 

[LaceSensor]

The reason this contest fell down is because it was too complicated.
If you wanna keep running them, just do them quarterly or something with one prize, and allow the forum members to cast the votes.
This absolves any admin/other focal point person of "running" the contest other than starting the thread and writing the rules.
Ergo, no delays, no miscomms, everyone knows where they stand, the contests are "acheivable" in terms of pulling them together, and everyone is hopefully happy.

Also: I didnt place? that pedal was a complete sod to build...

[Leevibe]

Thinking about Dave's idea of withholding vote tally until the end. What if there were a full on blind vote? Contestants would have to submit via PM or some private means. After the deadline, submissions would be posted by a mod sans names. As a voter, it would be fun to guess who the builder is. In some cases it would be obvious, but there could be fun surprises too. This could also remove popularity from coloring the popular vote, if that's even a concern. I have no idea how hard this would be to administrate. Just a creative idea.

[midwayfair]

Contestants would have to submit via PM or some private means.

oh god no.

Polls can be set to not show the results. That's already a secret ballot.

[Leevibe]

Contestants would have to submit via PM or some private means.

oh god no.

Polls can be set to not show the results. That's already a secret ballot.

I was talking about voters not knowing the identity of the contestants.