  Contests & Activities
This week: Merit Badges Edited by: NaNoNette  
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There was a day, last week or a decade ago, that you typed "writing" into your search engine. You wanted to show off some of your poems, short stories, or maybe even get feedback for a whole novel. You found Writing.com.
On this site, you found all that you searched for: Portfolio space, helpful reviewers, encouraging groups, style and grammar lessons from peers. Nothing prepared you for the amazing bounty of: Contests & Activities! |
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Merit Badges
In my December Contests and Activities newsletter, I discussed Awardicons. "Awardicons" . I tried to highlight not only the uses of awardicons, but also what the possible drawbacks to award ribbons and trophies could be. For merit badges, things are a bit different. To me at least.
 What are merit badges?
Merit badges are Writing.Com's virtual version of badges to highlight an accomplishment. There are a total of 129 designs to choose from. Every genre and item has a merit badge. On top of that, there are merit badges for appreciation, generosity, seasons, and several other things. Each merit badge costs 10,000 GPs to send. You can send as many as you want to as many members as you want. Beware, once a merit badge is sent, you cannot take it back!
Each merit badge raises the receiver's community recognition (the number next to the case) by one point. The caveat is that the same person must wait 14 days to send another merit badge for the receiver to get that recognition again.
 Why Should You Send Merit Badges?
Really, you should send merit badges for any reason you like and as often as you can afford. No, I don't get a percentage of the sales. I'm saying this because a merit badge is more than a colorful circle design. With the merit badge, you can send a message of up to 500 characters. This gives you ample space to thank somebody, praise something they did, encourage them to keep writing, or to simply express a sentiment you want to convey. A merit badge is a public way to say: "Your action (whatever that may be) has touched me and I want you and the whole world to know it!"
 Problems With Merit Badges
This part is more of an opinion that I have and I am aware that not everybody on the site shares it. The one and only problem I see with merit badges is that they only increase the community recognition of the receiver when there is a 14 day break between sending by the same sender. (warped sentence, I know - see above for better explanation)
I have seen discussions about the morality of exchanging merit badges that addressed such schemes as:
 I send you one, you send me one.
 Merit badge for donation.
 Merit badge for being a friend.
 Asking for a merit badge outright.
Why don't I think these things are morally wrong? Simple, unlike an awardicon, they are not tied to any item here on Writing.Com - unless mentioned in the message that you attach to the merit badge.
It is quite difficult to receive a merit badge "out of the blue." As a newbie, I had no idea how to get other members to send me merit badges. Finally, I sent 35,000 gift points to a contest bank and received my first merit badge for the donation. I joined Writing.Com on May 21, 2008 but didn't receive that merit badge - which I essentially bought - until October 26, 2008. As you see, for five months I reviewed my heart out, entered into contests ... and ... nothing! It is VERY hard to earn a merit badge! It shouldn't be this difficult!
While checking out "Writing Contests @ Writing.Com" in search for contests that give out merit badges for writing, I had to go as far down as the eighth item to find one where the prizes included a merit badge. That means the first seven items on the contests page offered either awardicons or gift points for winning. Hey, there is nothing wrong with that! We should get awards for winning in contests. At the same time, you can see just how few options there are to "work" for a merit badge. Each of the first seven items on the contests page had a rider that you could receive a merit badge for donating to the contest bank. This is still the one easiest way to get a guaranteed merit badge.
So, to all members who think a merit badge should only be sent out for hard work, I say: "Lighten up!" Merit badges are colorful, fun, easy, friendly. Send one right now for no better reason than to make somebody smile. 
 What To Do When You Received A Merit Badge?
Reply to the email that alerted you to the receipt of the merit badge with a sincere "thank you."
Find out more about merit badges in "Writing.Com 101" under "Merit Badges and Achievements"
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Receive a merit badge for a donation:
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#1753841 by Not Available. |
Anyone donating 50k or more will receive a Merit Badge and our eternal friendship!!
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#1717656 by Not Available. |
... anyone donating 50k or more will receive a Generosity Merit Badge ...
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#1911222 by Not Available. |
Anyone who donates 30,000 GP’s or more will be awarded a Merit Badge of their choice.
You must send at least 20,000 gift points via a forum post.
Review your way to a merit badge:
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This item number is not valid.
#1912314 by Not Available. |
1st Place: An MB and 10,000 GPS
Each winner will also received an exclusive Good Deeds Merit Badge.
Write or rhyme your way to a merit badge:
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#1912199 by Not Available. |
The Writer of the Hightlighted Letter will receive a merit badge for participation and 5000 GP's
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#1523560 by Not Available. |
Second Place: A Merit Badge
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#1891136 by Not Available. |
1 overall winner will be chosen every 6 weeks and will receive a Horror/Scary Merit Badge.
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#1719787 by Not Available. |
1st Place: Merit Badge of my choosing. A 10k awardicon. 5000 GPS. An in-depth review of your entry.
3rd Place - Merit Badge of the Bard's Hall Choice |
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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For my next newsletter, tell me how contests on Writing.Com helped you to become better writers.
In response to my last newsletter "A Look Back at the 2012 Newbies" , where I asked "Which one of your merit badges that you received or sent out meant the most to you?"
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  wrote: I've got over 50 MBs to my count, but none's as special as one's First- In my case, I had sent out a pile of GPs to this group and I got an Animal Badge as a result. However, One I just had sent out is special- basically I sent 20K GPs to "The Simple Fundraiser " , as I'm sure you know Giselle, and I had you send that Environmental Badge to upper2  - as I told you, he had planted 32 trees in the local park- it was something he spent a year doing, and we just got those baby trees all ready for winter- I wonder what they'll look like in 32 years. "Invalid Item"
Of course I remember sending it. I have to say, this is probably one of my favorite MBs I sent through "The Simple Fundraiser " for many reasons. For one, you used the forum to donate to groups. You chose to even send the merit badge to somebody else instead of keeping it. But you didn't just have me send a merit badge for no reason - you actually had a real plan, you had real knowledge about the receiver's real life accomplishment. This environment merit badge was one of the truly earned merit badges.
jack-tyler wrote: Thanks for the shout-out! I was an old hand at the game of Seeking Publication when I came here to write, and I was very pleasantly surprised to find a consuming joy in helping new writers find their voices. To now find both publicity and recognition in one of the newsletters is the cherry on top, and I can't thank you enough! "Invalid Item"
Your forum is a fun place for everybody in the community who chooses to stop by. I had to feature it! :-d
A*Monaing*Faith  wrote: What a great list! Shout outs to "Invalid Item" , "Invalid Item" , and "Catharsis: Writing to Survive!" , both great activities. Considering one day creating a contest/activity myself. What do you think about a fan-fic based contest? Or a seasonal 'short stories edited into flash fiction' activity? So many possibilities....
Thank you for approving of my selections. And, I think both a fan-fic and/or a seasonal flash fiction contest are good ideas. You could try one at a time or both at once and see which one is more fun for you to run. In either case, let me know if you set any of those up, I'll be more than happy to feature them in my newsletter.
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Contests & Activities: January 15, 2013 Issue [#5462]
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