 Contests & Activities: April 23, 2014 Issue [#6287] |
  Contests & Activities
This week: Know When to Fold Edited by: Leger~  
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3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
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6. Ask & Answer
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The purpose of this newsletter is to highlight some of the current contests and activities on the site, help educate members on how to host contests and activities, and provide clues to submit quality entries to contests. Write to me if you'd like something in particular covered.
This week's Contests and Activities Editor
Leger~ |
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Know When to Fold
This newsletter is for members who like to hold and/or participate in activities in our community. Some members like to wander in now and then and post some work, maybe enter some contests, blog or email some friends and wander back out. Other members move in, and start exploring the site like it's a new town. They visit all the cafes, parks, and theater productions until their feet feel like they will fall off.
What happens sometimes is members spread themselves too thin and end up feeling overwhelmed. Or if they're younger, get in trouble for spending too much time online and not doing homework. Or older, they stay up late reviewing and posting, wake up late for work and get a scolding from their boss.
Oops. 
Contests and activities are all great fun but we also need to recognize when it's time to step away from the computer. Our community loves people who are involved and active, but we want you to be around for a long time. Getting burned out in the first few months of membership here is a surefire way of ending up disliking something as wonderful as this site. Be sure to sit down and decide to how much time you can reasonably dedicate to writing, contests and activities. This should be listed after your outside commitments. Then plan for times to sit down and write or participate. This way your contest doesn't close late, or participation in your activities doesn't lag. Pick a few things you'd like to be involved in and dedicate time for each of those activities. Find out what is special and important to you and spend your time engaged in those things.
If you've been here a while, you've seen it happen. An involved member suddenly disappears because they feel overcome and embarrassed because they let someone down. Volunteer to help them out for a short time. Help them focus on the important parts of their activity. Offer to help judge their contest if they run short on time, or send a few gift points to help cover the prizes. Most of all, be encouraging and supportive. This way we can keep our community going without all the added drama. Life throws enough drama our way.
So next time you see someone struggling, lend a hand and Write On!
This month's question: How do you manage your time in our community? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: Write a New Traditional Haiku Poem based on the Prompt. One per person per round! Check the hint notes.
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#1599595 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: This is a place to share and use your voice to speak out.
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#1800323 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Submit by Midnight by last day of the current month. Winner will be posted within 3 days.
Excerpt: Each month, the theme for the Pet Newsletter will change with a new prompt. / You know what the judging will be based on: Writing skill shown including grammar/punctuation, CREATIVITY and adherence to the prompt, by judges who wish every entry could win first prize but it just can't happen.
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#1871736 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: This daily contest is for Japanese short form poetry, including haiku, senryu, and tanka.
Excerpt: Simply Positive is a group committed to bringing a smile to others.
Excerpt: For each round, I will disguise a quote—which could have been sung, spoken, or scrawled—and your task is to be one of the first five people to decipher it.
Excerpt: post one three-word block at a time
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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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This month's question: This month's question: How do you manage your time in our community? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's question: What kind of prizes do you like to win or bid on?
QueenOwl ~ A New Day Dawns said: I'm reviewing as much as I can to build my GPs and be able to maintain my upgraded membership.
COUNTRYMOM-JUST REMEMBER ME sent: Thanks for an informative newsletter! You've given many good suggestions here!
I run three contests, usually giving top prizes of a Merit Badge, an Awardicon and 10,000 Gift Points - which drop to an Awardicon and Gift Points - so far so good, and I usually have returning writers and newbies are not forgotten. I will be back to re-read the newsletter - my time is limited online, as I am still working (part-time) and I do love to go in and read, review and sometimes Smile I write and enter to build up my own gift points. All in all, WDC is my favorite web-site, going on close to 14 years now!
Again, thanks for all you do and keep up the good work you do!
BIG BAD WOLF Feeling Thankful comments: To be honest, the prizes I like to bid on are ones that I can afford- Just spent around 30K on packages worth close to 100K, which includes several Merit Badges and Awardicons. Of course, I'm still waiting on some of those items, but people get busy.
Loreli mentions: I like auctions offering chapter reviews. Most people offer small reviews (like under 10k stuff). Finding people to review chapters of a novel is a problem I'm still trying to find a solution.
Jeff tells us: Excellent newsletter, Leger! Personally I like awardicons and merit badges for my own work, but I recently started allowing entrants to my activities to request the "GP equivalent" of whatever prize package they win. I usually say that the request for a GP-only payout has to be made with their entry so I don't have to wait on a response before I can award the prizes... but I think it's important to consider that different people are interested in different types of prizes. And I always offer reviews because I feel like everyone (even those that didn't win) should get something for taking the time to enter, so I'll try to take the time to do a thorough, detailed review for each entry. 
🌑 Darleen - QoD admits: I like bidding on prizes that offer a wide range of options~ reviews and reviewing packages along with a promise to award an appropriate merit badge/awardicon to a piece the reviewer especially enjoys. That way despite paying for reviews you still feel like you earned your awards!
By the way, thanks for advertising "Invalid Item" I think my prizes are unique as there is quite a variety and I allow my winners to choose their packages. They can get Awardicons and Badges with their matching physical counterparts, mix and match them with or without GPs, or just take home a bankroll of pure GPs, Guilt Free!
Matt Bird MSci (Hons) AMRSC advises: A contest ran by A E Willcox  gives reviews (by Amanda and me) of all entries. The reviews are really high quality (even if I say so myself), so reviews as a prize isn't an option.
One of the group contests I run has a 'big prize' round 4 times a year. Normal rounds offer a 50K awardicon and group points to the winner, but the 'big prize' is a 3-month upgraded membership (or 1-month premium if that's what they have). If you or your group has the funds available, you should consider memberships or even physical store items. Something a little bit special.
ENB says: Physical merit badges totally rock, and I would definitely consider making one of those a prize. I personally like to get Gps along with something fun like a gift basket from one of the many groups on this site or even a physical item from the WDC shop. As a side note, I would rather get an awardicon instead of a merit badge unless the merit badge is exclusive to the contest etc. Great newsletter!
pinkbarbie confesses: I like winning gps because I really want a premium membership for a long time. I also like it when my community recognition increases. Who doesn't? I've submitted a contest where the winner has a choice for either gps or an awardicon.
angeldarkness comments: These are interesting suggestions you have here! I wouldn't mind either way, though. I like awardicons and GPs and merit badges (not all at once, of course.) |
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