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[Discussion] Ideas to improve Photo Challenge forum

sumsar

There is discussion going on at the moment in threads about what the next step is for photo challenges, I believe we've gotten to a point where it's a good time to discuss what we can do to improve the Photo Challenge section.

Personally I've not been taking many photographs recently and have been wanting to get back into being more active, right now this is a good opportunity for me personally but also for this forum to discuss how to increase activity here.

So far there is discussion around the duration of the challenges, but personally I believe there is more that can be done and I think a good discussion around this is the right thing to do.

For example, I would like to take on a more active role here as a way for me to be more active photography wise but also to help this section.

Some ideas as follows;

'Quarterly Review' or similar, the idea here is if for a moment we pretend the challenges last every 2 -4 weeks, then at the end of every quarter I would be happy to post a thread which showcases the winners of each challenge for that quarter and in that thread we can discuss those winners, what the aims for the next quarter is, whether it's ideas to improve the forum, challenge ideas etc etc.
Maybe a slight change of the rules regarding who posts the next challenge, I know that from time to time we have people joining the challenges who don't do it weekly, if they win the challenge they choose the next thread but they may not be around boards in time for the next challenge to get started and challenges need to be started by others.

I'm speaking from experience here as in the past I won a challenge and wasn't on boards for a few weeks and someone else had to start it for me..

Maybe we should have a designated person to create the challenge threads each time, rather than the winner to help keep things smooth.
If we do the above, then there would need to be a way to 'reward' a challenge winner as they no longer get to choose the challenge.

I wonder is it possible to have a signature or profile icon for the challenge winner each time? Maybe someone or others with more experience around that can advise...

Please share any ideas and or feedback here, no matter how silly... also, please don't hesitate to criticize my suggestions either, I don't think my suggestions are necessarily the best way forward but more so a way to start a discussion on it.

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CelticRambler

Thanks for posting this sumsar.

As an on-off contributor to the challenge over the last year, my main problem is the time-frame, on two levels.
Firstly, while I accept that the point of a challenge is to have to work at something, real life has a habit of getting in the way! Two weeks to get a themed shot (decent enough to submit) is quite tight for someone who's working and has other commitments outside of working hours - especially if they don't get to see the challenge until a few days after it's been posted (and you have to remember to look in the Photo Challenge thread if the previous winner didn't post a link in the previous challenge thread)

Secondly, if you get a decent picture on, say, the tenth day it still has to be uploaded (not always easy if your travelling/live in the middle of nowhere!) so you get it onto the thread with only a few days - or hours - before the challenge closes and the results are announced. Seeing as the thread is buried five levels down, the amount of traffic is relatively low, so the chances of getting enough views to be deemed the winner is low. And, no, it's not a "competition" ... but it's a bit discouraging to know you'll be penalised for not being quick enough off the mark.

So if the challenge is to continue, I would like to see changes to either or both the length of time given to take the picture, and for it to be judged. The "in arrears" POTW protocol seems a lot fairer.

GBX

As a trial how about moving the next challenge and stickying it to the top of the main photography forum to see if it increases audience and participation?

I mentioned it already in the other thread - maybe increasing the time limit of the challenge to 3 or 4 weeks - who ever wins the previous challenge decides?

charlieIRL

As an self thought novice my main problem with some of the challenges is I was just not able to get a pic to enter, some of them were over my head to be honest. For experienced photographers they were probably relatively easy but not to me hence why I didn't enter a few (but still voted)

ezra_

Why is this a sub forum? Would it be worth trying one as a stickied thread in the main forum, and see how the interest goes?

Old threads can always be moved here for ease of access

sumsar

ezra_ wrote: »

Why is this a sub forum? Would it be worth trying one as a stickied thread in the main forum, and see how the interest goes?

Old threads can always be moved here for ease of access

I agree, if the challenge was done monthly and done in the Photography section there would be a lot more activity...

Mods, or anyone else for that matter, how do we go about proposing that photo challenge be part of the Photography forum and not a subforum?

Myksyk

The issue is being discussed by the mods at the moment. Good ideas here to bring to that table.

The_Gatsby

Something that might help with the time frame issue is knowing what the next challenge will be while the current one is still going. This would give people a chance to have a think about location or what kind of shot they would like to get for the upcoming challenge.

I know the rules stated the image had to be taken while the current challenge was active but maybe relaxing these rules a bit so that images could be taken up to maybe a week before the challenge starts would help increase participation.

CabanSail

The_Gatsby wrote: »

Something that might help with the time frame issue is knowing what the next challenge will be while the current one is still going. This would give people a chance to have a think about location or what kind of shot they would like to get for the upcoming challenge.

I know the rules stated the image had to be taken while the current challenge was active but maybe relaxing these rules a bit so that images could be taken up to maybe a week before the challenge starts would help increase participation.

What is to be avoided is people using their back catalogue of images for challenges. That would advantage experienced people over new-comers. The concept of the winner getting to nominate a new subject is also worthwhile.

An idea I have had is that a key group get together and make a list of subjects for a few months and these are posted. As each challenge is decided then the winner adds their subject to the end of that list. Images are only acceptable that were taken after the subject for that round was posted. This will give some notice for participants to plan taking images and a larger range of possibilities. It would keep the flavour of the challenges but make taking part a bit easier.

CelticRambler

I've appreciated the "surprise" element of the next challenge as the bit that makes me work hardest (some themes are obviously easier than others) so I'm not sure I'd want to know too far in advance.

How about having a monthly challenge rather than the two-week window, the start/end of which isn't known until the winner of the previous one gets their thoughts together? Or even two challenges for the month, one broad/general (e.g. for July, "festival fun") and one narrow/technical (e.g. "harsh light")

ezra_

So, is there anything happening with the conversation here?

sumsar

Myksyk said above it the mods are discussing it, so I'm under the impression that it's a closed door discussion which points / suggestions raised here will be discussed and then further announcements / changes made at a later stage.

dball

make it monthly, and possibly another challenge quarterly, def too short a time frame with 2 weeks

Myksyk

Ok guys, thank you for your input. We've taken everything into consideration and our initial proposal is as follows:

1. The Photo Challenge remains and continues to be a fortnightly challenge.
2. It will be moved to the main forum
3. There will be a list of 3 challenges at any time so that people have plenty of notice to try to get an appropriate shot (you will have a month for the second challenge on the list and six weeks for the third). Hopefully this will increase participation. We can decide on the original three in some way - we're open to suggestions.
4. Winner of challenge selects the new third challenge in the list.
5. The changes can be reviewed after a number of challenges have been completed to assess any impact.

We would welcome any final input before we nail it down but would like to be up and running by next week if at all possible.

CelticRambler

Can you be more specific about the "fortnight" - is that when the photo's got to be taken, or when it's got to be uploaded? Or to put it another way, if you're aiming for the third challenge of the series, does that mean you've got six weeks altogether to plan, shoot and upload?

ezra_

Myksyk wrote: »

Ok guys, thank you for your input. We've taken everything into consideration and our initial proposal is as follows:

3. There will be a list of 3 challenges at any time so that people have plenty of notice to try to get an appropriate shot (you will have a month for the second challenge on the list and six weeks for the third). Hopefully this will increase participation. We can decide on the original three in some way - we're open to suggestions.

We would welcome any final input before we nail it down but would like to be up and running by next week if at all possible.

This seems to be quite complicated (and complication generally has a negative impact on participation).

Would a 1 month long, single theme challenge, not be clearer and easier? With the provisio that if people find the topic 'hard' or 'awkward' it can be flagged into a feedback thread?

Myksyk

CelticRambler wrote: »

Can you be more specific about the "fortnight" - is that when the photo's got to be taken, or when it's got to be uploaded? Or to put it another way, if you're aiming for the third challenge of the series, does that mean you've got six weeks altogether to plan, shoot and upload?

The suggestion is that once the three challenges go up, the top one is the 'live' challenge and you can start posting photos for it. The winner is announced a fortnight after its start date. However you can start planning and shooting for the other two challenges and have your photos ready for when they become the live challenge.

Myksyk

ezra_ wrote: »

This seems to be quite complicated (and complication generally has a negative impact on participation).

Would a 1 month long, single theme challenge, not be clearer and easier? With the provisio that if people find the topic 'hard' or 'awkward' it can be flagged into a feedback thread?

Tbh I think it's fairly straightforward. Our concern with a single longer challenge is that if people are not interested in the particular theme they have no choice but to wait a month for a new one and may disengage from the challenges generally. Having three themes offers more likelihood that one will interest you, gives you more time to plan and shoot and hopefully will increase engagement with the thread.

sumsar

Myksyk wrote: »

Tbh I think it's fairly straightforward. Our concern with a single longer challenge is that if people are not interested in the particular theme they have no choice but to wait a month for a new one and may disengage from the challenges generally. Having three themes offers more likelihood that one will interest you, gives you more time to plan and shoot and hopefully will increase engagement with the thread.

Personally, I like the ideas and I'm happy with that, looking forward to hearing what others think.

GBX

I think it will be good going forward knowing what the 3 subjects are going to be. As Myksyk said - if you dont like one particular subject you can focus on one of the others and put your entries in those.

The_Gatsby

Looking forward to the new format. Any idea when the challenges will be posted?

Myksyk

If we think people are in general agreement we'll post them up within the next few days. Might I suggest that the Mods can start the ball rolling with the first three themes as it's a new format etc. Once started the winner of each challenge will choose the theme to be placed at the bottom of the list of three. This means that within 6 weeks, all challenge themes will have been, and continue to be, chosen by challenge winners.

It's probably better for us to begin the challenge at the beginning or end of the week so people can easily remember challenge deadlines. We're open to what people think this should be.

CelticRambler

Re the timing, does it have to be two weeks exactly? How about one challenge for the 1st-15th of the month, the second for the 16th-end, the third for the 1st-15th of the next month, and so on? That'd make it easier to remember where we were with respect to deadlines.

Myksyk

CelticRambler wrote: »

Re the timing, does it have to be two weeks exactly? How about one challenge for the 1st-15th of the month, the second for the 16th-end, the third for the 1st-15th of the next month, and so on? That'd make it easier to remember where we were with respect to deadlines.

This is an interesting idea. Would be interested in other posters view on it.

GBX

Yeah that works

charlieIRL

I like the idea of the 1-15th / 16th-end as well or whatever dates work for 3 challenges.

Myksyk

I'm going to set up a competition in the next while along the lines we have discussed here. If anybody has any last minute suggestions let us know.

CelticRambler

Only to repeat someone else's question/suggestion that maybe the Challenge could be posted in the main Photography forum? If there's a concern about cluttering up that forum, perhaps the completed challenges could be moved over to the "Photo Challenge" sub-forum every couple of months or so.

sumsar

CelticRambler wrote: »

Only to repeat someone else's question/suggestion that maybe the Challenge could be posted in the main Photography forum? If there's a concern about cluttering up that forum, perhaps the completed challenges could be moved over to the "Photo Challenge" sub-forum every couple of months or so.

That is one of the suggestions Myksyk confirmed they will be trying out.

sumsar

Just for anyone who may be following this thread but not noticed it yet, the new challenge thread has started, you can see it at http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057759973