[habiTat]

Reading the argument 'discussion' about newbies, abusers, regulars and leavers made me wonder if it might be time to properly establish a competitions structure.

The James Bond comp was great, as was Pawprint and Blueprint before that (and probably the others but they were before my time . For those who get involved, it's very rewarding and adds an extra element when visiting the forum. It also helps people to communicate with each other and if newbies play, it may make them feel more involved, and they might feel more confident to review songs of others if they are their opponents. Along with the general discussions that surround these things, they are good for getting people interested. They are also a great reason to collaborate with others and move away from your comfort zone. Newbies could possibly be invited to play when they first join, and the competitions board could be made more prominent/easier to keep an eye on.

I thought maybe one a month, or one every two months across the year. People can volunteer ideas, and volunteer to run them. I'd be happy to do a few.

What do you think?

[Boydie]

I think this is a great (and timely) idea HAB

I am not too in to the competition thing so I would personally like to see the focus being on the "fun" and participation element rather than the competition bit

I also think that ALL competitions should be collaborations, with partnerships picked at random from those that put their hat in the ring

This will ensure that we get to know each other and write in different styles - perhaps the competition should even dictate the style (country, folk, pop, rock etc.)

I think every other month would be often enough with a "month off"  - so that there will be 1 competition every quarter

Just some personal thoughts to go in the pot

[James Nighthawk]

I think one a quarter is a more balanced timeframe.

It would mean more people get to participate, and less need to rush entries...

Hab, not everyone can knock 'em out as quick as you. So to speak!

[seriousfun]

I also agree with the timeframe of alternate months but don't like the idea of making them all collaborations. Sure some of them could be I feel at least 50% of the should not have that requirement. If we put that stipulation on the entry we may not get the participation. Tina really had to drive the Bond comp to get the entries in and kudos to her for doing it, but if it had been collab only I wonder how many entries we would have got?

[Boydie]

Yeah, that is a fair point SERIOUSFUN

I just thought it was an opportunity to "build bridges" across the forum - and I thought making them collabs would actually help get the entries in and keep people motivated, it is hard to slack off when someone else is depending on you for something!

However, a mix is always the best way to go

[habiTat]

Hab, not everyone can knock 'em out as quick as you. So to speak!

  Fair enough..  

Ok so the feeling so far is that they should be quarterly, to give time for people to get involved, collaborate and produce something decent.

I also agree with SF that they shouldn't all be collabs (maybe every other?) but I like the 'hat' idea when we do, and I also think the genre specific thing is good for challenging our abilities.

[man of simple pleasures]

sounds good! got to be regular competitions going on like!

[Ramshackles]

I reckon more infrequent rather than frequent is a better way forward. I was involved in a first couple of competitions way back and then everyone seemed to get the bug The sheer pace of competitions since then has put me off....I can't record 'normal' songs that quick

It has come to the point where there are sometimes 2 competitions running at once, or they are packed into a relatively short amount of time. More infrequent comps would let them shine a bit more...

Quarterly sounds ok....

[jmacdon]

Obviously not too often but the biggest issue is advertising them - I entered the pawprint comp but only because someone asked me too - I didnt' see any advertising of it on the forum!  So, you need to maybe create a banner on the home page for current comps......

Also, I like the idea of off-the-wall comps.  Let's just say, for example, write a song about a tractor!
That really then gets people to be creative.....

[habiTat]

Obviously not too often but the biggest issue is advertising them - I entered the pawprint comp but only because someone asked me too - I didnt' see any advertising of it on the forum!  So, you need to maybe create a banner on the home page for current comps......

Also, I like the idea of off-the-wall comps.  Let's just say, for example, write a song about a tractor!
That really then gets people to be creative.....

The trouble is, like you say, without banners, any comp related posts soon fall off the front page and get missed. It's better now the competitions section has it's own space but I think it still gets overlooked. We've got this one running at the mo, and there's only 5 players so far, it'd be great if you'd join in

http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/competitions/backmasking-(new-winter-competition-noititepmoc-retniw-wen)/

hab..