Update on "Put Your Brick Where Your Mouth Is" contest

[Blackicep8ntball]

Spotted this update from Dan over on Flickr regarding the "Put Your Brick Where Your Mouth Is" contest:

Regarding the contest. Still trying to recover that contest initiation thread. After BrickFair wraps up next week, if the thread hasn't been recovered, Mark and I will probably announce the winners.

For those of you who are wondering, BrickFair ends August 8th. Cheers!

[proudlove]

I don't really like being the first guy to draw attention to this, but the results for this contest have been delayed more than is reasonable. C'mon guys, inquiring minds want to know!

[Blackicep8ntball]

You're not the first http://www.flickr.com/groups/classic-space/discuss/72157624478705124/

[mdilthey]

Relax, it's just a hobby.

[Inquisitor General]

Guys,
I'm working on it. I've tried to recreate the Thunderdome area, and it's not showing up. Trying to figure out what's going on there (I've asked Steve for help). Understand, we'd just gotten the winners (and commentary for every entry) worked out, when the site was hacked. If I hadn't waited for a weekend to post, it might have gone up before the site was hacked. Regardless, commentary for 60 contest entries slowed our judging down greatly. So, while I try to work out the last issues, I'll pose a question.

I could have just chosen snap winners, after quickly perusing the entries. I could have then posted those winners without any critique or commentary. In the future, would folks prefer the bare-bones quick response? Granted, normally a response with commentary would have happened a bit sooner (July give or take, for this one), but still much later than a quick and dirty winners list.

-Dan

[ted @ndes]

It depends on the type of contest.

"Put Your Brick Where Your Mouth Is" was a unique contest, with design suitability for an official LEGO set being a key judging criteria. It was also an opportunity for everyone to have their design concepts judged and critiqued by an official LEGO designer. Many people expected the results quickly and lost sight of that other purpose, and the time it takes to offer detailed critiques of every design. I think a month's time in July was reasonable. The site subsequently getting hacked, however, only made it worse.

Suggestions:
- To set reasonable expectations, I would include an estimated "Winners will be announced on..." date in future contest rules. It's nice to have some idea on when to expect the results.
- I think the next contest in this format should announce the winners/runners-up first, as well as provide their detailed critiques. Then afterwards, anyone not identified as a winner could also request the critique of their contest designs (which could lighten the judging workload if not all the non-winning entries are interested in getting that detailed critique info).

[Alyosha]

I agree with Ted that this was a unique contest. In particular, it really brought in a lot of new people. As a long time lurker, I was heartened to see new faces and builders on the forum. I think the number of entries received reflects this sudden burst. I think of lot of these new people were also fairly new builders (and I apologize to any vets who are offended by my remark ), so this contest's rules worked especially well in that regard. So, feedback from Nabii will probably be an excellent way to improve. For me, that's the primary reason I'm so keen to hear back about this event.

However, I don't think that other contests necessarily need that kind of attention. It is clearly time consuming! You have to have dedicated judges! I don't think it meshes quite as well with other contest types.

That the site was hacked was just unfortunate. I think most of the contest anxiety can be blamed on delays caused by that. I only hope that we can continue to bring in new folks (and old-timers!) and keep growing.

[pmemmer]

Sure, it's been a sort of long wait. But really, the only reason that might've been a problem was if we had been required to keep our entries intact for verification. We weren't, though.

Don't get me wrong... I'm dyin' to know just like everyone else. And as others have said, I'm especially curious to hear the feedback. But I think what the judges are trying to do is particularly special. When I was a 9 year old obsessed with my blue and gray space Legos, the idea that I might someday receive direct feedback from a Lego designer would've been terribly exciting. And it's pretty cool now, too.

So to answer your question, Dan... take all the damn time you need, and by all means, do it the same way next time.

[Blackicep8ntball]

First suggestion: Do this contest again! One of the best (possibly THE best) contest I've seen. I'd been a lurker on this site for a long time, and I joined specifically to enter the contest. So Alyosha's remarks are very true - this contest worked to draw in a lot of new members.

It's these new members, in my opinion, who have to be considered in a contest like this. In our older contests, the results usually came back within a day, or certainly within the week. So if a new member joined with those expectations, he or she is expecting to at least hear something pretty quickly. So for future contests, once the contest entry deadline is passed, I think it would be beneficial to toss up a note saying "Contest is now closed to new entries, and we're working on the judging." Since an estimation can be difficult to give accurately, let people know that you'll give an update in one week, two weeks, whatever, and then follow up. In two weeks, let them know you're still working on it and check back in two weeks. Exactly like Mark did with his entries. I think what was frustrating was the weeks of silence after Mark told us he had his entries completed.

That's my two cents. I get the feeling people are willing to wait for such a good thing, so long as they know what's going on

[Charliehorse]

Good to see some official feedback about the contest on the forums. I've got two things: just give us an estimated time for results, and respond to people who ask on these forums. I thought blackice was an admin or something because he's given us the updates. Turns out he's a new member himself - I mean, I'm glad he let us know, but why wasn't the contest admin taking charge of that?