Any more contests....

[diemilchmann]

Hey people--
Just was wondering if there's ever going to be another contest ever again! I've looked through the archives, and I was disappointed that I've never been able to try one out!

Maybe?
Julian

[Hides-His-Eyes]

If you really want another contest, find somebody to donate a prize

the 666 contest was pretty spontanious but the trouble is designing a pedal is a sort of "inspiration strikes" thing, not a "churn one out" thing.

[CynicalMan]

It would be nice to get the FX-X going again. Lots of nice ideas came out of there.

[The Tone God]

I was just thinking about this. I think the time line should be changed so people have more time and we can have more complex projects. Maybe one per three months / season.

Andrew

[markeebee]

Just a thought....

I have to get a bunch of t-shirts printed for work, I could get another ten or so printed with the DIYSB logo and donate them as prizes. At one every three months, that's nearly twelve years covered (allowing for the occasions when nobody seta a comp or nobody bothers to enter).

[deadastronaut]

@mark,

yeah a competition sounds great, i'd love a diysb t-shirt..(arons are only XL...)

i need XXXL though.......i'm a right fat soab..

[ItZaLLgOOd]

i need XXXL though.......i'm a right fat soab..

Me too!!

[diemilchmann]

feeling like a shrimp.... medium.............

I like the seasonal thing. Sometimes, projects just take that long.

[Taylor]

On the other hand, I feel like the last few FX-X contests that did happen ended up getting extended to several months, and I think that may have contributed to the lack of entries - lack of fire under asses made everybody procrastinate and forget that it was even going on.

I would be happy to donate something to the cause, because I love seeing new projects around here. I'm not sure what that would be that would make things interesting while keeping everything fun and friendly.

[.Mike]

I would be happy to donate something to the cause, because I love seeing new projects around here.

That would be very generous, Taylor.

How about a contest where we have to build something that uses the TapLFO. Winner gets a Tap Tempo Tremolo board/chip. You, as the sponsor of the contest, get the option to have boards made of the winning project. If you do get boards made, the winner also gets one of those.

I think having another effect that uses the TapLFO would encourage people to sync the LFO between multiple effects, and could crack the door wide open to a series of Tap-synced effects.

Just a thought.

Mike

[Taylor]

Hmm, that's an idea. I feel like a TAPLFO thing might be sort of limited, since people are largely interested in distortion devices, although I suppose one could make a TAPLFO-controlled distortion.

One issue is that it might appear like I'm fishing for circuit ideas, and I wouldn't want that to ruin the fun. There have been other incidences on other forums of things like that, and it makes some people mad or discouraged when a friendly competition appears to be commercialized.


One idea I had is that it would be cool to encourage people to enter, rather than encouraging people just to win. There are probably folks who don't enter because they feel it's pointless if they don't feel they can win. I'd like to see more interesting ideas, rather than a small number of really polished circuits. Perhaps a prize for everybody who enters a serious, somewhat original circuit. There could still be something for the winner.

[Hides-His-Eyes]

A TAPLFO party would be awesome; I know I'm not the only one who doesn't spend all his time on fuzzes.

Taylor, it's not my place to tell you how to spend your money and I've absolutely no idea what your margins are like so if this is going to end up with you worse off ignore; but if the 'prize' for entering a competition was a couple of dollars off a board from your store, would that give people a prize worth having and you some more custom? I really don't know. Please don't think I'm trying to demand cheaper PCBs, I'm just tentatively thinking out loud.

[Perrow]

One issue is that it might appear like I'm fishing for circuit ideas, and I wouldn't want that to ruin the fun. There have been other incidences on other forums of things like that, and it makes some people mad or discouraged when a friendly competition appears to be commercialized.

A competition where the prize includes a little store credit for every copy you sell of the winning model might counteract that feeling. Should go for every entry you decide to do boards for, not just the winner.

[Taylor]

Well, what I'm interested in here is decidedly nothing to do with me or getting more customers or new PCBs or any of that.

I genuinely just like to see new projects coming out for the forum - I think what's awesome about DIYSB is that people come up with all kinds of great circuits without concern for what boutiquers are doing. I hope my cred is supported by the fact that I've put out what I think are somewhat interesting and original circuit ideas without making PCBs for them or otherwise expecting anything out of it other than enriching the community.

So, to that end, I'd be happy to do something along these lines to encourage entries, but I don't have any interest in profiting off of it - again I don't want to make a fun competition into something divisive, and any time commercialization enters something on this forum, there will be a significant faction that will be upset about it.

But anyway, I'll be thinking about ways to encourage more folks to get in on the action, while keeping things fun.

[Perrow]

I respect your wish to keep your business out of the competition. If and when we get started with competitions, I'd be happy to donate something towards the prize pot, maybe it can be arranged as store credit in the forum store?

[LucifersTrip]

...possibly charge a small fee to enter to add to or offset cost of prize...say $2-$3

or charge a little higher and give everyone who enters a pcb of the winning project

[nordine]

I was just thinking about this. I think the time line should be changed so people have more time and we can have more complex projects. Maybe one per three months / season.

Andrew

may i disgress with you Andrew, but, i think the "more time" option fugged up the FX Contest... as species we need a whip in the ass constantly  , specially if we're talking about a hobby... that would be the time constraint, i think it worked wonderfully on past contests

at least, what did it for me, as motivation, was:

-The One-Month constraint
-The inventiveness of the themes

a "fx box with ten parts or less" was as inspiring as it gets, maybe you could rehash these kind of ideas/themes

now, about prizes and stuff, i think the main motivation must come from within, and, from the nature of the contest
if there would be a prize, i think it should be as symbolic as possible (a hall of honor, etc), not mixing it with money or such, because that way it would end on a sad mess... 'cause, in the end, thats what differentiates this forum from many others, the willingness to do it for the sake and fun of it  cheers

[Govmnt_Lacky]

As far as "prizes" go... in my opinion it would serve builders and this community better if it were something like a coupon/certificate for MORE PARTS! 

It is win/win. It keeps the winner's bench stocked AND it will ensure that they continue the hobby and continue on this forum to contribute in the future.

My 2c 

[CynicalMan]

I was just thinking about this. I think the time line should be changed so people have more time and we can have more complex projects. Maybe one per three months / season.

Andrew

may i disgress with you Andrew, but, i think the "more time" option fugged up the FX Contest... as species we need a whip in the ass constantly  , specially if we're talking about a hobby... that would be the time constraint, i think it worked wonderfully on past contests

at least, what did it for me, as motivation, was:

-The One-Month constraint
-The inventiveness of the themes

a "fx box with ten parts or less" was as inspiring as it gets, maybe you could rehash these kind of ideas/themes

now, about prizes and stuff, i think the main motivation must come from within, and, from the nature of the contest
if there would be a prize, i think it should be as symbolic as possible (a hall of honor, etc), not mixing it with money or such, because that way it would end on a sad mess... 'cause, in the end, thats what differentiates this forum from many others, the willingness to do it for the sake and fun of it   cheers

I agree completely. My favourite was the 10 or less contest too. This is the kind of contest in which I'd like to participate again.

[The Tone God]

Early on we walked about prizes but the feeling was that it should just be a fun thing with no pressure. Also if there was a prize there would be more skilled people getting involved and the less experienced people would not bother thinking they couldn't win. Really the two reasons for FX-X is to educate and bring out new ideas.

Sometimes there were issues for people depending on the month. Some months had holidays that ate up people's time. Also some people needed time to get parts so they would loose a week or so waiting for shipments. It made it tough for them to get involved.

Andrew