So, is there interest in continuing the ABC competition, starting over at A?  Since I've been lazylate a bit slow getting these things going recently, I was thinking if we'd like to continue this contest, we could rotate the moderator each month, so one person's not responsible for the contest for the next year.

Thoughts?

I've been lazy, late a bit slow getting these things going recently...



Mmmm hmmmm... ;)

I know Red Ant has done the Z round, we'll have to ask him if he'll do another round, but I'm sure that I can come with something....

I will do a few rounds here and there, but I don't have enough time to run the competition for the whole year. I already edit 5 sections for AmIRight, do spam control, SOTM, and will also be approving entries for Whatfreaks in the near future (that should be interesting  :o). A guy's gotta write a parody every now and then too.  ;)

Rotating between volunteer moderators is a fantastic idea.

I've been thinking about offering to take the whole thing over from Jeff, but sharing the job with one or two others is a much better solution. 

Count me in as one. :)

Thanks Stu!  8)
I just wrote a GREAT 'A' tune that many folks need to read that have not yet, so keep it running!  ;D

I for one, should not host these contests, as my time online is limited.

er, *clears throat*  I said:  anyone want to share the job with me????????

hmm, I guess it's just me and my other buddy me then...

I'll get started soon - got one or two new ideas which I'll form them into some sort of proposition and post them here, and then I'll put the ABC3 "A" submission thread up

:)

(any tips Jeff??)

My proposed tweaks....

Firstly, as an ABC tournament doesn't fit snugly into a year, I will call this next tournament ABC3 
(and I suggest the previous 2 be referred to as ABC1 and ABC2)

The rules for ABC3 will be exactly the same as for ABC1 and ABC2
(ie. no parody entered in either ABC1 or ABC2 is eligible for subsequent ABCs) 

Each voting and submission period will be exactly 2 weeks long, and will run parallel to each other, ie. submissions for "B" begin the moment voting for "A" begins, and both end at the same moment too. 

This moment will be called "clickover" and will occur at midnight on every second Wednesday night (amiright homepage time) so it could be diarised for the rest of the year if you want.

Any votes or submissions posted more than 1 second after "clickover" are ineligible, and the usual penalties apply
ie. not voting disqualifies the non-voter from the next ABC comp (even if their submission is in)

This will create a shot-clock situation, where interested parties can actually count the clock down towards "clickover" at which time they will know immediately if their parody has won a medal or not. I will still tabulate the results of course to make it official, but this gives entrants the opportunity to work it out decisively for themselves.
This also eliminates subjective (on my part) decisions re whether to allow late votes or not.

To temper this somewhat black-and-white approach, there will be an appeal system for voters with legitimate excuses for not getting their votes in on time.  Under no circumstances can their votes count after "clickover" - but they may avoid the disqualification if the following occurs -

    1.  They must post their excuse on the voting thread and plead for mercy. 
          (ie. "I, (insert name), plead for mercy because...") 
    2.  If 3 other entrants in that comp accept their plea...
          (ie. must be accepted on the thread - and lobbying on the thread is okay - and could be fun) 
          ...then the disqualification will be overturned.
          (If there are less than 4 entrants in that comp, then the required number of acceptors drops to 2.)

This appeal system may seem wussy and open to abuse.  But I suggest that it would be so humiliating for someone to be continually throwing themselves on the mercy of others, that strict adherence to the "clickover" dealine will soon become self-regulating.

any questions before we begin?

er, *clears throat*  I said:  anyone want to share the job with me????????



I'll share the job with you, though I'm afraid I don't have enough time to do it 50/50. I can handle maybe a 1/3 of the competition.

A few problems/observations though:


My proposed tweaks....

// This moment will be called "clickover" and will occur at midnight on every second Wednesday night (amiright homepage time) so it could be diarised for the rest of the year if you want.

Any votes or submissions posted more than 1 second after "clickover" are ineligible, and the usual penalties apply
ie. not voting disqualifies the non-voter from the next ABC comp (even if their submission is in)



Unless you are going to let the inthe00s.com clock do the work for you (us), having to be on at midnight every other Wednesday would be a PITA. Also, the board clock goes by Eastern Standard Time (the time zone I live in), so anyone west of me would still have time to vote and could do so without their votes technically being late.

Since I don't think anyone lives between California and the International Date Line, maybe 3:00 am would be a better time?

I have to agree with the strict time limit though and a DQ - technically late votes have affected SOTM more than I care to admit. They were allowed since I don't care to ruin someone's entry (and next months) for voting 20 minutes late (and I also don't know what time zone everyone lives in).

On the other hand, it has been my observation that ABC comp numbers have declined quite a bit from the beginning of last year, and having stricter rules may put off more entrants.

Regardless your decisions, I'll support whatever you want to do. I would ask that the A round entry thread not be posted until ABC SOTY is finished up though - there are already like 4 competitions running at the moment.

Wednesday to Wednesday is great for me since I'm off Wednesdays.

I'm in an absolute rush so I'll respond more later, but



Unless you are going to let the inthe00s.com clock do the work for you



sorry - I didn't make that clear.  That's absolutely what I meant.  I'm certainly not going to be around for "clickover" and wouldn't expect anyone to be.  What I meant was we go by the date and time OF the posting (which is already recorded on each post) and by amiright time I mean the time that's on view to non-logged in guests (ie. not adjusted to a logged-in member's timezone) so there's no argument. 

Thanks a heap for all the feedback and tips, and I've read some great advice from you in a PM too, which I'll certainly be taking.  Anybody else with concerns or advice?

I'm also willing to share the job...was going to (or suggest to you) to wait on starting the A round until after the ABC Finals round was done.  I still need to read through the rest of the posts here.

Jeff - yes, Jack suggested the same thing, and it's clearly a good idea - otherwise the Finals would be compromised.  Thanks for offering to help, Jack and Jeff, but only do it if you want to, because I've happily accepted the prospect that I'll be taking the whole thing on 

ie. no need to help out of kindness alone :)


 

I've been lenient on the deadlines (allowing a few hours is fine, but probably too lenient when I don't post the results for days), thinking that getting the feedback was more important than closing the voting at an exact time.  I know that when Claude ran SOTM, he basically allowed votes until he posted the results.  I have no idea if that ever affected me adversely (or positively) in the voting results.  Personally, I think that if the deadline is 12am, you post at 7am, and someone votes at 12:01, those votes should count...although it is voting at your own risk (of being locked out of the next round and losing your votes).  That said, I would not complain if a more draconian method were implemented.  As long as it's clear up front (which it is).

Anyway, I'd be happy to do every third letter, or whatever is wanted/needed.

I've been lenient on the deadlines (allowing a few hours is fine, but probably too lenient when I don't post the results for days), thinking that getting the feedback was more important than closing the voting at an exact time.  I know that when Claude ran SOTM, he basically allowed votes until he posted the results.  I have no idea if that ever affected me adversely (or positively) in the voting results.  Personally, I think that if the deadline is 12am, you post at 7am, and someone votes at 12:01, those votes should count...although it is voting at your own risk (of being locked out of the next round and losing your votes).  That said, I would not complain if a more draconian method were implemented.  As long as it's clear up front (which it is).

Anyway, I'd be happy to do every third letter, or whatever is wanted/needed.



Yes, that's always worked, and I don't think anyone's ever been adversely affected, but the possiblity is still there for a dispute, and like they say in Aussie Rules football about such possibilities - "what if it happened in a Grand Final one day?"

I thought it would be good to give this new way a tryout anyway.  Once everyone gets the idea that the deadline is decided by the clock instead of arbitrarily decided by the moderator, they'll make the slight adjustment.  And I don't think it's draconian.  Entrants have 2 weeks to vote on a relatively small number of entries so it shouldn't be too hard to get organised.

Also, it's not as though the penalty for missing the deadline is a severe one, and on the first month, anyone who pleads "Show mercy because it's the first month of the new rule!" would be bound to get my compassionate vote (and yours probably Jeff) so that's 2 out of the 3 jurors swayed already.

I'll make the rules VERY clear on the "A" submission thread.  ie. don't enter if you don't have time in the next 2 weeks to read all entires and vote.

At this stage I'll do all the odd letters, and you do all the even letters, and if Jack decides he really wants to chip in too, we'll rotate in threes.

Thanks mate :)

At this stage I'll do all the odd letters, and you do all the even letters, and if Jack decides he really wants to chip in too, we'll rotate in threes.



Rotate in threes? Darn. I wanted the JKXQ and Z rounds.  ;)

Just kidding. I'll do a 1/3 of the letters, starting with C.

Stu - another hint: You may want to keep a list of all the winners so when the ABC 3 tourney ends you don't have to dig through several pages and 27 topics to find the URLs for the end-year comp.

Stu - another hint: You may want to keep a list of all the winners so when the ABC 3 tourney ends you don't have to dig through several pages and 27 topics to find the URLs for the end-year comp.



yep, gotcha - and there's another excel spreadsheet for me ;)