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What Changes Would You Like to See Made to Project14?

tariq.ahmad

Its been a long time since we've made any kind of changes to the format of Project14 but its due for an upgrade.   Its natural for programs to evolve overtime and things can't stay the same forever. We've experimented with different things with the program and some have been received more enthusiastically than others.   I'm starting this thread to see what kind of changes you would like to see us to make with this program.  What shouldn't be touched,  what would make things more exciting, and how do we grow the program without turning it into something different?  Should it be something different?   Where does Project14 fit in with the larger community?  Before getting this conversation underway, I would like to stress that the goal is to improve not diminish the program.  My managers have been very supportive from the beginning of this program and I want to reward their confidence.   Some of these changes are workload related.  Others are business related.  I'm open to all ideas and suggestions.

 

Topics on the Table:

 

- Launch Themes Every Other Month or Keep them Monthly?

- Shorter Contests or Longer Contests?

- If we have fewer contests Is there Stuff We Can Do In-Between?

- How Can We Make It Easier For More People to Participate?

- Should We have Bigger Prizes?

- Should we have a giveaway before we launch every contest?

- Most Importantly How Do We Make These More Fun?

Parents

  • Thanks ,

     

    >> Another option could be an extension or variation to the short evening/weekend projects, making it more of a teaching/learning thing: encouraging others to copy the project for themselves. Bonus points for every time your project gets built by another member.

     

    Perhaps we do more workshops around existing projects.   Do you think members would be interested in conducting workshops based on existing builds?  

     

    >> I wouldn't mind seeing more weekend- or afternoon-sized quick projects happening. Maybe there can be an in-between kind of contest with that kind of criteria?

    I love seeing what people are building, of all kinds of sizes and budgets, so I wouldn't want to discourage that, but shorter quick-builds would allow for more try-this-at-home participation.

    It's great to see all those amazing projects people have built, but I wonder if that might discourage novice makers from participating when shadowed by such greatness.

     

    We have design challenges which are longer and more complex so wouldn't want to turn it into that.   What I would consider is doing some sort of activity whether its a meet-up, a workshop, or project proposals.  The workshop with Enrico generated a lot of great project ideas and produced some really cool projects after it was done.

     

     

    >>This runs the risk of encouraging users to sign up just for the free stuff, never to be seen again. I'd be more interested in seeing element14 offer parts for builds, which would require participants to outline their project and provide a parts list - something that maybe shows a bit more commitment.

     

    Giveaway might not be the right word, in the past when we've done these its always been around project proposals.

     

    > Another contest style that would be interesting would be along the theme of "build something with this specific set of $10 worth of parts".  Or even "build something that uses an old power toothbrush".

     

    This sounds like an interesting idea.  Especially,  with people being locked down and forced to be frugal.  

     

     

Reply

  • Thanks ,

     

    >> Another option could be an extension or variation to the short evening/weekend projects, making it more of a teaching/learning thing: encouraging others to copy the project for themselves. Bonus points for every time your project gets built by another member.

     

    Perhaps we do more workshops around existing projects.   Do you think members would be interested in conducting workshops based on existing builds?  

     

    >> I wouldn't mind seeing more weekend- or afternoon-sized quick projects happening. Maybe there can be an in-between kind of contest with that kind of criteria?

    I love seeing what people are building, of all kinds of sizes and budgets, so I wouldn't want to discourage that, but shorter quick-builds would allow for more try-this-at-home participation.

    It's great to see all those amazing projects people have built, but I wonder if that might discourage novice makers from participating when shadowed by such greatness.

     

    We have design challenges which are longer and more complex so wouldn't want to turn it into that.   What I would consider is doing some sort of activity whether its a meet-up, a workshop, or project proposals.  The workshop with Enrico generated a lot of great project ideas and produced some really cool projects after it was done.

     

     

    >>This runs the risk of encouraging users to sign up just for the free stuff, never to be seen again. I'd be more interested in seeing element14 offer parts for builds, which would require participants to outline their project and provide a parts list - something that maybe shows a bit more commitment.

     

    Giveaway might not be the right word, in the past when we've done these its always been around project proposals.

     

    > Another contest style that would be interesting would be along the theme of "build something with this specific set of $10 worth of parts".  Or even "build something that uses an old power toothbrush".

     

    This sounds like an interesting idea.  Especially,  with people being locked down and forced to be frugal.  

     

     

Children
  • in reply to tariq.ahmad

    I like the idea of projects that multiple members end up building.

    Perhaps if participating members buy the BoM kit from Newark and elemen14 paid the shipping, it would be enough to encourage participation - assuming the project had fairly wide appeal to start with.

    For example several members expressed interest in converting a PC power supply into a bench power supply.

    You could start with a contest to design the best conversion.

    The winner gets a gift certificate to order PCBs - delivered to element14 - to be included in the order when someone buys the BoM parts.