Dealing with Disappointment...

I think you're absolutely spot on, Dale. I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that we all have a different idea of what we want to see from a project. I've often found that the choices of winners in a competition differs quite a bit from what I feel are the best - and that's the same whether I've entered the competition or not. When I've judged a few E14 contests I'm sure some of my picks baffle people too. That's just the way it is. I try not to less the disappointment bug me for too long and I move on to something else. If you have created a project that you've enjoyed working on or that you've learnt from then you've already won.

The was only one time that I felt slightly justified in being annoyed with a decision (and I can say this as it wasn't on E14). I worked really hard on something and was careful to meet all the requirements - which made things fairly difficult. I thought I'd done an excellent job. The eventual winner hadn't followed the rules at all - not even the broadest interpretation of the title of the competition. It made me wonder why I'd put in all that time and effort. I did win a runner up prize in that one, so I can't really complain. It just felt a bit off.

On the plus side, there are so many interesting and generous competitions, challenges and road tests here on E14 that if you miss out on one then another is sure to come along soon enough!

It has taken some 40 years (I'm must be a slow learner), with a slightly different loss grieving process than yours, to arrive at the same destination. If you follow the RoadTest Review posts that have focused on the process and how it can be improved, you will discover many examples expressed that reflect the loss grieving process.

Some twenty years ago a friend of mine helped me get over the grieving of not getting my dream job with the simple question, "What if they didn't want you?" I had agonised over the interview process and my preparation, trying to understand why I wasn't the preferred candidate. His comment enabled me to understand, many things are outside of our control. We can only do what we can do.

I do get frustrated if a winning selection colours outside the described lines. I figure the rules are there to establish a baseline for everyone. Like yourself, I have found in winning submissions knowledge I didn't possess. DL's three-phase  Hioki BT3554 Battery Tester - Review is a prefect example. The production quality of the videos and comprehensiveness of the review blew me away. His RoadTest review application was the ideal choice based on the results.

I think most, if not all, of us have had similar feelings. The things that interest the community vary and some of the blogs and projects I was most proud of received little interest. That is not to say they are not worthwhile though.

I think you are on to something in your section on “what did I learn.”  There are members here on element14 that could seemingly write about just about anything and make it interesting.  They are skilled at technical writing / presentation and I have shamelessly tried to incorporated some of their techniques. As well, I am sure they found the topic interesting which found its way into their work.

I wouldn’t say it was your fault for not winning though. Completing something that you were proud of and putting it out there is more than many in the world did that day. My proposal for vibration sensing wasn’t accepted and after reading the projects that were I can see why.  And vibration analysis is an area where I have some work background.

I am glad you are looking forward to the next project.  I am always learning something new here and so many have helped me over the years.

I have definitely had some major flops from a winning expectation point of view, especially before I came to grips with accepting the judging process.

The project where I actually invested the most effort of any of my projects (and generated the most blogs and met all objectives) - didn't even rate an honorable mention.

Thankfully it didn't stop me from further participation.

I am not keen to be a judge, but the one time I was a judge, I published the criteria I would use to score the projects.

Dale,

I can relate to the emotional roller coaster that you have described.  I have felt that I too had it in the bag, only to discover that my entry was not good enough in the eyes of the judges (I can only image the disappointments that I have assisted in, having judged several of these contests).  I feel that you have described the cycle well and hopefully learn from the process.  Good luck in you future projects and by all means keep trying!

Gene

Doug, your blogs and videos are the best I've ever scene. The quality of your projects are what I hope to come close to one day. I like that you post your blogs early to help others see what they need to strive for. I love reading your blogs and learn as much as possible from them.

With this discussion, I hope it helps others to understand and learn. This is a great community with so much knowledge that is shared with anyone who wants to learn!!

Thank you Doug and others (to many to name) for sharing your knowledge and abilities.

I would say it matters... I find design challenges easier to predict than P14. Mostly because you know who are going to be the judges. There are many aspects that can be evaluated: engineering, novelty, documentation, aesthetics, fun factor, etc.

For instance in the vibration competition I didn't expect to win anything at all. I just did something I found interesting and that I was interested in exploring. My project was more about signal analysis than building cool stuff, and I believe that that is boring to most people here, I suspect the single comment that I received in my project blog confirms that. From the 2 judges, I'm not sure what DAB finds attractive (he usually gives 3 stars to most E14 projects), but I've noticed that Michael Kellett is very technical so I expected him to give a higher weight to the technical aspect. Now, judging by the results I suspect both judges evaluated me relatively well or otherwise I wouldn't have been 2nd, but I'm also sure that other judges could have evaluated projects completely different and I eventually wouldn't have won anything had I been evaluated by judges that give more importance to building stuff...

In the end, probably the best plan is to do what you enjoy, if you win something great, otherwise you still had a great time...

You always put great projects together and this was no exception.

I suspect every competitor goes through something similar when the outcome is not what they expected.

I might add a 5th stage - trying to put myself in the shoes of the judges to figure out what they were thinking and keep that in mind when doing the next project, although it doesn't have a strong influence on the way I do projects.

In the last challenge I expected it to be competitive, so I made a corresponding effort.

I published my blogs a month before the deadline so others could see where the bar was set for effort and content.

Early publication might hurt the chances of winning, but I like the idea that it could help others to make better projects and I think it is worthwhile.

As far as winning expectations, I always have an opinion but I try hard to remember that it is not my opinion that counts.

The judges have a hard task and I don't envy that task, but they often (almost always) have completely different sets of values and criteria than what I use to evaluate a project, so I don't belabor their decisions.

When doing a project, I always do it the way I want - which is one of the most attractive aspects of these projects for me. Even though I know the things I value don't coincide with judges' values.

For example, I might think designing a custom PCB, printing it and getting it to work is a big deal, but a judge may give a breadboard circuit the same marks.

I actually don't expect judges to agree with me so it is always a pleasant surprise when somehow the judges come to a similar conclusion to me with a completely different set of criteria.

I hope this experience doesn't discourage further participation. Your projects are always great and they benefit the whole forum, whether they win or not.

Which competition doesn't really matter (but yes, the vibration sensing one is my latest completion). I have experienced these feelings in others as well and like I mentioned, learn from them. If I did my best, I still won!!

Are we talking about vibration sensing? Or something else?

I've found winning projects are hard to predict.

I'm sure that the results are very subjective and depend A LOT on the judges.