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  • Author Author: dougw
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2020 - a good year for hindsight

dougw

Somewhere in the last 2 years I lost the plot. I thought I would share my experience in case it benefits other members. One of my goals in the past 2 years has been to get nominated for member of the year, but I have not been able to figure out what it takes.

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The first metric I thought was important was participation. I addressed this by reading virtually everything that was published on the forum and commenting whenever I could contribute something useful. It definitely takes a lot of time to wade through all the material generated on the site. I also participated in the badges program and so far I have 115 badges. All this participation resulted in well over 100,000 points per year. 8 of my blogs in the last 2 years have exceeded 10,000 views.

Another metric I thought would count is participation in design challenges, which take a huge amount of time and require lots of blogs. I successfully completed 5 design challenges in the last 2 years, winning 2 of them.

A third metric I figured would count is Project14 participation. In the past couple of years I have participated in about 14 Project14 contests, winning about 3 of them. I don't really try to win all these contests, because I don't think that would look good, but I like to boost the activity in this corner of the forum.

A fourth metric I thought would count is road tests. In the past couple of years I have won about 9 road tests. (which is every one that I applied for) I have been refraining from applying for more, especially high-end instrumentation because I don't want to hog all the great free equipment.

Another metric which I like a lot, although I don't think it carries any weight, is circuit design. In the past 2 years my blogs have featured at least 27 custom PCBs that I designed.

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It is clear that this level of participation is not adequate to get nominated, so either:

  • I am not doing the right things
  • I am not doing enough of the right things
  • I am not doing the right things with sufficient quality
  • What I do is not popular enough
  • I am doing something that is frowned upon

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I have not received any feedback that I am doing something wrong and I cannot spend more time and effort on element14 - there just aren't any more hours available. Basically my current approach is not working, and I cannot do more, so I need to stop expecting better results. Which means I can stop doing what I was doing and how I was doing it.

It has already been quite liberating. I no longer feel obligated to read all content on the forum and I will be spending a lot less time generating videos and blogs, which will leave a lot more time to work on projects, even if they go unpublished. Imagine how much time it took to edit and publish 165 videos in the last 2 years.

I don't want to give the impression I have a complaint with element14 - it is the greatest forum, with a superb staff who do all the right things and I have enjoyed lots of success on the forum in the last 2 years. Really enjoyed it. It is just this one little goal where I screwed up, so if you have any insight into what it takes to get nominated for MotY, articulate them in the comments below.

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  • Hi Doug,

     

    Sometimes what we each do creatively in our workshops can be a bit lonely. My wife is always encouraging but she really doesn't understand like another tech does. Most of my endeavors are trivial compared to your projects and most of the other projects on the forum but I always feel understood and appreciated by the feedback from all my friends here on the forum. The wealth of blogs, projects, and just plain creativity that your quest for the holy MotY has truly been phenomenal. That is the true crown for your efforts and not the temporary and fleeting recognition. I have noticed that there is a life cycle on the forum that takes us through the stages of noobie, excelling, over participation, and finally burn out. When you think about how much the forum has evolved over the years it is quite amazing. Each member that is in the excelling and over participation mode adds a distinct flavor to the mix. When you first came on the forum I was very impressed with your knowledge and skills but you were kind of held back at that time not even responding to requests for contact. The popularity contests are not where the real measure is. Look who gets elected leader of some countries. I am currently in the beginnings of my burn out phase. I am the old man who just hangs around for the fun and probably won't do any heavy lifting. You are welcome to join me but the loss of your prolific input will have a profound effect on the quality of the forum. Thanks for sharing your aspirations. I hope my own professed wish to be more like you helps a little bit.

     

    John

  • in reply to jw0752

    That is a wise way of looking at the life cycle of participation. Hopefully I'm not burnt out as far as doing projects goes, although I may not be blogging about them as much. My list of backlogged projects continues to grow much faster than I can complete them. The reduction in blogging time should help get more projects done.

    I still haven't got the hang of the whole contacts thing yet - I prefer just to have things open on the forum.

    Your supportive statements are always great - I'm sure many others agree and your brand of ingenious projects is popular for a very good reason.

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  • in reply to jw0752

    That is a wise way of looking at the life cycle of participation. Hopefully I'm not burnt out as far as doing projects goes, although I may not be blogging about them as much. My list of backlogged projects continues to grow much faster than I can complete them. The reduction in blogging time should help get more projects done.

    I still haven't got the hang of the whole contacts thing yet - I prefer just to have things open on the forum.

    Your supportive statements are always great - I'm sure many others agree and your brand of ingenious projects is popular for a very good reason.

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