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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.

Parents

  • Doug, as other's have said - you're a great member, contributor, and very helpful.  Peeking at the inbox here probably every couple of hours of the day this last year, you'd definitely be on my very short list - particularly, because you don't show up in surges and disappear, but are a steady daily contributor.

     

    So, here's my take on it - a guy once told me, the difference between satisfaction and disappointment is expectation.  I find that with the model at e14, the expectation can't be to hit a certain set of marks to achieve a given prize (outside of the points system).

     

    I find element14 as a community similar to work leagues for sports.  It's very much like my bowling league I was on a few years back.

     

    Experienced players and the rookies all join together for fun.  The experienced one's mentor the rookies - show them how to hit their marks versus throw at the "pins".  The rookies get a handicap perk via the points system growth curve pumping them quickly up the ladder.  If you participate in e14 challenges, you get trophies even when you don't win.  Judging criteria is loose so you never know who will be on top due to the variety of judges' interests and critique styles.

     

    The way e14 rolls has been the way organizations have grown and sustained memberships for centuries, I imagine.  The experienced enthusiasts get their reward from the camaraderie of like minded soles versus the reaffirming wins.  Often, when things start becoming too bureaucratic, the participants will narrow down to a totally different culture.

     

    Such a shift in culture that might not hook the top 50 members that exist today.  For instance, I don't chase Hackster, Instructables, or Stack Exchange.  Those communities have very strict guidelines that prove out mojo - but aren't for me at all.  For some reason, I enjoy not knowing what I'm doing, researching it, and then bestowing what I learned with the opportunity to get some swag. 

     

    In short, my assessment of the community awards, the points system, and the challenges, isn't about the winner here - more of a celebration of the traits of the community.

     

    See ya',

    Sean

     

     

    PS.  For the record - I've never scored a single road test - that segment of the site clearly isn't handicapped for the electronics rookie like me and you should definitely count those trophies.

Comment

  • Doug, as other's have said - you're a great member, contributor, and very helpful.  Peeking at the inbox here probably every couple of hours of the day this last year, you'd definitely be on my very short list - particularly, because you don't show up in surges and disappear, but are a steady daily contributor.

     

    So, here's my take on it - a guy once told me, the difference between satisfaction and disappointment is expectation.  I find that with the model at e14, the expectation can't be to hit a certain set of marks to achieve a given prize (outside of the points system).

     

    I find element14 as a community similar to work leagues for sports.  It's very much like my bowling league I was on a few years back.

     

    Experienced players and the rookies all join together for fun.  The experienced one's mentor the rookies - show them how to hit their marks versus throw at the "pins".  The rookies get a handicap perk via the points system growth curve pumping them quickly up the ladder.  If you participate in e14 challenges, you get trophies even when you don't win.  Judging criteria is loose so you never know who will be on top due to the variety of judges' interests and critique styles.

     

    The way e14 rolls has been the way organizations have grown and sustained memberships for centuries, I imagine.  The experienced enthusiasts get their reward from the camaraderie of like minded soles versus the reaffirming wins.  Often, when things start becoming too bureaucratic, the participants will narrow down to a totally different culture.

     

    Such a shift in culture that might not hook the top 50 members that exist today.  For instance, I don't chase Hackster, Instructables, or Stack Exchange.  Those communities have very strict guidelines that prove out mojo - but aren't for me at all.  For some reason, I enjoy not knowing what I'm doing, researching it, and then bestowing what I learned with the opportunity to get some swag. 

     

    In short, my assessment of the community awards, the points system, and the challenges, isn't about the winner here - more of a celebration of the traits of the community.

     

    See ya',

    Sean

     

     

    PS.  For the record - I've never scored a single road test - that segment of the site clearly isn't handicapped for the electronics rookie like me and you should definitely count those trophies.

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