Disappointed

[gstark]

I am really very disappointed.

At this time, in the current challenge, I have received more spam emails at the challenge email address than I have entries.

That tells me two things.

1: Somebody has put the challenge email address into their address book. That is something that i have specifically requested that you do not do, and it disappoints me that somebody has done this.

2: Not too many of you care about these challenges. That disappoints me too. Very much so. I may as well not bother to run them any more, such is the level of my disappointment.

[biggerry]

Not too many of you care about these challenges

I can only speak for myself here - I do CARE and will be busting a nut to get an entry in before the the end of March (especially given the prizes...ya gotta be in it to win it), I have been flat-out in work and home stuff so photography has taken a backseat for the last few weeks....

[aim54x]

Gary I am still working on mine, I had a failed attempt on a concept that did not come out the way i saw in my mind, and I am trying to find some time tomorrow to shoot the new idea I have. Sorry Gary but you will see an entry from me soon just reaching the crunchy end of honours as well.

[Geoff]

I aim to TRY and get an entry in today..life's busy but I can see how you'd be dissapointed Gary.

[gstark]

life's busy but I can see how you'd be dissapointed Gary.

Yes, life is busy.

And this is true for those of us who moderate and administer this forum too. I have no issues whatsoever with doing that, and I know that none of the mods or KMs do either, provided that we see some benefit coming from the time that we take to invest in this forum.

That benefit comes in the form of feedback, and in the activity in the forum, which includes the postings of images for critique, and the offering of critiques, and it comes in the form of entry into the various challenges and such that we have.

And to be honest, I have noted a significant downturn in all of these areas.

With the totally apathetic responses that I'm seeing for the current challenge, I'm starting to question whether I should even bother, such is my level of disappointment right now.

And, sadly, I've not exactly been overwhelmed with comments suggesting otherwise.

[Big Red]

well, too be honest, i didn't know it was on as i hadn't seen any movement in the Challenges section since December and i don't look in the announcements section all that often.

I would expect any challenges to be in the Challenges section ?

better get my bum into gear then

[Geoff]

I can confirm there are SIX very easily identifiable and photogenic (???) Gargoyles in Manly!! Yes, it's true. Now go GLOBAL, get out there and snap some, google is your friend peoples!

[gstark]

i don't look in the announcements section all that often.

Anything important goes into the Announcements section, and the initial post of the newest thread in that section automatically appears on the Portal page.

You point about the Challenges section is well made; I've presumed that people would look at the portal page and not considered the challenges section at all, so thanx for reminding me about that.

[Matt. K]

Gary
When Philo kicked off her little challenge here a while back only 2 entries were submitted??? The winning entry received a copy of the video 'WAR PHOTOGRAPHER' featuring the photographer Jim Nachtwey...a masterpiece of photographic documentary....and the second prize won a copy of the book 'GREAT MOMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY'. These were good prizes I would have thought. The excuse of not having enough time (which is turned by little fidget wheels**) does not wash. We all have time to take a few photographs....otherwise, why be a forum member? I have no idea how to motivate the folk here to be more proactive....but by being more involved and taking some ownership of this site they will surely be rewarded well beyond their effort as many of us here have had the pleasure to discover.

Apologies to Kenneth Slessor and '5 Bells'.

[phillipb]

Gary, I know you're disappointed, but these days the only photos I seem to take is for the challanges. If you stop them I'll be brushing cobwebs off the old D70 every few months. So from a purely selfish point of view, keep them going please.

[Geoff]

I took photos!!

[sirhc55]

I took photos!!

Got your Brownie back Geoff

[sirhc55]

The Smoking Man - watch out for him because if you upset this man you will only know trouble

[Geoff]

I took photos!!

Got your Brownie back Geoff

You said it mate!
Bloody great too getting out and 'having a go!'.

[Matt. K]

That smoking man stopped smoking 15 months ago. Looking at your image.....I think I'll take it up again!

[colin_12]

Wo up there Gary,
While I agree that there has been a little less traffic this year there has still been some very interesting discussion and images to view.
I will be entering the challenge, but I always leave the upload for the last couple of days.
I would hope that we get quite a few entries as well as this is part of the fun of this site for me.
I am hanging to see what people enter in this challenge.
The rekindling of my interest in photography was in a large part due to you and this site. I think I would be taking much less interesting pics if not for the advice readily given by members here. I have also made several new friends, which is not easy for me.
This site helps to bring a small part of our comunity together in more than one way.
You give up now and there will be a lot more people dissapointed, of that I feel sure.

Regards Colin

[sheepie]

2: Not too many of you care about these challenges. That disappoints me too. Very much so. I may as well not bother to run them any more, such is the level of my disappointment.

Gary - this should NOT disappoint you. This site has many attractions - the challenges are only one facet. I'm sure there are many of us who while not seeing much personal interest in the challenges, get great enjoyment out of contributing to other aspects of this community.
Taking some comments through this thread one step further, I would hate to think there was a view that contribution to this site required entering the challenges - I, at least, would surely fail on that aspect.

[radar]

Gary,

I am one of those ones that leave it till the last minute

I always enjoy the challenges so certainly here, they are always much appreciated. Your hard work and the work of others on these forums are also much appreciated.

Cheers,

André

[wazonthehill2]

Gaz
Not sure here but there are no challenges listed, last one is for the end of 2008?
Not sure if I am missing something here????
Waz

[gstark]

Not sure if I am missing something here????

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=35865

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=35979

And in the calendar, on the portal page.

[gstark]

You point about the Challenges section is well made; I've presumed that people would look at the portal page and not considered the challenges section at all, so thanx for reminding me about that.

I have now corrected this, but given that the portal page is the default front page for this forum, I have a great deal of difficulty accepting that people simply have not seen the posts for this subject.

Certainly, in the past, the threads that have appeared in the announcement section have attracted some degree of discussion about the finer points of the understanding of the challenges' rules. Often, too fine, going on to several pages of discussion.

While I accept that there was not a subject in the Challenges section - my fault entirely - the facts remain that there was one post headed "March 2009 Challenge" firmly embedded on the first page that you see when you come here, for about two weeks.

That it was not seen by some seems to reinforce my view that many do not care: what's the point of the portal page if you're not looking at it? Likewise the calendar section.

While I accept the statements from those who state they will be entering over the next day or two - because that's all the time there is - the fact remains that despite those three or four promised entires, the total count of entries will still be bloody well abysmal. Allowing for those entries, and then doubling the count, would make the entry level just "OK" IMHO.

And yes, Leon correctly points out that there is much more to the forums than the challenges ... and he is correct.

That said, all levels of activity here have dropped off over the last few months, and the most recent, and the most notable, evidence of this is this current challenge. But at the moment there are just a few expressions of interest in Stubbsy's next harbour walk. And the level of posting activity here has dropped significantly.

It's very easy to say that we're interested. It's all too easy to say anything that we bloody well want to.

Are we all just too busy? It's clearly not the cost of shooting!

[Mr Darcy]

I have now corrected this, but given that the portal page is the default front page for this forum, I have a great deal of difficulty accepting that people simply have not seen the posts for this subject.

I, for one, bookmark this site. My bookmark does not take me to the portal page. It hasn't since there was trouble with it several months ago. I suspect others do the same, so the portal page may not be getting the attention it deserves. I do check it regularly though, and read the announcement if it looks different to what I remember.

Are we all just too busy? It's clearly not the cost of shooting!

I cannot speak for others, but I for one AM busy. I have taken on my first piece of paid work in over two years and am working about 80 hours a week to ensure it gets done to my standards within the timeframe required by the client. As a result, I am visiting this site a couple of times a week where I was visiting a couple of times a day. I am still taking photos, but lack of time means they are staying in the camera for weeks rather than hours. I HAVE submitted an entry to this comp though. It was intended as a placeholder, but it is going to have to stand as I am simply not going to get the time to capture the image (and process it!) that I had in mind. Worse, to my mind, I have been unable to take part in Big Red's weekly challenges. I actually enjoy them more because they do not have a prize, so while the pressure is off, the challenge is still there, and that is the part I like.

[ATJ]

I was not aware of the challenge until this thread came up.

Like Greg, I do not use the portal page as my home page. I don't really like the portal page and now there is a separate tab for the bargains, I never need to visit it (the portal page). I leave my browser window open on View New Posts and just refresh to see what's new. That's the way I work and it suits me just fine.

Announcements normally appear in View New Posts so I don't know why I missed the challenge announcement, especially as there were posts made over subsequent days which would have brought it back into View New Posts.

On the challenge itself, now that I have seen it, I'm not sure I will be able to enter a photograph. I never get to the city in daylight and there just aren't any gargoyles around the mountains. I have a stack of slides of gargoyles from a trip to Europe in 1991 but I doubt I'm allowed to enter one into the challenge.

[gstark]

I, for one, bookmark this site. My bookmark does not take me to the portal page.

I cannot speak for others, but I for one AM busy.

Greg,

So, you don't automatically land on the Portal page, and you state you are very busy, yet you still managed to get an entry submitted. That tells me much about your personal level of interest here.

What of those other members, those whose bookmarks do land on the Portal page? Those who might not be quite as busy as you currently are?

I leave my browser window open on View New Posts and just refresh to see what's new. That's the way I work and it suits me just fine.

So do I

Announcements normally appear in View New Posts so I don't know why I missed the challenge announcement, especially as there were posts made over subsequent days which would have brought it back into View New Posts.

Exactly. It's there right now, as it happens. From what I'm reading of your situation (and this is not a criticism) had I also made an original, more timely post in the Challenges section, you might have missed that as well. In your case, I'm not sure that would have addressed the problem.

I never get to the city in daylight and there just aren't any gargoyles around the mountains.

Actually, I suspect that there are.

And I'm sure there's lots of globes, too.

[christiand]

Dear Gary,

I am very impressed that you invoked this forum - doing so much for our community.
I so much appreciate the energy , vision, time you and the moderators have put into this and are continuing to do.
I appreciate the effort that you are putting in tickling our input regarding meets, dinners, walks and challenges (competiotions).
I have to say that this forum is probably the best place I ever found in Australia regarding DSLR.
Gary, you and the forum are absolutly rocking.
I haven't posted fotos for a long tine and I'm very shy of entering competitions.

Please get through desolation valley and continue to shine - we all appreciate this forum.

Best regards,
Christian

[ATJ]

Exactly. It's there right now, as it happens. From what I'm reading of your situation (and this is not a criticism) had I also made an original, more timely post in the Challenges section, you might have missed that as well. In your case, I'm not sure that would have addressed the problem.

It is there right now. And looking at it, it should have appeared in View New Posts on at least the 1st, 3rd and 8th of March. Perhaps it did and I missed it, or perhaps View New Posts is doing strange things. I know in the recent past I have received a notification of a new post in a thread I was watching only to not find it in View New Posts after refreshing. It seems to behave oddly if you refresh early in the morning (which I often do as I have a lot of calls with the US at ungodly hours).

[Mr Darcy]

Exactly. It's there right now, as it happens. From what I'm reading of your situation (and this is not a criticism) had I also made an original, more timely post in the Challenges section, you might have missed that as well. In your case, I'm not sure that would have addressed the problem.

It is there right now. And looking at it, it should have appeared in View New Posts on at least the 1st, 3rd and 8th of March. Perhaps it did and I missed it, or perhaps View New Posts is doing strange things. I know in the recent past I have received a notification of a new post in a thread I was watching only to not find it in View New Posts after refreshing. It seems to behave oddly if you refresh early in the morning (which I often do as I have a lot of calls with the US at ungodly hours).

Gary,
I have also noticed that both "Recent Posts" and "NewPosts" do strange things at times. Posts have been missing that should be there & on one occasion I noticed, there was a post from 2008 in the mix. Also the "Today" cutoff in recent posts remains at an obscure time. I would prefer the default to be "Last 24 Hours" Also problematic at times, but generally better than the others.

[Reschsmooth]

am working about 80 hours a week

A-ha. So business days do apply to you!

For me, I visit the site relatively frequently, but do not comment often (unless it is to leave some smart-arse comment), partly because I have little constructive criticism to offer and also because I have only barely picked up the camera over the last few months. During cricket season, my Saturdays were fully booked from about 8:45am to about 7pm, from which time I was generally stuffed. That left Sundays to spend time with Alicia & Alex, do stuff about the house, do stuff outside of the house, work, etc.

Whilst I could have found the time, I lacked the 'energy' to pick up the camera.

That explains (although not necessarily excuses) my relatively poor participation on the forum.

I have an entry for this challenge, but, typically, I have often found it difficult to think of and execute ideas for previous challenges. That said, I have entered about 4 or 5.

I will endeavour to do my bit to improve my participation on this great forum and would like to add my appreciation for the work done by Gary and the other mods/admins.

[Mr Darcy]

A-ha. So business days do apply to you!

I have taken on my first piece of paid work in over two years

They do now. Damn. Caught out. Send the camera back to me and I'll return it in two years

[gstark]

Gary,
I have also noticed that both "Recent Posts" and "NewPosts" do strange things at times.

That seems to be a buglet in phpbb3. it kicks over at midnight, server time. "Today", therefore, refers to the current time, relative to midnight, in the server's time zone.

Currently, 5pm Sydney time; that changed a couple of weeks ago when the US moved to DST, and it will change again next weekend, when we move off DST.