Information

[ScrapGoo]

First of all, for every challenge or even the sketch challenge to have multiple examples, takes the challenge out of the sketch challenge. The point is for YOU to interpret the challenge and make it your own. Also, we have our own challenges we need to host and lives outside of ACOT and do not have the time to contribute to another challenge.

Wow. Yes, I know it takes more time, and in one of my first sentences I agreed that they're supposed to be challenging. However, we were asked for our opinions as to why we don't participate more and I gave mine. The only reason I brought this up is that there used to be more than one example for the sketch challenge (the only one where it would really be helpful IMO), and since there has only been one, I have participated less. That's my reason and the answer to Jess's question.

- Also, please keep in mind that there have been a LOT of CT changes in the past few months. We have lost people to changes in their jobs, personal lives, babies, deaths, etc. Some are on a leave of absence and unfortunately some have had to say goodbye as CT members. This definitely affects how smoothly things run behind the scenes.

I don't think most of us are aware of this? So it's hard to "keep in mind" what we don't know. Sorry if I missed the announcements but I don't remember anyone leaving since Laura F & that's been a while. We're certainly understanding of your 'only human-ness' but on the other hand communication is good!! (Like someone mentioned not getting an answer re: the Contest last month... and we usually aren't told why certain challenges get skipped when they do. Not that we need to know everything going on in the CT's lives but again if we don't hear reasons we expect stuff to happen, lol!)

As far as "communication is good", we let you know what you need to know. What happens behind the scenes is really not of concern to the general population.

This comment was in direct response to what Jess said above - like we were expect to know that there were a lot of changes. Perhaps "please keep in mind" wasn't supposed to imply that and I incorrectly inferred it, but that's how I read it. Thus my answer.

I did just want to clarify quickly that I was not implying that you should ALREADY know this. My "please keep in mind" was not meant to imply "you should have kept in mind".... just the plain ole present tense "keep in mind the following". I have no idea when or if ACOT will make a formal announcement of the changes and in the past it was always the individual CT members who wrote a little something. That's up to them and is not something that is spelled out in our contracts... how we deal with leaving and such. This communication stuff gets a little harder when the "business" of ACOT is partially run by volunteers, basically. We love to be here but I think sometimes it is hard to remember for folks to say "hey, my role is changing guys!" simply because the very reason they stepped down was because of not having a moment to spare... due to a new baby, unexpected family illness or other issue. You know what I mean? Half the time *I* don't even know of the change myself!

[handerful]

We love you, Jess. And Chrissy. and Rachel and Cassie and Kristianne. and the rest of the CT. :-P


Oh, and this month's GCT. Isn't she AWESOME??? (toot toot toot!)

[emarie803]

We love you, Jess. And Chrissy. and Rachel. and the rest of the CT. :-P


Oh, and this month's GCT. Isn't she AWESOME??? (toot toot toot!)

Definitely!!


The CT here ARE awesome and I do appreciate everything they do for us here

[milmomma]

I know before I was a CT memeber I would join in the challenges, but got a little sad when I never won. So I backed off some. Then I became a member and wanted to host one so badly. But after a couple months of not one entry into my challenge it got me a bit sad. Made me wonder if anyone liked them? What would they prefer? I think this is why Jess is asking. I had major surgery and took a month off. Sorry, I didn't wanna tell everyone since its a personal thing. Theres several other CT members with personal things and sometimes we'd just rather keep somethings quiet. I understand with the crop challenges it makes double the challenges in one month, which is why I tried not to take it too seriously last month. And I got tons of entries into my challenges and am so thankful for that. It really made my weekend, and made me so happy I put all the work into the challenges. I do try to comment on them. Sometimes like yall said, life just gets in the way before I can comment on each last one. I will try harder to leave comments since that is something everyone seems to like.

To me it is very interesting to read which challenges you like most, even though mine isn't one. It shows us what more people gear towards.

[scrappie_stacie]

Just one more thought ... brainstorming again... may be an idea...

Since there are so many "on hiatus" categories, perhaps you could ask for volunteers from the board to fill in for some of the spots each month. I think you might get a lot of interest, it would make everyone feel like a creative part of the board, and it would give all the members a chance to help with the creative process. The CT member normally in charge of the category could start a thread at the beginning of a month asking for volunteers for the following month, then choose randomly from those that are interested and have that person handle the category for the following month. Might be fum!

And thanks for posting the November challenges...great options, as always!

I love that idea!!! The more challenges available every month the better in my opinion.

I'm in the "lack of time" crowd. Every month I go through the challenges and print out the ones that fit into my scrapping plans. Honestly, the only layouts I've done over the last year or so have been because of challenges, contests and the crops. I definitely need a kick in the right direction when doing a layout and the challenges do the trick. Over the last few months I've failed miserably though... I really need to get back on track. I'm hoping November will be a better month for me.

Thanks for all your hard work CT Members.... you ROCK!

[ChrissyTina]

Just one more thought ... brainstorming again... may be an idea...

Since there are so many "on hiatus" categories, perhaps you could ask for volunteers from the board to fill in for some of the spots each month. I think you might get a lot of interest, it would make everyone feel like a creative part of the board, and it would give all the members a chance to help with the creative process. The CT member normally in charge of the category could start a thread at the beginning of a month asking for volunteers for the following month, then choose randomly from those that are interested and have that person handle the category for the following month. Might be fum!

And thanks for posting the November challenges...great options, as always!

I love that idea!!! The more challenges available every month the better in my opinion.

I'm in the "lack of time" crowd. Every month I go through the challenges and print out the ones that fit into my scrapping plans. Honestly, the only layouts I've done over the last year or so have been because of challenges, contests and the crops. I definitely need a kick in the right direction when doing a layout and the challenges do the trick. Over the last few months I've failed miserably though... I really need to get back on track. I'm hoping November will be a better month for me.

Thanks for all your hard work CT Members.... you ROCK!

Might be on to something here. I know I like the idea.

[Sus79]

I simply havn´t had the time lately to play along, but I do love the challenges here

[deerewife]

My post was very direct and I didn't sugarcoat or use euphemisms.

The point of this thread was to ask how to liven them up, not "what are your complaints".

As for challenges being part of our responsibilities, it's actually not. We CHOOSE to host a challenge, but we are not REQUIRED to. We choose to because we like to. We like giving you guys that extra bit of mojo.

Honestly, the constant complaining when something isn't posted at 12:01 on the 1st of the month is not only a bit diva-ish, but it really brings us down. These are not requirements from us. There tends to be a sense of entitlement from some of the people that do complain and it's really insulting. The time that we spend doing up these challenges is time that is taken away from some other aspect of our lives. This has been a topic that has been addressed on multiple occasions out here and it never changes.

We volunteer our time to keep this community up and going and to keep every single one of you engaged in this hobby and with each other. If you took my comments as being negative, then I'm sorry you took it that way.

That's fine that you are a direct and to the point person, however what you say and post reflects not only on you but on all of ACOT. Fine, it's not your responsibility to host a challenge each month, but did anyone not on the CT know this?? And yes you are a volunteer, but there are perks that go with volunteering that those of us who don't volunteer don't get.
Sadly, when you ask a question like this you will get the full range of responses. I don't see anyone truly complaining here, just expressing their concerns and why they don't participate. I for one would LOVE to complain about my life, but I won't go there

This is all just my opinion, but Chrissy, your posts have rubbed me the wrong way before and I've never said anything. Just remember that the written word is often taken out of context.

[dwinchell]

- And this one might sound like I am whining! LOL But really I just want to clear up that it is JUST me that does all the challenge submission compilation at the end of the month. That means I go into each challenge gallery and record every single submission into a spreadsheet. We get hundreds a month. I use an internet random number generator to come up with the winners (hence the more you enter the greater your chance of winning...) and post those ten winners. I completely appreciate the ideas and suggestions but there is NO way I can spend even more hours calculating how many points each person would get if we awarded some for every challenge completed... not to mention the work it takes to send out the points. Awarding points is one of the more fun jobs around here! We love to make you guys happy!! But errr... not gonna happen!

Is there a way to have a forum/thread that awards a point (like some of our chat threads) when you post a message (thus when you have done a challenge and submitted it). It's not 5/10/15 points but it's something.. Like I said, I don't know how things work behind the scenes, just a thought

[handerful]

My post was very direct and I didn't sugarcoat or use euphemisms.

The point of this thread was to ask how to liven them up, not "what are your complaints".

As for challenges being part of our responsibilities, it's actually not. We CHOOSE to host a challenge, but we are not REQUIRED to. We choose to because we like to. We like giving you guys that extra bit of mojo.

Honestly, the constant complaining when something isn't posted at 12:01 on the 1st of the month is not only a bit diva-ish, but it really brings us down. These are not requirements from us. There tends to be a sense of entitlement from some of the people that do complain and it's really insulting. The time that we spend doing up these challenges is time that is taken away from some other aspect of our lives. This has been a topic that has been addressed on multiple occasions out here and it never changes.

We volunteer our time to keep this community up and going and to keep every single one of you engaged in this hobby and with each other. If you took my comments as being negative, then I'm sorry you took it that way.

That's fine that you are a direct and to the point person, however what you say and post reflects not only on you but on all of ACOT. Fine, it's not your responsibility to host a challenge each month, but did anyone not on the CT know this?? And yes you are a volunteer, but there are perks that go with volunteering that those of us who don't volunteer don't get.
Sadly, when you ask a question like this you will get the full range of responses. I don't see anyone truly complaining here, just expressing their concerns and why they don't participate. I for one would LOVE to complain about my life, but I won't go there

This is all just my opinion, but Chrissy, your posts have rubbed me the wrong way before and I've never said anything. Just remember that the written word is often taken out of context.

Chrissy, no one is on the attack here. But it seems as though you are on the defensive. It's not what you are saying, but how you say it. You can say the same things without putting people down and calling names. People look for challenges the first of the month because that is what they are accustomed to seeing. Maybe that is where the communication breakdown is. The "general public" does not know a CT job description or what their responsibilities are. (or even what their perks are). We are just told what we need to know. (your words) Without the correct information, we just make assumptions based on the information we are given and the observations I make.

[ChrissyTina]

I don't recall calling ANYONE any names. Don't worry. My posts are deleted.

[deerewife]

I don't recall calling ANYONE any names. Don't worry. My posts are deleted.

This is what I mean. You are getting extremely defensive for no reason. You need to take a deep breath and realize that this isn't something to get all worked up about.

The folks that frequent this board have no idea what the CT does and doesn't do. What their responsibilities are and are not. Maybe it's time for everyone to learn some things.

[dshepard]

Goodness...I was gone a lot the last couple of days and look at all I missed. I won't go into all that but I had a question/suggestion from part of Jess's post:

That means I go into each challenge gallery and record every single submission into a spreadsheet. We get hundreds a month. I use an internet random number generator to come up with the winners (hence the more you enter the greater your chance of winning...) and post those ten winners. I completely appreciate the ideas and suggestions but there is NO way I can spend even more hours calculating how many points each person would get if we awarded some for every challenge completed... not to mention the work it takes to send out the points. Awarding points is one of the more fun jobs around here! We love to make you guys happy!! But errr... not gonna happen!

Ok, so basically I thought that if my layout was in a challenge had 4 layouts total (for example), that I had a 25% chance of getting points and I'm gathering that isn't right. Wouldn't it be quicker to go into the gallery at the end of the month, see how many submissions there are (let's say there are 10), put that into a random generator (let's say it picks 8), then go to the 8th layout in the gallery and that person gets the points? It seems to me like it would be a lot easier and then people might do some of these challenges that didn't get any entries because their chances of winning points would be greater? If the concern is that the same person would win several times, they just wouldn't be eligible to win points more than once. I don't know...just trying to throw some ideas out there to maybe make things easier and increase traffic to the challenges that don't have much.

[ScrapGoo]

Goodness...I was gone a lot the last couple of days and look at all I missed. I won't go into all that but I had a question/suggestion from part of Jess's post:

That means I go into each challenge gallery and record every single submission into a spreadsheet. We get hundreds a month. I use an internet random number generator to come up with the winners (hence the more you enter the greater your chance of winning...) and post those ten winners. I completely appreciate the ideas and suggestions but there is NO way I can spend even more hours calculating how many points each person would get if we awarded some for every challenge completed... not to mention the work it takes to send out the points. Awarding points is one of the more fun jobs around here! We love to make you guys happy!! But errr... not gonna happen!

Ok, so basically I thought that if my layout was in a challenge had 4 layouts total (for example), that I had a 25% chance of getting points and I'm gathering that isn't right. Wouldn't it be quicker to go into the gallery at the end of the month, see how many submissions there are (let's say there are 10), put that into a random generator (let's say it picks 8), then go to the 8th layout in the gallery and that person gets the points? It seems to me like it would be a lot easier and then people might do some of these challenges that didn't get any entries because their chances of winning points would be greater? If the concern is that the same person would win several times, they just wouldn't be eligible to win points more than once. I don't know...just trying to throw some ideas out there to maybe make things easier and increase traffic to the challenges that don't have much.

Danna, that's totally a valid idea! The problem is that it would definitely make the prize points less for those winners. We have a set amount of points (2500... 250 x 10 winners) but wayyyyy more than 10 challenges. I wonder if folks would mind that? Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely add this into my summary for the CT.

[ChrissyTina]

I have slept on all of this and really thought about my stance on this.

I do apologize for the way my message came across. It did sound different in my head. My tone was not meant to be condescending or harsh. In my mind, it sounded matter of fact and straight forward.

I understand that you are all expressing your opinions and honestly, I do appreciate them. I understand that I do represent ACOT, but on the other side, I still also have the ability to express my opinions as well.

I felt that certain members had taken this opportunity to express complaints that have been addressed numerous times in the past and it undermined the spirit of this thread. I felt that the CT was being unfairly criticized and I took exception to that. I had even brought in a 3rd party to read everything that was being said and to make sure I wasn't off-base. They read it the same way I did.

With all of this said, I do extend my apologies for the tone.

[sarahwhithers]

Just one more thought ... brainstorming again... may be an idea...

Since there are so many "on hiatus" categories, perhaps you could ask for volunteers from the board to fill in for some of the spots each month. I think you might get a lot of interest, it would make everyone feel like a creative part of the board, and it would give all the members a chance to help with the creative process. The CT member normally in charge of the category could start a thread at the beginning of a month asking for volunteers for the following month, then choose randomly from those that are interested and have that person handle the category for the following month. Might be fum!

And thanks for posting the November challenges...great options, as always!

This is a great idea except we don't usually know a challenge will be on hiatus until late in the month. It's usually due to people being on vacation or busy home lives, etc.. So we don't have enough time to get anyone else involved at that point. But it could be a good idea for future in case we ever do know that far in advance.

[Ayla]

Just one more thought ... brainstorming again... may be an idea...

Since there are so many "on hiatus" categories, perhaps you could ask for volunteers from the board to fill in for some of the spots each month. I think you might get a lot of interest, it would make everyone feel like a creative part of the board, and it would give all the members a chance to help with the creative process. The CT member normally in charge of the category could start a thread at the beginning of a month asking for volunteers for the following month, then choose randomly from those that are interested and have that person handle the category for the following month. Might be fum!

And thanks for posting the November challenges...great options, as always!

This is a great idea except we don't usually know a challenge will be on hiatus until late in the month. It's usually due to people being on vacation or busy home lives, etc.. So we don't have enough time to get anyone else involved at that point. But it could be a good idea for future in case we ever do know that far in advance.

Don't rule it out, even if you don't know until late. You might be surprised at who would jump at the chance, even if it's last minute.

[scrappie_stacie]

Just one more thought ... brainstorming again... may be an idea...

Since there are so many "on hiatus" categories, perhaps you could ask for volunteers from the board to fill in for some of the spots each month. I think you might get a lot of interest, it would make everyone feel like a creative part of the board, and it would give all the members a chance to help with the creative process. The CT member normally in charge of the category could start a thread at the beginning of a month asking for volunteers for the following month, then choose randomly from those that are interested and have that person handle the category for the following month. Might be fum!

And thanks for posting the November challenges...great options, as always!

This is a great idea except we don't usually know a challenge will be on hiatus until late in the month. It's usually due to people being on vacation or busy home lives, etc.. So we don't have enough time to get anyone else involved at that point. But it could be a good idea for future in case we ever do know that far in advance.

Don't rule it out, even if you don't know until late. You might be surprised at who would jump at the chance, even if it's last minute.

I agree! Also, I think just sticking a challenge there without a sample layout/project is fine too! Instead of putting something on "hiatus" provide the challenge part of it but skip the example layout which is the part that requires a lot more time. Maybe have a list of back-up challenges for each category and if someone needs to take a break, slip one in off the list. I don't know, maybe easier said than done... just throwing out ideas.

[sarahwhithers]

This is a great idea except we don't usually know a challenge will be on hiatus until late in the month. It's usually due to people being on vacation or busy home lives, etc.. So we don't have enough time to get anyone else involved at that point. But it could be a good idea for future in case we ever do know that far in advance.

Don't rule it out, even if you don't know until late. You might be surprised at who would jump at the chance, even if it's last minute.

I agree! Also, I think just sticking a challenge there without a sample layout/project is fine too! Instead of putting something on "hiatus" provide the challenge part of it but skip the example layout which is the part that requires a lot more time. Maybe have a list of back-up challenges for each category and if someone needs to take a break, slip one in off the list. I don't know, maybe easier said than done... just throwing out ideas.

These are great ideas! Thank you!

[happayscrappay]

I agree! Also, I think just sticking a challenge there without a sample layout/project is fine too! Instead of putting something on "hiatus" provide the challenge part of it but skip the example layout which is the part that requires a lot more time. Maybe have a list of back-up challenges for each category and if someone needs to take a break, slip one in off the list. I don't know, maybe easier said than done... just throwing out ideas.

Totally love the idea. I've even done that once when I didn't have time to make up the example page.

I just want to thank everyone for their input on this thread. It's been very helpful and interesting to read.