tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post3217598064482536253..comments2023-11-21T06:30:09.107-08:00Comments on Reading the Paranormal: The Challenge of Challenges [Discussion Post]Kelly Rubidouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07860403261439777385noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-16203312037746611262013-09-08T16:31:46.083-07:002013-09-08T16:31:46.083-07:00No problem. Thanks for your thoughts.No problem. Thanks for your thoughts.Kelly Rubidouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07860403261439777385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-13128982633031468612013-09-07T16:59:28.006-07:002013-09-07T16:59:28.006-07:00Understandable. Thanks for hearing me out.Understandable. Thanks for hearing me out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-60989414422557724792013-09-07T16:29:30.693-07:002013-09-07T16:29:30.693-07:00I'm glad it was able to help.
(and the offer&#...I'm glad it was able to help.<br />(and the offer's always open to hit me up if you have a question about something. Just so you know.)Kelly Rubidouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07860403261439777385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-35276186948409979502013-09-07T16:08:03.922-07:002013-09-07T16:08:03.922-07:00No worries. I'm also known for being overly se...No worries. I'm also known for being overly sensitive at times - and we all know I've been a little...crazy... the last several months. :)<br /><br />But seriously - thanks for this post. It's helpful to know how you guys think, so I can try to think outside of the box next time! Challenges are a LOT of fun and bring people together.Mandi Kaye @ Never Too Fond of Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02361130579333295006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-58584037811149229562013-09-07T15:45:06.483-07:002013-09-07T15:45:06.483-07:00Ack! I'm sorry, Mandi. You should have asked. ...Ack! I'm sorry, Mandi. You should have asked. I probably would have given you a long winded explanation that made little to no sense, but I would have tried to explain it.<br /><br />Really random aside, we also try to (for lack of a better way of putting it) mix up challenges. As in, if someone submits a challenge they had already hosted (with no changes) in a previous BoB, we're more likely to consider that challenge/host combo last. This is partly to keep the challenges fresh and partly to give other participants a chance to host.<br /><br />That said, if someone submits a challenge they've already hosted but they put a new spin on it, we might look at it and go WOW! PUT THAT ONE ON THE SCHEDULE! An example of that was the Book Spine Poetry challenge in 7.0 that focused on creating a haiku instead of a standard poem.<br /><br />All I can say is that it's a juggling act all around.Kelly Rubidouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07860403261439777385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-40305655427744414482013-09-07T15:28:38.346-07:002013-09-07T15:28:38.346-07:00Thank you for this. I was left really confused abo...Thank you for this. I was left really confused about why I wasn't allowed to do a challenge I had previously done. I didn't officially submit it, only floated it on Twitter, (which isn't a great medium for actual discussion) but I was left feeling as if I had done something wrong. <br /><br />This helps me understand better why it didn't work for BoB, even though it seemed successful to me. I appreciate that. :)Mandi Kaye @ Never Too Fond of Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02361130579333295006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-71931084098538237662013-09-07T15:14:34.727-07:002013-09-07T15:14:34.727-07:00I'm going to be honest, I'm not really com...I'm going to be honest, I'm not really comfortable dissecting past challenges because people put time and effort into getting them up and running and I want to respect that. I'm also going to say that particular wording might have been something we requested without thinking things through. I don't remember at this point.<br /><br />Unfortunately, we are only human and we do sometimes makes errors.<br /><br />This post was meant more as a reminder that just because we, as bloggers, use blogs as a form of communication, not everyone does. And since Amanda and I recently had the experience of declining a couple of otherwise great challenges, I thought it would be interesting to look at some of our reasoning.<br /><br />I will say that your comments have been noted and we'll consider them when looking toward Bout of Books 9.0.Kelly Rubidouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07860403261439777385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-61692903360775557152013-09-07T13:26:59.435-07:002013-09-07T13:26:59.435-07:00"...you'll get better participation if yo..."...you'll get better participation if you leave it up to the participant's discretion on HOW they can approach the challenge and what materials they can use."<br /><br />Agreed. But then a challenge like <a href="http://paperbackdaydreamer.com/2013/08/21/bout-of-books-8-0-i-spy-challenge/" rel="nofollow">this one</a> that clearly states, "you must use a book that you own either physically or electronically," isn't quite in keeping with that.<br /><br />I suppose that in the future, I could just complete challenges however I like, and if the host wants to disqualify me from winning the prize then so be it... but this one didn't even have a prize, so the restriction surprised me and put me off a little.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-85012186130841639192013-09-07T12:46:38.711-07:002013-09-07T12:46:38.711-07:00The idea there was to use their own books vs going...The idea there was to use their own books vs going out and buying new ones (or taking the time away from reading to go to the library and borrow them). That statement would also apply to books that have been read in the past and are shelved on Goodreads (or whatever book site you use).<br /><br />I was using books as an example, but that idea applies to other types of challenges, too. If you create a challenge to ... make a diorama depicting a favorite time in your life, let's say, you'll get better participation if you leave it up to the participant's discretion on HOW they can approach the challenge and what materials they can use. If you require all dioramas to be made in clay, you're going to get a lot of people choosing not to participate if they don't have clay on hand.<br /><br />We had someone say that they don't participate in any Book Spine Poetry challenges once because they only read ebooks. That kind of flummoxed me because ebooks are still books. And that's one reason why we encourage hosts to allow participants to post their answers in the comments (as in: post the poem with a list of the books used after -- no physical copies of the books are required for that to work).<br /><br />Perhaps I could have worded my point better, but I stand by what I said: Encouraging participants to use items on hand (in this case, books), allows the opportunity for more people to participate.Kelly Rubidouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07860403261439777385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-58825751068262912472013-09-07T12:02:46.566-07:002013-09-07T12:02:46.566-07:00Not to be nitpicky, but this...
(b) use their own...Not to be nitpicky, but this...<br /><br />(b) <b>use their own books</b> to create/find/etc something<br /><br />...actually doesn't work for me, because I own so few books.<br /><br />I don't do a lot of challenges anyway, so it doesn't matter so much for me, and I know that no challenge is going to agree with everyone. Still, I figured I'd speak up since one of your two main points for being inclusive may not be as inclusive as you think.<br /><br />While I wouldn't actually be excluded from these challenges, I'd be at a huge disadvantage -- seriously, I own about 30 books -- to the point where if I was considering the challenge, once I saw that in the rules I wouldn't even bother. And while I know I'm in the minority, I'm sure there are others out there who, like me, don't have much of a book budget and read almost exclusively from the library.<br /><br />I'm really not trying to be difficult or accusatory. I just wanted to mention it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-50621796094287684302013-09-07T08:26:19.698-07:002013-09-07T08:26:19.698-07:00It killed Amanda and I this last BoB that we had s...It killed Amanda and I this last BoB that we had some really great challenge ideas submitted but we had to decline them because they were limited in the way people could participate.<br /><br />I will say, though, that we were taken by surprise by the number of booktubers that joined us for 7.0. We had to rethink our strategy for challenges when 8.0 rolled around. Which is a GOOD thing. It keeps us on our toes.Kelly Rubidouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07860403261439777385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974058109570919461.post-92106478975307802532013-09-07T08:07:08.481-07:002013-09-07T08:07:08.481-07:00I think you are spot on! Whenever I try to put to...I think you are spot on! Whenever I try to put together challenges, I want to make it where general user (aka the one I know nothing about) can take part in it. I guess this comes from doing social planning at work for certain events. Having to come up with something that old/young/man/woman will like and participate makes you think broad range instead of specific. :)Felicia the Geeky Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960623537536038059noreply@blogger.com