I figured it was as good a time as any to start planning the next edition of SpinTunes while Kevin & Ross are hard at work. There are a lot of things that could be changed before the next competition starts. Some of them large issues, but most of them small tweaks. This blog will be divided into 3 parts:
1. Things that I've already decided on.
2. Possible major changes.
3. Possible minor changes.
It's Been Decided:
These issues are not open to discussion here. If you really want to, you can catch me in ArtiFiction sometime, and I'll talk with you about them. I won't be debating them on this blog though. You can address the issue, but don't expect a response here.
- I will remain as the alternate judge. It's just so much simpler if I'm the alternate.
- I will be posting my reviews on Spintown, but they will not come into play unless someone fails to do their job.
- There will be no "Entry Round" or "Round Zero". I told people I wanted to go in this direction, because of the high round 1 drop out rate, but I've come up with another solution I want to try. I did this because most people didn't think highly of the whole entry round idea. So expect 4 rounds just like we have now. The change I've got in mind is very minor, and you'll learn about it later.
- I will be running the LP for SpinTunes #2. Jules was a big help this time around, but I think it's best if I take over in the long run. Joe "Covenant" Lamb already offered to do it, and I'll keep him in mind as my back up. (you know....should I totally fuck things up)
Possible Major Changes:
These are things that could change the whole structure of the contest to some degree. Most of these things have been brought up by other people, and I'm more open to change some of these things than others. But I'm willing to listen, and a strong majority opinion could get any of these options included in SpinTunes #2.
- Popular Vote: I'm not a strong supporter of the popular vote, but a number of people have suggested I make it a 6th judge. I will not incorporate the popular vote any more than that; no matter what the majority thinks. So your options are leaving it the way it is, or making it a 6th judge.
- Scoring: A couple people have suggested that I should not reset the scores each round, and go with a cumulative scoring system until the last round. Once again I'm leaning toward leaving things as is, but it's open for discussion. Edric Haleen made some good points about this topic to me...hopefully he'll post them in the comments section.
- I HAVE THE POWER: This is NOT my idea...just to be clear. Joe "Covenant" Lamb actually suggested it. He suggests that I decide on all the challenges myself, and only allow the judges to suggest things to me. He made some good points about what type of challenges should be made, but he didn't sell me on the idea of taking this power away from the judges. As of right now, in the judges meetings, it's a group effort to come up with ideas & decide on things. I of course have veto power if I really don't like something. If I was in charge all by myself the challenges would definitely have been different, but that does not mean better.
Possible Minor Changes:
These are relatively small issues, that aren't a big deal for me to change.
- Molly Lewis Rule: This is a bit hard to decide on at the moment, because the final round is still going on, and I don't know how well my current rule works. If the whole idea of shadows from 3rd round competitors being alternates doesn't work out, I'll need to come up with something different. Right now I'm thinking of having 3-4 people in the final round, but I'm looking for other suggestions as well. I do not want to have someone win by default if it can be avoided.
- Judges Term Length: As of now all the judges will be new each tournament. But if at the end of a contest, everyone is happy with 1 of the judges, would you be against having that judge return for a second tour of duty? I don't know if that will happen, but I want peoples thoughts on the issue. I like having new people being judges, so I don't expect to keep many people for multiple contests in a row.
- Schedule: What were your thoughts on the schedule? I already plan a minor change (extra day between deadline & LP), but is there anything you didn't like about it, or would change? More or less time to record? When things should be announced? This is one of the few areas I did really well with in SpinTunes #1. I only missed 1 self set deadline, and that was only because of a power outage. #BlameHeather
- E-Mail Reminders: Should I e-mail you each round about the challenge & deadline? Personally I think you should be able to find that stuff out on your own. I mean between the blog & SpinTunes Twitter account I didn't expect people to want e-mail reminders for those things. But it's not that hard to do if people want them. I just don't want to spam people if most don't want them.
- Widget: Should I keep the widget or just use bandcamp only? I'm leaning toward getting rid of the widget. It seems a bit unnecessary, and it would make keeping track of the stats easier if everything was in one place. But again....I'll keep it if you want it.
- Shadow CD: Should I place the shadows on their own CD or have a cut off point for submitting shadows?
- Judging Guidelines: Should I give the judges some sort of guidelines to follow while reviewing? Edric had an idea about this I kind of liked, but I would probably modify it slightly. *waits for Edric to post his ideas in the comments*
- SUGGESTIONS: Is there ideas or issues you want to bring up that I haven't mentioned? I know I probably forgot a couple things I meant to bring up.
Reminder:
This blog post is just a place to discuss possible changes. We are not deciding anything here now. I will use your ideas from this discussion, and later create some polls for you to vote on the issues. Then 'I' will decide on matters taking your thoughts & opinions into consideration.
