Anniversary Contests

[Homer Potvin]

Coming up on our one year anniversary in May. Any ideas for an annual contest? Back at the OG, we used to have the twelve winners compete for a Hall of Fame prize, which we could certainly do again. Our "fiscal year" runs from May to May, which is a little wonky. I'm not sure if we'd call it 2025 or 2026. It could be like a hockey or basketball season that has that 2025-2026 distinction. Or 1st annual, 2nd Annual, 3rd, etc. Doesn't matter.

Any ideas of what else we could do? I'd like to make it fun but contest interest appears to be waning, hopefully only temporarily, so I don't want to go too nuts.

 

[Trish]

Coming up on our one year anniversary in May. Any ideas for an annual contest? Back at the OG, we used to have the twelve winners compete for a Hall of Fame prize, which we could certainly do again. Our "fiscal year" runs from May to May, which is a little wonky. I'm not sure if we'd call it 2025 or 2026. It could be like a hockey or basketball season that has that 2025-2026 distinction. Or 1st annual, 2nd Annual, 3rd, etc. Doesn't matter.

Any ideas of what else we could do? I'd like to make it fun but contest interest appears to be waning, hopefully only temporarily, so I don't want to go too nuts.

12 winners of each category or....?

 

[Louanne Learning]

Any ideas of what else we could do?

since the forum is coming of age, writing a "coming-of-age" story might be a good idea.

Another idea I've heard about is writing a "full circle" story - where the story ends where it began

 

[Homer Potvin]

12 winners of each category or....?

Sure, for shorts, flash, and poetry... Fourth Contest is probably too disparate.

IIRC it was just the short stories on the OG, and that went away a few years ago.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Sure, for shorts, flash, and poetry

So, there will be several different hall of fame contests?

Fourth Contest is probably too disparate.

Roll it into the short story contest?

 

[Homer Potvin]

So, there will be several different hall of fame contests?



Roll it into the short story contest?

No clue. Just tossing out ideas.

 

[ellekaldwin]

I’m really excited that the forum’s first anniversary is coming up! I had a couple ideas that might be fun for the celebration if you’re looking for suggestions.

The Hall of Fame competition sounds like it could be a fun event and it might be a nice tradition to bring back!

Another idea could be some kind of writer spotlight for category winners or featured members. Maybe a post on the main page where the writer can share a little about themselves, a small writing sample, their goals, favorite genres, or anything they feel comfortable sharing. With so many new members joining, it might be a nice way for everyone to get to know each other better and help build some camaraderie.

Oh! Maybe a small anniversary writing challenge or a collaboration event where members (those who want to participate, mind) get paired up to write something short together. It might encourage people who haven’t interacted much to connect.

Another idea that might be fun for the anniversary is a “Best of 2025” event. Members could nominate their favorite stories, threads, roleplays, or even memorable moments from the past year.

It could work through nominations and then a community vote. It might be a nice way to celebrate everything the forum has created over the past year while also highlighting some great threads newer members might have missed.

 

[Luxuria]

Oh! Maybe a small anniversary writing challenge or a collaboration event where members (those who want to participate, mind) get paired up to write something short together. It might encourage people who haven’t interacted much to connect.

Oh, I really like this idea. It could be fun!

 

[ellekaldwin]

What got me so excited to be apart of this forum was the collaboration, the comradery, and the interaction with each other. Forums like this harken back to the older internet, ya know? Live Journal, Something Awful, and various niche community websites. It's the 'purest' form of social media.

 

[Homer Potvin]

I’m really excited that the forum’s first anniversary is coming up! I had a couple ideas that might be fun for the celebration if you’re looking for suggestions.

The Hall of Fame competition sounds like it could be a fun event and it might be a nice tradition to bring back!

Another idea could be some kind of writer spotlight for category winners or featured members. Maybe a post on the main page where the writer can share a little about themselves, a small writing sample, their goals, favorite genres, or anything they feel comfortable sharing. With so many new members joining, it might be a nice way for everyone to get to know each other better and help build some camaraderie.

Oh! Maybe a small anniversary writing challenge or a collaboration event where members (those who want to participate, mind) get paired up to write something short together. It might encourage people who haven’t interacted much to connect.

Another idea that might be fun for the anniversary is a “Best of 2025” event. Members could nominate their favorite stories, threads, roleplays, or even memorable moments from the past year.

It could work through nominations and then a community vote. It might be a nice way to celebrate everything the forum has created over the past year while also highlighting some great threads newer members might have missed.

Those are all really great ideas!

What got me so excited to be apart of this forum was the collaboration, the comradery, and the interaction with each other. Forums like this harken back to the older internet, ya know? Live Journal, Something Awful, and various niche community websites. It's the 'purest' form of social media.

I was trying to explain the idea of "forums" to a few people the other day who weren't really familiar with them. The way I presented it is that for writers who need a community to interact with AND a place to share their writing for critique and feedback, there isn't a better alternative. Social media isn't very conducive to posting a 3K block of text in an user-friendly fashion. Things like reddit are so deep who knows what you'll or how quickly your voice will drown out. Regular websites don't have the same back and forth. It's certainly an older technology, but very relevant for the right sub-cultures. And writing is a broad enough category with just enough appeal to get traffic but still niche enough not to be overrun.

I imagine cooking would also qualify, but there isn't enough interaction required to give it legs. Youtube has that covered a million times over.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Just tossing out ideas.

Well, I really hope I will be able to participate in the short story hall of fame contest based on my short story win in the 4th contest.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

For purely selfish reasons, I'd like to see a reintroduction thread combined with "what I did during my first year with WF." I lose track of folks who frequent threads other than those I visit and would welcome a cybergathering of all fellow travelers on the WF plane of existence. Kinda the Rainbow Tribe Annual Gathering without the colorful costumes or round robin sex.