Monday, December 14, 2009

How can Blog-a-Ton 6 be made more interesting?

Hi fellow Blog-a-Tonics.
The next Blog-a-Ton happens to be the first blogging marathon of 2010 and also marks, reaching the half way of our own blog-a-ton calender (Aug 1-Jul 31).
So should't it be special?

Before proceeding further, lets welcome the new members of our family
  • Yemiledu
  • Abyss
  • Dobin (Please provide your bloglink to be blogrolled)
  • S...
  • Varun (Please provide your bloglink to be blogrolled)
You all will be blogrolled soon.

 Recently, I received some mails from the members where they shared some suggestions for making this event more massive. (I am sorry, I have not replied you personally because of some time constraints).There were some good suggestions but I am afraid that most of them were too ambitious. Blog-a-Ton is just a part of my daily routine and hence, to keep a balance in all my activities, I cannot contribute more time than what I am doing already. Moreover, I want to keep this blog, a blog and not transform it into a website. However, I am not averse to including some members into the marshalling team to help me with certain stuff if the need arises.


Keeping these things in mind, pour in your suggestions to make the next blog-a-ton special. It should be specifically regarding a new format for Blog-a-Ton 6. For eg, how about having a common image to take an inspiration from rather than a common topic?


Looking forward to a community effort
Blog-a-Tonically yours

28 comments:

  1. make it a "stand up" special. ie If you were to write a script for a stand up comedy event ...

    OR say observational humor ?!

    I suggest this cause thats the only thing I can write about :P

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  2. and many topics have been general and a bit school speech type topics.more mature topics would be welcome.

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  3. You can set up debates[as posts] between bloggers.

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  4. Well, changing is good. But, keeping the basic format same and adding spice should be the goal.

    Well, I like the image thing but together with topic. I like restrictions.

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  5. well, like Anamika said, a debate is a cool idea :)

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  6. I didn't like the debate thing much and didn't get the image concept completely. Would anyone mind explaining that?

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  7. Alright I dont know how this will work..but i am thinking of a relay..perhaps a marathon/relay that runs the entire month..a single post continued by all..in a coreographed fashion..perhaps a lucky 30 (out of the willing 40? :( )can be selected for this..we may decide a topic and have the post flowing..with say 100 words each..and then the post is coninued by someone else...all this needs a lot of pateince,time co-ordination ..i admit...

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  8. yes i too dint get image thing AT ALL..

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  9. I second AJ.. "A stand up" special!!!!

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  10. @Narendra and Nethra, The way a topic was given for all to write on, the idea is to have an image posted, which would be the source for everyone to write on.

    Correct me if I am wrong, Marshal!!

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  11. Yup Anu is right. So I hope u all get the meaning!

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  12. @Narendra:

    Nice Idea but what if the baton is "dropped" midway by members who are unable to participate as a result of other pressing matters?
    I really like the idea. Maybe we can build on that.

    @Vipul and the-person-who-proposed-the-picture-thingy

    Nice!

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  13. Using an interesting picture as a topic does seem to be a good idea. After all a picture speaks a thousand words. I agree with Soin. We should stay away from the school speech/essay type topics.

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  14. On School speech/essay type topics:

    I don't agree with any of you who say that we had school speech/essay type topics for Blog-a-Ton in the past. If any of the topics ended up like that it was more because of the way bloggers approached the topic than the topic itself.

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  15. I second Sojo. The topics were pretty good and allowed the bloggers to experiment with different genres. The blogs on previous topic was a bit monotonous as many of them focused on oldest profession. Otherwise, it has been a fun ride.

    I would love to blog on the "Image" concept as long as it does not depict a certain Rakhi Sawant!!

    I also like the "debate" idea. For example, we may have open-ended topics like "Can India be a superpower by year 2550?" and we may club the participants into two blocks - one group 'against' and the other group 'for'.... Though, it may be difficult to execute (grouping etc.)....

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  16. @Vipul
    I guess I got it.
    Thanks Anu. :)

    @Talking Skull
    "Rakhi Sawant" isn't a bad idea :P

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  17. @vipul....am i so dummmb?? i still dint get the image thingy (someone pls give me a torrent link for BRAIN UPDATE :P)

    pls explain again...


    ok i think i am getting it...you post an IMAGE here and ask us to write on it..right? (BRAIN UPDATE SUCCESSFUL... ... .. )

    @sojo I back you! the topics were not so mediocre too..i mean In my first BAT itself i saw so many good posts! and the one before BAT3 i.e teachers aaj kal was really great(i read quite a many..and i thought the standards were high)..and even if someone takes a school speech approach that shouldnt bother us..(a)i see nothing wrong in a school speech in first place..b)many never got a chance in school :P c).knowledge is knowledge!! d).its your blog after all! :P )

    I agree that THIS BAT wasnt such a huge hit...:( but that happens...we fumble in speeches..then gently the chits come out and the speech continues..certain people laugh..but we are happy because we spoke for the longest!!(this is perhaps the right topic to write again...YET AGAIN IF I WERE A BABY...NOW a SCHOOL GOING BABY :))


    @ Talking skull

    I wish we have RAkhi here and i want to read ur post the first..it will be hilarious I bet!! :) :)


    Note:no offence intended

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  18. Here is what I think of the Debate Idea Anamika and Talking Skull pushed. I would like to blend it with Narendra's relay Idea.

    1. Decide on a debatable topic
    2. Fix a date for people to write both for or against
    3. Give a weeks time and fix a date again for people who like to refute what a blogger wrote for or against the topic
    4. Give a weeks time and fix another date for the blogger who was refuted to make his point, refuting the oponent

    Oh my God, this way I can overcome the Writer's Block for three posts :P

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  19. Sojo, this is a big risk!
    Already we are seeing stagnant figures when it comes to participation (40 in last three BATs).. This format that u suggest might dip the figures as I am apprehensive as to how many will take out time for the same.

    I am also unsure about relay as this approach can be successful only when we have a considerable pool of writers. I dont think Blog-a-Ton has reached that critical mass.

    Lets look for a single day format. However, this is just my personal view. If the majority goes with these suggestions, I'll have no problems in implementing them (as long as it doesn't disturb my other commitments)

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  20. @Vipul and all ohter Blogatonics

    I found no place so I am putting it here.
    FOR the BLog-a-tonics who dont have google wave accounts yet.Please mail me your GMAIL ID.to
    9render5@gmail.com

    there are 15 left..
    A)i dont have takers :P
    B).We can Use wave interface for active conversations..

    what say Marshall?

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  21. Even I have 12 Wave Invites Left. That makes it 27 :)

    @ Vipul,
    40 is not such a bad number bro. Perhaps the number would have increased if we retained the 'tag' thing we used to have at the end of the posts with direct link to authors. As I had mentioned in my tech-blog, that was a huge attraction for people to write. :)

    I suggested a relay debate, hoping that people who love a good fight will stick. If that is going to be a burden on you, don't even think about it.

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  22. But then Sojo you can CO-moderate this blog to make this happen...!! VIpul...lets do this...It sounds exciting...9you still will be the marshall...lets say we have created a new post for you 'CHAIRMAN' .. ) :P :P :P



    ANY TAKERS FOR TAAZA TAAZA WAVE ACCOUNTS...Sojo you know i thought they will sell like hot dogs..wave is such a flop i gues.its a perfect tool for us to use anyways...

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  23. Oh, ya. Co-moderating is a good idea Narendra. [Gosh, why didn't I think about it?] People who would like to co-moderate, raise your hands please! Vipul, let us give it a shot!

    And Google Wave! Even I thought people are going to beg for an invite.

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  24. Sorry for absconding for such a long time after my first comment.

    Well, it seems many people are confused about the image thing.

    I propose that we have an interesting Picture and the caption of the image as the BAT topic.

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  25. Discussion on WAVE has begun...to follow the wave you need to be added to the wave!

    if you arent on google wave.Send me a request(i.e your gmail id) to 9render5@gmail.com
    I have some 14 invites to give away!
    Or send a request to Sojo sojovarughese@gmail.com

    Or if you are there on wave already add me to your contacts 9render5@googlewave.com ..ill add you to follow the wave!

    simpler still ask vipul to add you to the wave..i presume he has everyone's contacts!! :P(this is simpler to everyone else ..not for Vipul.. :P )


    cheers


    wave is fun....

    it is the ultimate discussion tool!!

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  26. Hey guys, I would like to participate in this competition but I also want to keep my blog for only fictions. If you decide with this debate thing then I can't participate. So lets fix on this image thing.

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  27. BRINGING THIS DISCUSSION TO A HALT FOR NOW..
    With not much time left, We'll be going for image thing this time. I'll be posting about it soon. However, meanwhile, I'll carry on discussion with Sojo and Narendra to see how can we shape up this debate/baton marathon for Blog-a-Ton 7.

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  28. my site is http://varunslife.blogspot.com for blogrolling...

    ReplyDelete