The issue has been raised by GVD and perhaps others as to whether polls should be used to select the topics for postfests.
I think it would be a good idea, although the administration should retain discretion and vary it if justified. Certainly they will have discretion in
Polls cannot reflect the distinction between the interests of those who will post articles and the interests of those who will only read them, but they are a useful tool in determining the interests of the community as a whole. That in itself is useful for determining the interests of individuals. GreyChat is useful, but I, and likely others, cannot or do not access that.
Because I haven't read GVD's original suggestion, I'm unsure why it was made but presume it was based on a desire for greater interactivity / control.
If the folks who commonly post to the past Postfests, or even those who have not but are interested in so posting, have expressed the desire to to select postfest topics by poll, then the answer seems clear: yes.
However, I think the question is usefully understood by contrast to how Postfests were once "run." Recall that on the AOL folder, someone would "challenge" the group to produce a post on a selected subject. People would choose whether or not to "join" but this choice didn't affect their ability to post something else they were working on, or something different that the Postfest inspired / triggered.
Today CF! Postfests are "run" by the website admins and active users, including those who make suggestions via the 'chat and the forums, afaik. Is the proposal to maintain the admins as the people who present the several topics that the membership will then choose by poll?
Although I could swear the issue came up before. Perhaps a search of the forums would get more info.
I think ideas should be introduced in the forums and greychat and that admins should also propose things that have not been brought up before. Until you run into the 10 topic poll limit or whatever it is, then excluding topics should not be an issue.
What it comes down to for me is that interest should be drummed up and that includes participation in the selection of the topics.
Is the proposal to maintain the admins as the people who present the several topics that the membership will then choose by poll?
If we use a poll to determine Postfest topics, then yes, I would assume that CF staff would devise a list of potential topics to post in a poll for voting. I imagine that potential topics could be posted to the forums, e-mailed to postfest@canonfire.com or taken note of during Thursday chats.
It seems that the process would be the same - we take ideas from the community from wherever. But, we add the duty of keeping track of the ideas and posting them as a poll.
Now, the above is given as my opinion. I am no way in a position to submit or issue definitive answers regarding Postfest. But, as a recent Postfest "helper," I could certainly work with the aforementioned idea. _________________ Don (Greyson)
I'm just returning to the online Greyhawk community after completing some education. While it's unlikely that I'll ever resume my most engaged involvement back in 1999-2001, I enjoy greatly that a new (to me) core of GH fans appears to have coalesced around CF! along with a significant number of "older" fans.
This summer's Postfest trio was new. Never before have three topics been announced so far in advance, afaik. So now's a great time to reflect critically on the recent Postfests. I think that the posters and people who commented are probably the best people to inform the rest of us how to continue "drumming up interest."
Personally, I'd chose postfest topics from PAST polls. See what garned the most interest or controversy (obviously excluding "who's your favorite designer/what's your favorite era" polls), and work out topics that way.
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