Author Topic: Remember the flash contest?  (Read 8525 times)

Dem

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on: July 12, 2012, 02:46:57 PM
Couple or few years ago, EP held a flash contest and I entered one of my earliest pieces called 'If it ain't broke ...'. It didn't get past the first round but it acquitted itself well enough there. Anyhow, after a few revisions, it grew up to just over 1000 words and landed itself with Ether Books [cue silly grin] and now it's downloadable to your iThing for free via a free app http://itunes.apple.com/app/id362070951?mt=8, oh yes! So, many thanks EP, this is where it all began, your baby went out into the world, the tiny spark ignited here ...
OK, over-doing it now.

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Scattercat

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Reply #1 on: July 12, 2012, 07:31:49 PM
Congratulations!



Gamercow

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Reply #2 on: July 12, 2012, 08:06:48 PM
Quick synopsis of the story?

We should have another flash contest.

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Dem

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Reply #3 on: July 12, 2012, 08:16:35 PM
A man with Down's Syndrome is confronted by a robot/man/entity from the future who offers to take him back to fix his DNA. Robert sees him off, invoking Arnie and Dr Who.

It's a pretty brave move on Ether's behalf, with a main character of this kind. And yes - another flash comp would be great  :)

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kibitzer

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Reply #4 on: July 12, 2012, 11:14:46 PM
We should have another flash contest.

+1!

(But I realise it's a helluva lot of work for the mods -- all of whom are attractive, intelligent and wonderful human beings)


Dem

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Reply #5 on: July 13, 2012, 09:53:31 AM
+1 +1 +1
Lovely mods, nice mods, purrrrrrr ....

Science is what you do when the funding panel thinks you know what you're doing. Fiction is the same only without the funding.


Fenrix

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Reply #6 on: July 13, 2012, 09:29:24 PM
I'd miss participating, but I'm willing to volunteer to help organize and run the flash contest.

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Dem

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Reply #7 on: July 13, 2012, 09:41:54 PM
I'd miss participating, but I'm willing to volunteer to help organize and run the flash contest.

Couldn't you sneak in under a pseudonym?

Science is what you do when the funding panel thinks you know what you're doing. Fiction is the same only without the funding.


eytanz

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Reply #8 on: July 15, 2012, 08:45:45 PM
For people interested in a new flash contest let me just say this - watch these forums. There might be some news shortly.



Dem

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Reply #9 on: July 15, 2012, 09:32:29 PM
Oooh!

Science is what you do when the funding panel thinks you know what you're doing. Fiction is the same only without the funding.


kibitzer

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Reply #10 on: July 15, 2012, 10:25:24 PM
yee-HAR!!! Best unlimber mah writin' pen.


eytanz

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Reply #11 on: July 18, 2012, 03:26:46 PM
And the third Escape Pod contest has now been officially announced! You can read the announcement and the rules here!



Dem

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Reply #12 on: July 18, 2012, 04:53:28 PM
Lawdy lawdy - beam me up for it, phasers on stunning! Yes.

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kibitzer

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Reply #13 on: July 19, 2012, 03:26:36 AM
Wow, I honestly wasn't expecting such a quick announcement! Mods, you are all awesome and made of awesome and deserve to be remembered as awesome.


Dem

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Reply #14 on: August 16, 2012, 04:16:05 PM
Might have missed it but are we judging winners the same way as last time, which was the top 2-3 stories in any one group going through to the next round? I think I might have said before that this could mean losing some of the best if they all happen to be in the same group, with weaker winners going through from weaker groups (I know - we don't write weak stories. Any of us. Ever). The top however-many per round would seem more likely to bring the best to the final. Thoughts?

Science is what you do when the funding panel thinks you know what you're doing. Fiction is the same only without the funding.


eytanz

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Reply #15 on: August 16, 2012, 08:10:20 PM
I have not yet announced the voting procedure because it will very much depend on the amount of entries. But, assuming a similar amount of entries, the procedure will probably be similar. That said, I'm open to suggestions for alternates if anyone can make a good argument to why they are fairer (while still remaining feasible to implement, of course).

I'm not sure what you mean by "the top however-many per round" - could you explain in a bit more detail what that is?



Dem

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Reply #16 on: August 16, 2012, 09:27:28 PM
Rather like heats in a race where the fastest two (or three) go through to the semis, the process last time had the two (or three) with the most votes in each group going through to the next round. In both cases, there is the possibility that, for example, all of Group A are better than all of Group B but the top two from each will go through.  If I wanted to give all my votes to the stories in Group A and none to Group B, I couldn't. I suppose I'm arguing for a marathon format where everyone sets off together and the winner has competed against all of them and not just the ones that happened to be in their heat.
I'm not sure I've made that much clearer! It's late here, I'll have another shot at it tomorrow :)

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eytanz

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Reply #17 on: August 16, 2012, 11:08:33 PM
So, the top X scoring stories move forward, regardless of what heat they are in?

I think that will be less fair, for several reasons. The first is that the number of people voting in each poll may vary. So what do we go by? Absolute numbers? But that will penalize heats voted in by fewer people. Percentage of total votes? But that will give more value to individual votes in heats voted in by fewer people, and may skew the results far more than the current system.

Also, beyond total numbers, there's no way of knowing that the same people vote for all the heats. If people join the contest late, or drop off, they might only vote for some heats (or some people may only vote in the heat their own story is in, etc.). And since different people may have different scoring habits (and even the same person may shift their criteria over time), we shift the issue from being one of which stories are in the heat, to one of which people voted for which stories. Which is inherently less fair. After all, the winners of the contest should be the best stories, which means that in theory they should be able to beat *any* story. True, the heat system means that a weaker story may make it further into the competition than it otherwise would, but that's self-correcting. Losing a story because its heat was voted in by less generous voters, however, it entirely arbitrary.



Dem

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Reply #18 on: August 18, 2012, 01:12:56 PM
Yep, that's what I meant, and - oh yes, you're right, fluctuating numbers of voters etc etc. Was there a quarter finals group for 'fastest losers' last time? That might catch a few deserving cases without unbalancing the whole shebang?
Going to play with my counting set now. I'm up to 15 loaves for Mr Baker!

Science is what you do when the funding panel thinks you know what you're doing. Fiction is the same only without the funding.


eytanz

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Reply #19 on: August 18, 2012, 01:49:01 PM
Having a second chance round for the runners up is a good idea if it works with the number of submissions. Which, given that there's still nearly a month to go, I can't predict.



Dem

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Reply #20 on: August 19, 2012, 11:06:25 AM
Numbers again - makes sense.  :)

Science is what you do when the funding panel thinks you know what you're doing. Fiction is the same only without the funding.