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NANY 2011 :: A New Concept -- Have your say!

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Jibz:
I can see the dilemma you are facing here. The new people who come to the site through the NANY advertisements may be discouraged if they run into some of the more 'lightweight' entries, but on the other hand the current format seems to get a lot of people to at least participate.

I think skwire has some points .. dividing it into first class apps and "rubble" that people can just ignore is not making it everybody-is-equal. Of course everybody isn't, and some of the apps do deserve more attention, but I could fear this change might discourage people in the normal category from entering.

I think what I am objecting to here is that it feels a bit like you are insinuating that first class apps will be better or more useful, while it sounds like they will just be better documented and easier to install.

JavaJones:
I think what I am objecting to here is that it feels a bit like you are insinuating that first class apps will be better or more useful, while it sounds like they will just be better documented and easier to install.
-Jibz (April 15, 2010, 01:08 PM)
--- End quote ---

I would say that's probably more an issue of how it was stated than an actual reality. And perhaps it's all just about figuring out how to communicate this to people so that the spirit is maintained, while also allowing room for the growth and improvement that is desired.

I think it might be valuable in the discussion to reference some of the statistics that informed the original admin discussion that led to these potential changes. These ideas didn't just come out of the blue, as far as I know there has been decreased involvement, and more and more rushing as the event has aged through the years, so changes seemed necessary. That's my understanding anyway.

I agree also that if NANY is not considered a partly promotional event, then these changes are less necessary, and it alters the goals a lot. At the same time perhaps we could also consider a half measure, removing the *result* promotion and simply promoting the contest participation as a way to get people into DC. It's really the post-event results that have the potential to get outsiders using apps that might not be ready for "prime time". As far as I have seen the most useful and interesting apps tend to get their own unique and specific publicity from the "usual suspects" sites. Word of these apps' existence may have been spread through the NANY result announcements, I'm not sure, but it does seem like other popular DC software gets the word out there without NANY promotion. So perhaps the results should not be a focus at all, and just trust that the apps that shine the most will, er, shine and become popular. :D

- Oshyan

mouser:
I have to confess i was the main person who thought there might be a problem in search of a solution.. Maybe i was overthinking and underestimating the value of keeping things simple..

What if we reversed and said that NANY is whatever you want it to be, and cut down on the rules/guidelines/etc.

But simply said:

* If you DO want to make a substantial, well documented, feedback tested application for NANY, get started early and let us know so we can help you get it to that state.
* At the end of NANY, we may try to categorize applications based on how ready we think they are for casual visitors to use, or how "finished" they are.

mouser:
I should clarify that I have no interest in NANY as a way to "promote" DC.

But i do think that one way DC says thank you to the NANY coders is by getting their hard work and newly created applications some notice that they might not otherwise have.  I think one of the pleasures of coding something is having people discover and use it, and that can be really hard these days.

So one thing that did motivate this discussion was the thought that this was something desirable about NANY, and a worry that it might be losing this aspect if there wasn't some kind of focus on producing applications that could be useful to, and would be worth checking out by non-dc-regulars.

One thing skwire has been saying is "don't worry about it" -- that the applications can stand on their own, and people will be able to see which would be useful to them and which wouldn't, and we don't need to make a special effort to segregate them or manage them differently.  This may be true and i may be trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

Jibz:
I think what I am objecting to here is that it feels a bit like you are insinuating that first class apps will be better or more useful, while it sounds like they will just be better documented and easier to install.
-Jibz (April 15, 2010, 01:08 PM)
--- End quote ---

I would say that's probably more an issue of how it was stated than an actual reality. And perhaps it's all just about figuring out how to communicate this to people so that the spirit is maintained, while also allowing room for the growth and improvement that is desired.
-JavaJones (April 15, 2010, 01:17 PM)
--- End quote ---

Yes, I think you are right. Basically, if you take the presentation of the idea and cut out this paragraph

NANY entries that qualify as First Class entries will be featured more prominently in our wrap-ups and in our presentations to other sites as they'll have the widest appeal, ease of use and clarity of documentation.  In other words, the "First Class" applications will be the applications that we feel most comfortable recommending to people who have never heard about DonationCoder.com, and which we think are ready for wide promotion to the general public.
--- End quote ---

it would be easier to agree with I think.

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