I have real concerns that trying to do 2 similar events like this wouldn't spread ourselves too thin.

Another alternative we've discussed is for NANY to be an end of year celebration of ALL the new applications created over the last year by DC members.. this would include coding snacks and large applications, anything created in the last year.  It would be more of a showcase and celebration of what members have created.

I think that making the event focus on the whole year does exactly what you are trying not to do- spread things a bit thin.  Perhaps if we had another volunteer coordinator if it was too much for Perry, we could have things like app suggests- 2 cycles of apps per year, with one just starting as the other is winding down.  It *does* seem like traffic on DC picks up during the NANY season (though I could be wrong).  If it does, isn't NANY driving the growth of DC?

Or we could just have one contest celebrating all of the new applications released in the year, and give prize to the biggest and best..

The issue I see with NANY being a celebration of apps developed during the year is there no incentive, no push to get apps completed.  Without developing in a short time frame, at the end of the year, releasing the app by New Years Eve then everything NANY is is lost.  If that's where DC goes then the NANY tag should be retired and new new name used.

I had suggested a summer event, that ran from June till the end of August, with the wrap-up in early September, followed by a reminder that NANY is on the way. I figured the entire summer would be great for coding more substantial things and it wouldn't clash with things like major holidays and exams.

I (and I think we) liked that suggestion, and is pretty much the proposal, just not as formalised. That type of arrangement, where the entrant decides on their own level of participation, has a lot of advantages (as mouser has said) -- and having the main work not clashing with holidays is very important (if we're wanting "main work" to happen).

From the surveys: having more time to do more substantial entries was a significant issue. That has been my main push, as a response to those requests.

Some of the reasons that Entrants didn't set up RedMine:

   * I didn't want to have to deal with learning how to do RedMine while I was concentrating on getting my project completed.
   * I wouldn't know what to do with it.
   * Forgot
   * I've waned to use Mercurial CVS integration but it did not work.

Mercurial integration requires a mercurial account on the server, which should be requested through me.
We didn't have this setup until yesterday, when ewemoa requested it.
To address the issues I have created a page which summaries the features we offer on the member server, and a page with some basic mercurial help. :

https://admin.dcwing.com/services/

Eventually, perhaps a wiki would be a better format for all of that, but it's better than nothing for now.

<edit>
For clarity, if you read over the mercurial help page link on the services page, here is a direct link :

https://admin.dcwing.com/services/mercurial.html

</edit>

I found it helpful to configure the hgrc file within a repository (so <repos-dir>/.hg/hgrc) with auth info.  Specifically, adding the following sort of section

It's not a no-no, but I find manually typing out the http authentication cleaner, also because the password is not as plaintext in your hgrc.

On the server side Mercurial will take the username you logged in with from the httpd authentication, so you can use something like:

[web]
 allow_push = someuser

Which is what I use to define which httpauth users are allowed to upload (write access)

If you really hate copy/pasting a password, and don't mind the plaintext password in a file, then that's definitively OK

would be more fun if the winners for NANNY '11 will have some token of prize(keychain medals etc..).. like requesting to some big companies out there to sponsor for the forum event. cross deal by having their company logo shown on the NANNY Event. Its worth a try, since you have so many members here and much higher reputation level.

also, would be nice if there's a sub-board for apps skinners.. to show the most cyber-exotic looks.. not just power apps..

One aspect of NANY that I think is a shame is that the years go by and the previous entries are almost forgotten... but I'm not entirely sure that it's all customer voting by their feet... some of it I think has to be just not being made aware: there are some great programmes from previous years that would be good to have easy access to (well: easier access).

I think in the days leading up to the unveiling of all current NANY application submissions, it might be nice in your update reports to pull some of the hidden gems from previous years and mention them. It would be like taking something old and making it new again.

Also, in the days leading up to Jan 1, mentioning various apps that have been contributed by members that were not/are not NANY submissions, but were created during the course of the year.

It would turn NANY into a year end wrap-up of all we have done in the past year, what we did for previous NANYs, and leading up to the fresh new year loaded with new apps.

We used to do a "best of" list with links to the best forum threads of the year: http://www.donationcoder.com/2008/

Perhaps if we took that approach with the software that has been created here during the year, it might give attention to some of the forgotten stuff.

Thanks App: yes, I think the Celebration aspect of NANY can be highlighted more, or maybe even separated somewhat...

So, NANY is part of the Software Celebration that happens during January and that looks back over the year  ? But it does not have to be the whole celebration.

I think it's pretty obvious that it's going to be difficult to maintain a combined "mad dash" and "first class" type of NANY: they seem too opposed. And most people seem to be gravitating toward a simpler NANY -- which does not exclude the "first class" entries (many of the "dashed" entries are very first class!), but also does not encourage it either (time restrictions are an issue for many of the entrants).

One of the reasons behind the whole "first class" thing was to encourage more substantial entries of consistent quality for those that wanted to do that type of entry. I do not think that that will happen in the mad dash time-frame.

One thought that's been bubbling around in my mind is that quite a few entrants started working on their NANY entry well before December... I wonder if there's a way to encourage this by having something like a Labs or Summer School or something (as was previously suggested) earlier in the year that provides an opportunity and framework for someone to develop and fine-tune their application; and if the entrant wants to they can submit it to NANY for further development / testing / finishing?

I'm not really sure what format the Labs / Summer School / Event could take, but we have such a wealth of mentors on DC and a large member base that are keen to suggest, brainstorm and work on software (it's almost what we do best), that for someone wanting to work on something more substantial, maybe even in teams, it would be a great opportunity to tap into those resources (which is difficult during NANY). But it's basically for someone who wants a longer lead time and to tap into the DC resources: ideas?

And everything would get caught up in a Celebration Catch All at the end of the year!