[terry connelly]

One of the things that struck me was the constant referral to this forum and suggestion that the people ” anti-competition ” people as we have apparently been labeled should just put their work on this forum ” where there are several opportunities ” for a critique is that I have never seen any of those people here. Interesting as I know most of the people who have ever bothered to come here to leave a comment or anything else and the ones who wrote those comments are not any of those. So, it seems some are happy to point to other places those of us can go but uninterested in going there themselves. Interesting.

Salons were also mentioned and as I have a great deal of history with those I will also point out that the concept of Salons was started many years back into the history of this club. They never took off because there was such a low turnout. In more recent years they have done slightly better, but still, there was a low turnout and not many photos entered.

As a paying member of this club, I have appreciated that there is a place I can put my work without having to participate in a competitive mode which I believe is a negative aspect of the world I live in. Call me an “anti-competitor” if you must.  I am not putting my judgments on anyone else though, I do believe there is a place for a competition in a club like ours. I came up through it and it served me well. I learned a lot and am appreciative. It just no longer works for me and so NC has been a way I can still participate, enjoy the comradery and be OK about it.

So, It will be interesting to see how many of those who suggested that we NC anti-competition members come here to get our critiques actually come here to read or respond to anything here. Personally, I would LOVE to see this forum used by members. There are a variety of wonderful opportunities here to learn and communicate with each other. I won’t hold my breath though. Meanwhile, as a paying member, I will take advantage of NC as long as we have it so I can get feedback on my work from a judge other than club members who know me and my work. Participating as part of a larger community is also something I get by being a part of comp nights. That community feels a bit fractured though at the moment and my place in it unsure.

Terry

 

[SteveM CompChair]

I think it would be shame to get rid of Non-Compete or to even move it to Forum only. From what I read in the initial SRPS group email, the complaint was about length of meetings. Removing NC from the program would only shorten the time if the submitters chose not to submit images into a different categories. I think it was a mistake to blame it on NC.

[terry connelly]

Thank you, Steve, both for your comment and for the support. Now, will others who do not normally post here do so, or will this remain the voices of a very few who see this as a genuine form of communication and place of learning?

 

[Michael Funk]

What I took away from the responses is there is a lot of support for NC and it is becoming more popular.  Quite frankly I don’t see it being done away with.  As I said in my message  we need to make sure members are aware of new posts and critique requests on this forum.  If we can find a way to do that, this forum will probably become better utilized for all the topics as well as Critique.  Hopefully this will be possible.  The bottom line is we need to make our meetings shorter.  Perhaps we do NC first and then competition, I don’t know.  I received and email this morning that suggested we do the following:

Start meeting promptly, no messages at beginning
Break times strictly kept
Keep judges on task
Only 1st places discuss their photos
1 photo from sequence only
No fiddling with Zoom…test ahead

These are good and workable ideas, I am hopeful the board will tackle this issue soon.

[SteveM CompChair]

On Michael Funk said

As I said in my message  we need to make sure members are aware of new posts and critique requests on this forum.  If we can find a way to do that, this forum will probably become better utilized for all the topics as well as Critique.  Hopefully this will be possible.

 

It is possible now, just check the Notify me of follow-up replies via email which is located on bottom left of the reply panel. I have your request on my to do list but it won’t happen soon. Please use the method we have until I can get too it.

Thank you,

[AnneAbrams]

Hey, I finally was able to get on the Forum and log in!  That took several tries and I know others who have had difficulty too.  Perhaps as we all get use to the forum it will become more of a habit.  One can hope.

I am in favor of keeping NC as I don’t believe it would shorten the meetings to get rid of NC,  unless those in NC no longer submitted images.  No one wants THAT to happen!  Mike has suggested other ideas to shorten meetings.  That said I have enjoyed enormously from our competitions over the years and continue to learn from them.

Our hard working volunteers who run the meetings do a fantastic job!  A few glitches here and there are minor and to be expected.  I have heard other clubs have not survived Covid.  That we are still here and active is a huge testament to these volunteers who figured out how to Zoom our meetings effectively with the leadership of Joel and the rest of the board is nothing short of wonderful.  That we discuss these issues is good too.

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