A few recent complaints about the frequency of updating and "approving" of Campaigns on Site have inspired me to reconsider the purpose of the activity.

There are a lot of ideas out there for modeling activities that could either be established as a Campaign (an activity that spotlights/highlights one area or aspect of the Site - like promoting Aircraft modeling) or a Group Build (an activity that selects a common theme and modelers join in and work on the subject). Not every idea will be established as a Campaign, and presently we've got a lot of concepts submitted for consideration.

As of this posting, I am taking a more critical view of the ideas submitted and how they promote Armorama. I am limiting the number of Campaigns per calendar year to five - one per Focus Area here on Site (Aircraft, Armor, Figures, Dioramas, and Warships) or five in total per calendar year if one or more Focus Areas are not represented.

Group Builds are great activities, and I will still assist the Leaders who take them on, but they will not be administrated like a full-fledged Campaign. The Leaders will take on a more active role in sustaining the activity once launched, and the Campaign Docket will be modified to only record that the activity is going on with a link back to it's Thread. The number of Group Builds going on will be limited throughout a calendar year as well - based upon the number going on at any given time, the length of the activity, and Focus Area if necessary.

A Campaign Committee, of which I am a part of, will decide upon the ideas submitted and whether or not they will become an official Campaign. The status of said ideas will be posted when the decision is made by the Campaign Committee - 30 days before an anticipated start date. For large-scale activities, I will give the Leader(s) more advanced notices/updates/instructions. Ideas which have start dates several months in the future are not urgent priorities, however.

If you are unclear with any of the above, please let me know, for clarification.

Gunnie

Fair enough with me Gunnie...
Ciao

Good thinking!

There are just too many ideas being put forward for campaigns right now! Most would be suitable for group builds, and of course, individuals can still build whatever they want, with whomever they choose!

Cheers
Andy

Sounds great, Gunnie, but you may want to consider making it 6 campaigns a year and giving one to the Sci-Fi modelers.

Good point and under consideration. I'll submit it to the Campaign Committee for thoughts.

Thanks!
Gunnie

I proposed to do just that more than a year ago. There are far too many campaigns now. We need to concentrate on just a few GOOD ones. I already look forward to the next dio campaign, whatever the subject may be !

I know Jan - I was thinking about your comments and several other observations made in the past when I wrote this post.

Gunnie

Gunnie,

fair enough for me !

Gunnie:
Wonderful idea, I back it all the way.

Hi all

Having only joined Armorama this Summer, I've only completed one campaign and have no experience of group builds.

Could someone outline the difference? I read the campaign page and it looks as though there's no medal for finishing a group build... is that the only differerence?

I'm sure there are other new member who'd welcome some explanation, so we can better appreciate what GunTruck's saying. :-)

I quite agree, there seem to be a lot of Campaigns being suggested at the moment, probably more than can be managed properly... on the plus side, at least it proves how enthusiastic evryone is about Armorama...

Thanks and all the best

Rowan

Merlin, the most recent group build that we did was for the Tamiya Spitfire Mk1. So where in a campaign there is only a general subject (NAVY AVIATION, build a dio with a water effect,) a group build has a specific kitor type of vehicle. The spitfire build was to help members through their "first" aircraft kit and also was done with a lot of pics and advice on things where there maybe problems. Funny thing was the new guys breezed past a fit problem while the Experienced guys got stuck for a few days!!!! Darn pesky power transformer!!! But hope that helped with how a group build usualy works! STUG

Gunnie, good point !
This site has to be kept manageable.

If you want to form a "campaign review board" I'll be glad to be part of it ! it would be cool for me to finaly give a little help !

Cher ami Colargol,
I used to think of you as a newbie, but you're collecting those generals's stars as quickly as if they were old stamps ! Great to see "new" people taking up a job at this site. I'm sure Gunnie will find you a good mission.

Hi again

Thankyou stugiiif for explaining a bit what Group Builds are. :-)

A day or so ago, I would have thought it was a real shame to limit the number of Campaigns so harshly... but this was based purely on ignorance (call it enthusiasm!) :-)

If I'm right, a Group Build members don't have folders, where they can post entries and pics... is that correct?

Well, at the moment, I'm in the Age of Aces campaign... and a quick trawl tonight showed that most campaign folders are empty. To be honest, I'm really disappointed. I may be naive, but I actually assumed that keeping a campaign journal was kind of "obligatory" in order to qualify!

If nothing else, it's a mark of appreciation to those "behind the scenes" running the campaign... I have no idea of the amount of work needed to run a campaign, but I imagine Airwarrior has every right to feel pretty fed up with the lack of interest!

There's a danger that the current debate could turn sour, with Guntruck taking offence where, I hope, none was intended, but based on the evidence of AoA, fewer official Campaigns would be no great loss...

All the best

Rowan

Rowan - thank you for your questions and helpful comments. Nearly all of the posters here in the thread so far are helpful.




I/we certainly do not want to curb your enthusiasm - but do want to get the activity under control. Presently, it is not manageable and for some apparantly - unreasonable expectations cloud issues. Streamlining the process(s) will help out and attract more to participate in the end. I believe this was part of the message Sabot and General Failure were pointing out a year ago upon inception of the idea.




Correct! That is the purpose of keeping everything in a thread that can be linked back to for interested modelers to catch up on what's going on. I wouldn't even think of asking Jim to create Folders for all the ideas that are being floated around right now. It's just too much.




Again correct! Sadly, this happens all too frequently. The mad dash to setup a campaign doesn't always translate into a mad dash to create the Journal Folder and get going. Sometimes they ramp up slowly. Sometimes I suspect the Folder itself might be a bit mystifying to some who haven't given it a whirl before. That where the rest of us help out. Airwarrior should not feel dismayed, this start (or lack therof) is not unusual.

And, I know things often pop-up in all of our lives - but - jumping into the campaign you helped sponsor is really a great thing to do! The guys who jumped in and finished the CWCO Campaign inspired me to build more models this year than in recent memory. It was fun, and some of them are real crack-ups. I got to "know" them a little better. I hasten to use the term "obligatory", but I strongly urge everyone who is able to do so to jump into the mix. The quote below stands on it's own...







Well, having to initiate this thread was already "sour" in my mind. I might sound a little testy, and perhaps I am . That is only because I care. I promise to try and not allow it to degenerate to something unpleasant. It doesn't have to be that way. I will not respond to useless and pointless baiting either.

These are not edicts I randomly came up with. These are responses to instances and situations encountered in overseeing the Campaign/Group Build activity. Also, most importantly, this is not a job! It should not become one. This has nothing to do with valuing or undervaluing the worth of any member of this site - nor should it become a burden for any member of this site.

It is supposed to be fun - dang it!

Gunnie

Cheers GunTruck :-)

Thanks for treating my naive, but well meant post, so generously. :-)

I think you summed it up perfectly...




... hopefully everyone following this debate, across a couple of threads, remembers that Armorama is a community, run by and for people that love this hobby. :-)

Thanks again

Rowan

Thanks Gunnie I would now consider building in a campaign. I think that with less activity spreading everyone thin not counting the cost of trying to be in too many campaigns at the same time I think that that energy could be spent on building a few quality models instead of "cranking out an assembly line" of half completed projects. I have noticed in the recent past that a lot of our fellow modelers are trying to complete two or three different models at the same time. For me and the members who are retired and have time on our hands this pace ie dooable(Spelling?) but for the working individuals and our young students I think we have been creating a undo pressure to compete. This hobby is a major way to relax for the majority of us here. I for one hate to be pressured. As I know most of you don't like it either. With the group build concept you can have how to's to explain to the less experience modeler how or what "trick" could be used to make that perfect model. I for one have learned so much from the forums here and have been able to improve my work dramaticly. You can teach an old dog new tricks. I guess I have spouted off long enough.

Hey gunnie, sorry to see that we have so much free time on our hands from building that we can all come in here and raz you...people, go build something!

Anyhow, a thought. This IS armorama, so maybe there should be a constant campaign up for armor itself. I know this is unfair, but the focus here would tend to be armro, so it is unfair already. My thought is to have a campaign last, oh 2-3 months on a particular subject, and then start the next one. That will give you 4-6 armor campaigns a year, and then we just need to come up with subjects. Other topics (air, dio, etc...can apply as necessary)

Why this way? Well, after CWCO I went into a slump (called fixing the house!) and now that I am back, there are no armor campaigns going on. If this system were used, Barbarossa would still be on and I could jump in now that I have some free time. (I know TW2K has unofficially started, but I am looking at this from a more general point of view) I thiink this would also streamline things for you and Jim, and maybe de-stress the rest of us.

And besides, I want more campaign ribbons, they are so pretty... :-)

Barbarossa is still ongoing. Feel free to join in and particiapate. I believe that the end date is the calendar date for the end of summer, which is 21 September of this year. Just under three weeks to slap together a WW2 armor kit.

Reference Campaign Folders:

I checked the first 53 folders (then I got sick of clicking the back button) over at the Barb. campaign. For what it is worth, 12 were completely empty, 9 had the project description but no journal entries and 32 had one or more journal entries. So a little more than half the participants I checked were using their folders.

Whether that is good or bad, I don't know...

Shaun

I don't really use my journal. I don't take very many photos of my kits in progress because of my digital camera. While it is adequate for taking photographs of vehicles for my motor pool, it does a lousy job at taking close up detail photos.

You know Rob, maybe I just need to go back to working on the Asbestos in my basement...yeesh. Seems lately that whenever I open my mouth, I total screw up...man, I thought it had a dealine of AUGUST 21st.

too embarassing.

But I will join...I just started the Eastern Express BT-7a. Off I go....(man, oh man. How to walk with BOTH feet in my mouth....grrrrrrrr)

With regards to the campaign journal, i haven't used mine and thats only because i didnt (and still dont) know how to use it. Instead i posted my "journal" in the rivet review board. But what i now need to know, as this is my 1st campaign entry, is where do i post my completed model?