Last month was unprecedented: I extended the entry period for the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge by a week (well, I am not entirely sure that it was unprecedented but it was certainly unusual) and it worked (for the most part) as the number of entries increased by nearly 40% (rough math).
Well, a month (or so) later and here we are in the same virtual place, with a mere handful of entries for #MWWC34. Last month I pondered whether it was a mere outlier or more of a trend and I settled on the somewhat statistical saying: “One is an outlier….”
I did not mention the rest of that axiom however: “… but two is a trend.” So we have now firmly entered “trend” territory with another lackluster output for the Challenge. Just so I am clear, I am also pointing the finger at the rather large entity in my morning mirror as well, as I have not (yet) entered this month.
As you may have surmised, I have decided to delay the vote yet again, hoping to scrape together a few more entries. As such, I have pinged a few people in the post since I am a firm believer that a good public shaming can do wonders.
I also beseech those who have participated in the past, but no longer scratch the itch of desire to enter to offer your reasons for not entering or even better, your suggestions as to what might make you consider entering again.
There are also out there a host of people who have never entered, but have contemplated the idea more than once: what will it take to get you to join in? What has stopped you up until this point?
Remember, the whole idea behind the Challenge is to encourage creative, passionate, beyond the tasting note kind of writing that (in my opinion) is sorely lacking in the wine blog-o-sphere.
So please! Send me your thoughts. We started this concept over three years ago and perhaps it has grown stale? Should I/we keep this Challenge alive? Or is it time to move on to another idea?
Fell free to either leave a comment or send me an email (jeff(at)thedrunkencyclist(dot)com).
For now, though, here is the amended timeline for #MWWC34:
The Remaining Timeline:
Deadline for submission: Monday, July 24th, 2017 July 31st, 2017
Voting Begins: Tuesday, July 25th, 2017 August 1st, 2017
Voting Ends: Monday, July 31st, 2017 August 7th, 2017
Winner Announced: Tuesday, August 1st, 2017 August 8th, 2017
The Public Shaming, er, Gentle Prodding
Previous Winners (* indicates multiple winners):
I had planned on listing a few more people who have contributed regularly in the past, but alas, I woke this morning with no internet or cable. I will add those blogs later on today (hopefully).
the drunken cyclist 
I love the challenge. One word is a great a great hinge to fling off from. However, I know some topics leave me a bit blank. Maybe to energize newbies and provide a little internal guidance, let winners provide a more explicit challenge: e.g. “in 500 words write about the worst wine you ever had in only positive terms.”
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This is a great idea! Would it encourage you to get back to the keyboard?
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I like reading it. It’s summer so people are running around trying to make the most of it. I’d say after running something so long give it at least 6 months before pulling the plug. In the meantime, maybe a/b test a few things like waywardwine’s idea of the prompt being more than a word. It could be that it frightens people. I know I say I’m going to do this challenge every month and never do. I don’t mind any kind of prompt… I just find that they usually invoke something I’m definitely not putting out there for public consumption. Or that will require me even more years of therapy. You’ve built something pretty incredible, don’t let two months tank it. Consider sharing it on the WBC page if you haven’t yet — up your exposure.
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More great advice that I should have followed!
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I really need to look at my notifications more frequently.
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As evidenced by me blowing up your WordPress notifications, I am just now catching up on your posts. My life has been insane these past few months. I felt really guilty for missing this, just so you know. 😉
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Thanks for the kind note and letting me know–we really should catch up at some point, no?
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