aga-contest - Olga's comments

["James Purchase" <jpurch@interlog.com>]

Erik -

Olga's last posting landed in my e-mail box addressed to
aga-contest-outgoing (@thekrib.com). I don't think it got sent to the list,
so I'm cc'ing it here... If its a duplicate, I apologize...

Who said Linux was easy???? <g>

Begin, Olga's submission: ___________________

>OK, still wasn't quite right,

Erik...
when I replied to this message it wanted to send to you and not the list. I
pasted in the list address... did I do wrong?

>David Eagle, please turn of your HTML composing.

Yes David... please do. We seem to have quite a few new names on this list.
I've been wondering how many people we (James?) are going to allow. I
personally think that if it gets TOO big it will be very unweildly and hard
to get a consensus on things. Just a thought.

>Erik wrote, :
>No problem.  If we get inundated, I can farm out some of the work to any
>of the other people who've offered to help on this list with their own
>slide/neg/print scanners.

James wrote:
I'd like to
>get a proper list of people's names and mailing addresses, together with
the
>make and model numbers of their scanning equipment (or at least the REAL
>resolution your equipment can deliver) and the sizes you can handle. Once I
>have the list I can pass it to Erik.

I have access to the following: flatbed - HP ScanJet 3c, 600 DPI up to
11x17.
slide: Microtek Scanmaker 35t plus ..at least 600 DPI (can't find manual)
regular 35mm slides. This equipment is at work and not exclusive to me so
how much I could do would depend upon the time of year and how much work
there was. Summer is best. :)

if we make it clear at
>the outset that submitted material can be used by the AGA to promote either
>the AGA or the Contest, then we would be covered as far as having a
>"release" to use the image.

It should be prominently displayed on entry forms and entering should imply
that the contestant goes along with this.


>From: "Roger S. Miller" <rgrmill@rt66.com>
>Subject: draft proposal.

>Title:  The Aquatic Gardeners' Association On-Line Aquascaping World Show

Bit long and labourous. AGA International Aquascaping Competion sounds
better to me.

>Summary:  The show will allow aquarists from all over the world to display
>        their most artistic accomplishments in aquascaping.  <etc>

Sounds good.

>        The show is a cooperative effort between the AGA and thekrib.com,
>        which are not-for-profit organizations.

Stick with AGA.

>Who should enter:
>
>        Anyone who keeps a planted freshwater aquarium.  Judges cannot
>        enter.

OK

>How to enter:
>
>        Fees: There are no fees.  The show is supported entirely by AGA
>                and by volunteers.

Has this been decided for sure?

>        What to submit:  Not more than 3 photographs of your aquarium
>                displaying it's most artistic aspects, a description of
>                the water conditions, history and maintenance of the
>                aquarium,

I agree with this.

 and a sketch plan of the aquarium layout.

Think this needs debating. I like the idea but does it make too much exta
work scanning and etc?

>                Example submittals are available from The Krib.  If you
>                have more than one tank you want to display in the show,
>                then you can make separate entries for each tank.

I think we should stick with one tank per entry. Contestants can decide
among their tanks which one to submit. If tanks fall into different
categories then maybe multiple entries are okay. For instance... one high
tech.. one low tech.

>       Please provide all of
>                your entry material in a single package.  Do not (for
>                instance) send photograhic prints or sketches by post and
>                forms by email.

Good little point.

>        A facility will be provided at The Krib to allow public voting.
>        The results of the public vote will be used to determine a single
>        "People's Choice" award.

People's choice is good. Though if this is not the judges choice it may
cause some dissatisfaction. Guess we could provide a "certificate"
(whatever) to the People's Choice winner too.

From: Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>
Subject: Re: draft proposal.

>Minor tech nit with the proposal: No need to even involve the Krib in the
>contest directly; I'd like to do all the web end via the AGA Site
>(www.aquatic-gardeners.org).

I agree... sounds like a better idea.

>And yes, it will be technically feasible to do your People's Choice
>vote-by-form on the site, if desired. :)

Great!

From: "Jose Correa Lohmann" <jcl@pol.com.pe>
Subject: Comments

>- - I will greatly encourage that all submissions be electronic, I am sure
I
>could get here someone or some store that would scan my pictures and I'm
>sure that in USA it could be done. But it also would be ok if there is one
>responsible for receiving non electronic material and scan it.

I agree Jose. Seems we have to allow photos but I think almost anyone who
wanted to enter could get their photos/slides scanned themselves. Perhaps
we should put in a "electronic submissions are preferred" to encourage
those who *could* but don't want to be bothered. :)

I join James in welcoming you... our only South American rep.

From: "Ken Guin" <kenguin@homemail.com>

> I think it would also be reasonable for us to return a print or slide
>to the owner if they include a SASE along with their submission.

I strongly disagree... NO returns... a nightmare of mailing duties and
responsibilities. Who would ever send a treasured "only" photo off into the
unknown anyway? If you put something in the mail you have to be willing to
loose it. Another good reason to submit electronically.

Olga
in Vancouver



End, Olga's submission:___________________

Now, _my_ comments on some of the above...

Olga - I got the list of your scanning equipment. Please e-mail me privately
with your mailing address so that I can add you to the "master list" of
possible scanning helpers.

I like the "AGA International Aquascaping Competition". Would "AGA
International Millenium Aquascaping Competition" or "IMAC" or "AGA-IMAC" be
too long???

Maybe we should get a list of possible names together and put it to a
vote...

Re: Fees - has it been decided for sure???

No, actually it _hasn't_ been decided for sure. We got pretty good
indication from Karen that she would like to see AGA members not charged,
and I agree with Roger that _any_ fee would act as a deterrant to at least
_some_ folks. If we can pull this off _without_ fees to anybody, I think
that would be the BEST route to go. But the ultimate decision on that is
going to rest with the AGA MC. It will be the organization footing any bills
(which actually should be minimal, and mainly just some postage). I think
that we should put together our submission on the basis of no entry fees and
if they come back with an adjustment, then we charge $5.00 U.S. per entry
for non-AGA submissions.

Does anyone else have anything to say on the charging of fees?

Submission Contents -

I like the idea of multiple views of each tank. I don't know how wise it
would be to put an artificial limit on the number of images per submission.
This _could_ be a limit to creativity. What if someone with a tank which has
many focal points wishes to submit an overall view and a series, say five or
six, of close-ups of particular areas within the tank??? Or if someone
wishes to submit a series of abstract images of their tank's aquascape? [for
an idea of the type of image I am thinking about here, please refer to _any_
photography book published by the Canadian photographer Freeman Patterson,
or to Amano, NAW Vol 1, pg. 175; NAW Vol 3, pg 284-295.

You _don't_ tell an artist how to present their vision.... and as anyone who
has looked at Amano's books will surely agree, in the hands of an artist,
aquascaping can be raised to some awfully dizzying heights, even if it isn't
everyone's cup of tea...

While this is an _aquascaping_ competition as opposed to a _photography_
competition, I think that we want to emphasize the _ART_ aspect of it over
the _technical_ aspect. I am reminded about a comment passed to me recently
about how someone's tanks looked like they were just so many "plants in
water" - with no rhyme nor reason. That's not the kind of thing that's
likely to win, place or show here.

I doubt that there would be so many extra prints to scan that foregoing a
limit on the number of views of each tank would create a burden. Most people
will stick to the standard few shots. It will be the real _masters_ who will
put together poetic photographic essays. and if any of them care to submit
them, I would hate to have to say no because of a preconception on our part
at this point in time.

Even the idea of one tank = one submission might be a limit to creativity.

Re: People's Choice Award - maybe we can have Whoppie Goldberg do a live
Real-Video broadcast on the WWW, announcing the winner? <g> (tongue _firmly_
in cheek)

Olga asked about my "limiting" the number of participants here. She is
worried about things getting unweildy or confusing. As of 3:38 P.M. Eastern
Time today (Monday, July 12) we have 28 people subscribed to either the list
or the digest. A lot of people, in their requests to me, indicated that they
were here as lurkers or to learn. As far as I'm concerned that's fine. I
want everyone's input and while I welcome lively discussion and differing
points of view, I can pretty much guarantee you that if anyone goes out too
far on a limb I'll be there with pruning shears...

Let's not forget the amount of leg-work that is going to be required locally
to get the word out and have this promoted. We have folks from all over the
United States, from both Vancouver and Toronto in Canada and someone from
Peru. While a lot of folks who are signed up right now might not say much,
I'm sure that they will be able to help us on their own local level later
on.  I _still_ would like to see some folks from Europe, Africa, Austrialia,
South-East Asia, join the discussion. They will have different perspectives
which could be helpful. And I have placed another plea for same on the APD.

Let me worry about unweildy...

James Purchase
Toronto