All kidding aside, I certainly hope that there will be another AW Idol contest.
I think it was a great idea and a great event for a few reasons:
It was a great exercise in what makes good writing. I think it stimulated a lot of thought and discussion on what makes good writing and caused those who were around to reflect upon that as pertains to their own writing.
I think it motivated a lot of people to actually write something and submit it.
It bought in a wave of many new members. I think it lured a lot of people out of lurkdom and into the fray of everyday participation in the forum - always a good thing. In the end we wound up with a group of maybe 100- 150 hardcore daily members. Who knows? Maybe we'll add another 100 - 150 daily participators. New blood is always good.
I feel it was a bonding experience for all those who participated - finalists, judges and voters. It may be just a cyclical thing but it seemed the board was more vibrant while it was going on.
Sitting around at home writing everyday can become kind of a rut and it gave a lot of people something to look forward to.
It was fun. I, for one, never really cared about the prizes - it was all about just doing it and being a part of it. I thought that was cool as hell - just participating and being a part of the process every week.
Yes, there may have been some stress and aggravation for some (Jenna, the judges, the poor vote-counter, etc.) but I think the benefits or positive aspects far exceeded the negative.
I realize there may be other factors involved (especially for the big J who seems to always be pretty busy) but I'm sure if it came to a pinch, she could hand over the basic day-to-day operation of the contest to a few of her trusted lieutenants.
I don't know, I just wanted to give my input (even though, yes, I know I'm just a little cricket in a big pond) and I think that if there weren't another contest a lot of people would be very disappointed.
Like me.....sniff, sniff....