Next Year's Virtual Blizzard Contest

Martinsville Weather · #1 02-17-2008, 12:55 AM

As this year's contest is rapidly winding down, I wanted to take a moment to discuss next year's contest. In one sense, it will take on a very different format from what I've done every year so far. Instead of tying it in with one or more forums, I will run it independently from a page on my website. I hope to attract a larger audience from a variety of places. I will probably post occasional reminders on here, but there will be no daily threads. I may set up a simple forum to use for just that purpose, but there isn't often any discussion anyway.

The contest WILL expand to include the entire lower 48 states next year, and it will likely run from December 1 through February 28. The other big change is that there will be no more "called VB days". You will be required to participate in a flat number of days throughout the contest period (probably 30, maybe 40), and it will be up to you to decide when you want to submit an entry. I think this will make it less confusing for everyone. Scoring will essentially remain the same as it is now. I also expect to offer a prize next year, contengent on how many participants we get.

Feel free to make any comments concerning next year's contest in this thread. I look forward to seeing all of this year's participants back again, and hopefully we'll also have some new faces! I always enjoy this contest and its competitiveness, which will only get better the more people that we have.

herasday · #2 02-20-2008, 06:17 PM

I have only one comment. I think you might consider extending the time period through March. There are lots of spots that get some of their biggest blizzards in March, sometimes. This is one of them, of course...lol. But consider also some of the major blizzards with widespread impact of the US that have happened in March. I am thinking specifically of Blizzard of '93, aka "Storm of the Century". But I know that there have been others that have been of very wide impact that have happened in March, even late March. So, that's just a suggestion. I actually thought that when I first saw the time period for VB this year, but figured maybe you might have reasons for not wanting to run it through March that might not have anything to do with the weather. Something to consider.

I thank you for running this here.

Martinsville Weather · #3 02-20-2008, 08:42 PM

That's something I have thought quite a lot about, and you make a good point. But the other side of the coin is that we don't want a contest that lasts too long, because people get tired of it. To be honest, as we're nearing the end of 3 months with this contest, I'm just about ready for it to be over. But, I'll continue to think about it, and it could change for next year, especially with the different format.

Thank you for your input!