Sunday, May 06, 2007

Too Much of a Good Thing

This afternoon, I spent some time talking with Donna, congratulating her for her winning streak (four challenges to date) and teasing her that she should already be relegated to the Hall of Fame (if such exists in Philippine scrapbooking) to give chance to others. She was very adamant in her refusal that she is already of HoF status. She says she is still learning and has a long way to go.

Then the talk turned serious, specially, in relation to the new PS challenge blog. Au raised the question, what if someone has been chosen favorite for three months running, what should we do? This is a matter that should be discussed extensively by the PS team if and when it happens. But personally, here's what I think.

We all join challenges or competitions to "win" - some may have an eye on the prize, for some the prize is the process, some think the finished LO is the reward, and still for others, peer recognition is more than enough. But let's all agree we invest our time, money, hearts and efforts in our LOs.

I do not believe that a scrapper should be banned from joining competitions or even challenges because she is a good scrapper. That defeats the purposes of issuing challenges - to find the best LO and of joining challenges - to better ourselves. To paraphrase that popular commercial, don't hate me because I make beautiful LOs.

If we discriminate against a scrapper for having won several times previously, we are in effect saying that making a winning LO is not a good thing. Instead of giving positive reinforcement we would be discouraging scrappers from doing the best they can everytime.

The competition should be about the layout, not the scrapper. The work should speak for itself. All things being equal, if an LO stands out from the rest, then it should be judged the best, regardless of who the scrapper is. Those whose LOs do not make it, should take it as a challenge to do better next time. For again, isn't that the purpose? Open competitions keep previous winners on their toes, and it encourages non-winners to continue forging on.

Art has a fickle muse. One day (or even several months) you may be producing the best works of your life, the next, someone else may be producing works better than yours.

So Donna, I take my HoF remark back. But if by some weird stroke of good luck I win second place in a competition and you place first, I would no doubt demand that you be considered a Hall of Famer already. Hey, move back and make room for me, okay?

7 comments:

Jenn Valmonte said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jenn Valmonte said...

i second the motion...very well said! like what i wrote in my blog -- give donna the recognition she deserves, but don't stop her from joining.

just thought about this now, what if she gets banned one year (like she said), then you went on a winning streak and you'd be banned, too, ....di kaya maubusan ng scrappers to join the challenges?

Lee i. said...

Hi Jenn. Tama ka. That will be the death of all challenges, too. Hehe. Just a thought, as a compromise and to give equal opportunities to everyone, then create two tiers of awards. One for the regular first, second, and third places. The other would be for special recognition for scrappers who have had a winning streak and yet submitted another winning entry. Wagi pa din lahat.

Christine said...

well said, Lee! :) I always love reading your blog - very insightful! haha, and I soooo remember that ad - don't hate me because I'm beautiful! lol!

purplesea said...

Hi Lee! Good point you have there. Kung sabagay... Paano na lang kung ako naman ang ma-Hall of Fame? e di banned na rin ako. Hahaha! (Nangangarap!!!!) What you said is right.. Having Hall of Famers will push us to create better and better layouts. Pero pede yung prize sa runner up na lang? hahaha!

Lee i. said...

Thanks Christine and Raissa. Paano na lang di ba pag tayo na ang winners, di lang once, bt several times. Di malabong mangyari, di ba? Or am I just dreaming with my eyes wide open? Hahaha.

Donna Espiritu said...

Hi Lee, just got to read this one.. hayy naku naman kakahiya u mentioned my name!! LOL!! I don't know what to feel sa HOF issue na yan but I do feel shy abt it! Hehehe Ang hirap din pla pag nanalo?!? LOL!! Like you said, not everyday I make winning layouts :) I do appreciate the recognition... and the prizes!! LOL!! It's not that I don't want to be called a HoF..I dnt even want to make an impression na maarte or something..but feel my face.. nahihiya tlaga ako hahaha