Modders Challenge Ideas

[Airbozo]

OK, I locked the last MC thread (#3) and wanted to open up a thread for ideas.

I was hoping this would go 2 ways;
1. Ideas for future challenges.
Keep in mind that it has to be fairly easy for _anyone_ to enter.
The challenge would also have to be easy to manage and verify.
Would it be feasible to charge a small entry fee to cover shipping costs?
???...

2. Prizes!
I know you would all like to win a decked out rig, but lets keep it realistic.
Most of the prizes would have to be something a company would WANT to give away.
How would a company benefit from sponsoring a contest?
???...

[calumc]

with the prizes you could try and make up a goodie bag of the smaller things that go into mods like leds, cold cathodes, fans, plexi. things like that.
And now that i think of it that cold be a contest idea, instead of giving a theme give a list of products to be used and see what people come up with. And if you could find a company launching a new modding product or a new shop opening it would be great for sponsorship

[elbarto241]

i agree w/ calumc. the winner should proably get something in the WC department, maybe a block or two with some hoses or a rad with a pump. anyone of those prizes would be great.

for contest ideas ummmmmm how about. ahh my mind is blank ill see what i can come up with later

[dgrmkrp]

Hmm.. I would think that charging an entry fee would take the contest to a higher level, but not in a good, accessible to everyone way.. Maybe later, a different challenge would be best fitted to the fee type, one with more hands-on factors (e.g. the cooler master contest, with the turn there are no tbcs products to score points with).. Till then, the fact that this is a contest that 'measures' creativity and the ability of one to stay in certain limitations while creating something unique should be kept as a priority in my opinion, of course.
If more companies are to offer sponsorship, maybe the way of the last MC should be taken, with the mod centered around the product: someone involved should ask for stuff from a company (with the accent on we chose you because you are popular and well known in our modding community) and either the prize itself is to be modded (although modding is improving something, so that means something lacks from it.. err.. not the best idea for marketing, unless dealt with a touch of genius) or integrated in a mod.

The small 'basket' of raw materials and smaller things with a punch (water blocks, rads, tubing, even a peltier element would make my day) is ideal because it doesn't have a big box nor lots of weight... so the main criteria of low shipping cost is checked. Some prizes also have a varying value: let's say you have a 20$ piece of hardware (even the common mesh - I've been rolling all over town to get a square meter or so. but couldn't find any even at the scrap yard.. all I'm left is a shop on the other side of town, that probably doesn't sell to regular human beings) that doesn't sell on that continent.. now, add to that a nice card saying congratulations and again that would make my day Because it comes from tbcs, it doesn't have to be something really expensive.. Even a piece of the doom case with an autograph from it's maker is a 'valuable' prize, although in a sacrilegious take-it-apart kinda way Or a bunch of very bright leds.. 100 of them

Aaanyways, seeing I'm ranting a lot (taking a breather from my reading), I should probably let others bring ideas for the challenge

[D1337]

Contests?
Best practical modding of a case
Strictly architecture case
Best non computer related mod
Under $xxx (users must provide invoices/receipts. Shipping isnt deducted from the amount)


Prizes.
custom work donated by the members would be cool, whether it be molding, painting, etching, or just pre-cut materials like plexi/aluminum etc.

IMO paying to enter the contest wouldn't bring alot of people in to try.
Shipping is gonna be a bitch though, since the community is pretty well spread out accross the world.

[Airbozo]

Hmm.. I would think that charging an entry fee would take the contest to a higher level, but not in a good, accessible to everyone way.. ...

...
IMO paying to enter the contest wouldn't bring alot of people in to try.
Shipping is gonna be a bitch though, since the community is pretty well spread out accross the world.

Yes, I pretty much agree about the fee thing. I threw it out there just because of the shipping costs for overseas. My company is picking up the shipping of the case to SabreNoose (more expensive than the case itself), but that was a fluke (and I caught my boss in a good mood), and otherwise the MC#3 would have been limited to us based entries (not fair in my opinion), so while I am contacting companies for prizes I am going to ask about them shipping it IF they would sponsor us. Big IF.

EDIT: OH and the main attraction of these MC's IS the accessibility by everyone and we would like to keep it that way.

[calumc]

i dont think it would be unreasonable for you to ask the winner for at least a contribution to the shipping costs

[jdbnsn]

Yes, I pretty much agree about the fee thing. I threw it out there just because of the shipping costs for overseas. My company is picking up the shipping of the case to SabreNoose (more expensive than the case itself), but that was a fluke (and I caught my boss in a good mood), and otherwise the MC#3 would have been limited to us based entries (not fair in my opinion), so while I am contacting companies for prizes I am going to ask about them shipping it IF they would sponsor us. Big IF.

EDIT: OH and the main attraction of these MC's IS the accessibility by everyone and we would like to keep it that way.

I agree on all points.

[UK-Blade]

Don't think an entry fee would be good, however, I don't think its unreasonable to ask the winner to contribute towards the shipping. Afterall they just won some nice goodies....

I like D1337's idea about custom parts,

Prizes.
custom work donated by the members would be cool, whether it be molding, painting, etching, or just pre-cut materials like plexi/aluminum etc.

I'm sure plenty of people would like to win something customer done by one of the members of the TBCS community. Who wouldn't like something done by one of the modding gods. Perhaps they could do some custom part/painting/etching for the winners next mod, or maybe a 'Winner TBCS Case Mod Contest' plaque or trophy. Even something small to bolt onto the winning case. Maybe a custom sig, done by one of the talented artists that frequent these pages. You gotta know the modders would like to help, plus they wouldn't mind the boost to the ego they'd get ;o)

As for themes,

any upcoming game or movie based theme, picking one of the biggies would be sure to get people interested.

What about some smaller contests - best mouse/keyboard mod, external hd box, best fan grill etc, best memory heatsinks. These could keep people going while your thinking up and getting sponsorship for the larger mods.

Most unusual external hdd box / usb hub etc. People like stuffing useful things into silly/strange objects.

One of my favourites would be 'Most stealthed/wirefree mod' get rid of all those unsightly wires / pipes / drives.

How about most Un-PC feature (we all like the cigarette lighter mod) so lets see what other Use-full/less (delete as appropriate) things we can stick in the PC.

Just some of my ideas....

[lukeisthecoolest]

i was thinking more along the ideas of costing of the mods

maybe the most ghetto mod