Green Room - Week 29 - Day 6

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

It was a dark and stormy night...

No, really, it was.

Really stormy.

It didn't make matters any better that there ended up being a water pipe that burst a couple streets over from where we were heading.

Traffic is bad on an average day when you are leaving the city and coming into suburbia. But when you add "bad weather" into the mix, it's just going to get worse. Throw in "traveling on bus" - and then once you get home, needing to run back out into it - yeah, it becomes less of a "am I going to be late" and more of a "HOW late am I going to be?"

Especially when you haven't factored in actually eating dinner.

But that's what you sign up for - sometimes you just have to *not* eat in order to get everything done that needs to get done.

When those "perfect storm" situations hit, you try to be more understanding about other people who may be going through something of their own on their end of the internet.

Which is why I send out my patented "You coming?" emails to people who haven't made it in yet. To find out what is going on - and if they just forgot to link their entry. When I'm running ahead of schedule, I tend to look for those myself - and usually end up finding a few on even the best of weeks. (rarely the same person)

I understand - things can happen.

Which is a long way around getting to the question that I have multiple copies of in my inbox last night/this morning. What it boils down to is "Do you enforce the deadlines/why have rules if you won't enforce them?"

There are definitely people who have come in on the wrong side of being late for a poll and have been eliminated as a result.

Deadlines are set. But, since Season 1, the policy has always been "If you get it in before I post the poll - I'll allow it." That's always the been the rule for what gets in the poll and what doesn't.

I can think of someone off the top of my head (a personal favorite of mine that season actually) who ended up submitting their entry less than a minute after a posted the poll. *That* was heartbreaking, but it's one of the dangers involved with posting at last minute. You never know when I am going to be have things ready to go! Things like last night, or where LJ just goes wonky/something wrong with the coding are pretty rare. The closer you get to that edge, the more likely it is to end up costing you.

Some people don't like that. They say it shows too much mercy.

Some people don't like when I have a twist that they think is too cruel.

To me - the mercy and the cruelty ends up evening out. :)

I can let people into the polls. Or come into the game late through special events and powers. Ultimately though YOU will decide if they are going to stay.

That's your power as voters. If you want to use "were they on time?" as a criteria - that's your criteria.
"Have they been here the entire time?" Again. Your criteria.
"Can I beat them?" (I've seen that one used before) That's on you.

The main one should always be "What did I think of the entry?" But those are certainly valid tie-breakers if everything else is equal.

This week has a Contestant Only vote component to it: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/809247.html which is a chance for the contestants to have their say. I hope that you will use it - and if being late to the party is something that bugs you - don't vote for them. If it's not, and they are putting out something you enjoy, do.

This is one small area where it really is "your call", where your will is going to be enforced! Use it wisely.

Comments

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

I have one thing to say, and not about GRs, but Work Rooms: I actually made myself wake up at 6 a.m. my time when they were normally posted in order to get into the 'live' discussion. It's really nice, and the first half a day of a Work Room very lively indeed. :)

[bleodswean.livejournal.com]

I still haven't been able to use the Work Room. I just can't see what other people are thinking or doing before I write....it's too sticky and shiny, if you know what I mean. Interesting to hear that the WR is lively, though! Are there actual threads about the process of writing?

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

There was a thread about writing process in yesterday's GR.

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

There are sometimes (especially when Gary asks a specific question :) ), but mostly the discussion centers about the meanings of the topic and the ideas people have about it, and also book associations and articles on the subject. It very often helps concentrate on the topic.

But that is as far as I can go. I never read other peoples entries before submitting my own because I fear that I will grow too distracted... or maybe discard a good idea because someone has already written something similar.

So I understand why you may avoid WR as well.

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

The workroom tends to be a lot more about process and noodling ideas and concepts than it is about specific things people are going to write. Since the writing part for this week is over, maybe you should poke your head into the workroom for this last topic and take a look at the kind of stuff that goes on there. :)

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

I second this :)