After visiting the wrap up posts and tallying the counts, I’m excited to announce the winners for Blog Post Bingo. There are two winners — one person who completed all 12 posts will receive a $10 e-gift certificate from Amazon.com. The second winner, chosen randomly from all entrants simply gets featured and praised here in the wrap up post.
There were four bloggers who completed all of the bingo posts: Jackie from Farm Lane Books, Sherrie from Just Books, Nicole from Books and Bards, and Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise. After consulting the random number generator, the winner is…
Sherrie from Just Books!
Sherrie had a lot of great bingo posts, but my favorite was the definition post in which she came up with a definition for her blog — I thought this was a very creative way to complete that post.
The second winner, who doesn’t get much more than a shout out and my congrats, is…
Kathy from Bermudaonions Weblog!
Kathy is one of the first book bloggers to comment on my blog, ever, and I always look forward to her comments. Kathy completed six posts — I enjoyed the way she asked bloggers to vote on which books she should take to the beach because I thought it was a creative poll or question (and I was jealous she was at the beach!).
I want to just quickly thank all 11 of the bloggers that participated in bingo this time around — I enjoyed following all of your posts immensely! I hope the experience was as stretching for you as it was for me.
Sadly, there weren’t quite as many bingo participants this round as there were last time. I might not have done enough to market it — someone suggested making a “promotion post” part of the next bingo, which is actually a very good idea. Or, it could be that it’s summer and people are just blogging less. I’m not sure — thoughts?
I’ve been thinking that even if I don’t do another Blog Improvement Project next year, I may still do Blog Post Bingo as a monthly challenge a couple times next year. How does that sound? Any suggestions on how to make a future bingo game better?
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Thanks for the shout out! I do think the summer probably affected BPB – I might have been able to get a few more posts in if I hadn’t been at the beach (I just had to get that in there) and I know other people are busy with vacations and company. BPB is a lot of fun and a great way for bloggers to stretch themselves.
It’s just summer. I don’t have as much time to write up creative posts. I like the ideas for different non-reviews posts, but it just didn’t happen this time around.
I’m not sure about other people, but blog post bingo was a real challenge. Trying to fit 12 different posts into such a short period of time, along with the normal review posts was difficult. I sometimes felt that I was just ticking off the post types, at the expense of my blog’s normal review content. I often had to double post on a day, when I normally like to only post once a day. This led to fewer comments on each post, and it was my reviews which lost the comments.
12 posts is fine in 3 weeks, but not when you have review posts to keep up with too. Perhaps some people were put off by the number of types they were expected to come up with.
I found it a very constructive exercise, but perhaps next time we should do less post types over a longer time period?
As you know, I did not notice the Bingo until I came home from our holiday, and still I managed to squeeze 8 posts in.
I agree with Rebecca that this is a period when many bloggers are away (my sitemeter and my blogroll say the same).
I think your idea of a few bingos next year is terrific! 3-4 over the year and a month to get through them would suit me very well. After all definition posts etc take some thinking and planning if most of your posts are reviews.
Congratulations Sherrie and Kathy!
I definitely think the summer had a lot to do with the lower participation. It was a bit of a struggle for me to complete the tasks–I really had to hustle toward the end. And with so much going on, sometimes it’s much easier to go on autopilot rather than try to be creative.
I love the idea of including a promotional post as part of BPB! And I would definitely do it again throughout the year–I think it’s a great way to keep your blog fresh and to branch out and grow.
I don’t really have any suggestions on how to improve it, mainly because I thought it was great just as it is! The only thing I might do differently is to have a Linky where people can list their posts as they complete them, so we can keep up with each other throughout the month.
I bet it was just summer that was the problem. And I would love to still have Blog Post Bingo as an ongoing thing. I like the “kick in the pants” to make me be a little more creative.
I love Blog Post Bingo! But I find I need more time because I can’t force posts. … so if I have the criteria in mind I can apply it better to my blog posts as ideas crop up. Oh, and maybe a bit longer time needs check-ins (if you’re planning to do it next year it could last a month with weekly check-ins).
Hi Kim,
I love the bingo posts, but I have to admit it was a challenge this time. I almost ran out of time. Having it once or twice a year and maybe a longer time frame would help. Thanks for the e- gift card. I’ll have to find something to get with it. Have a great day!
Sherrie
I agree with everyone about the summer season affecting participants. Even people who don’t take vacations are still out enjoying the summer days. I find blog traffic really slows down throughout the season.
But keeping Blog Bingo challenges next year would be fantastic. Personally, I keep to my regular blog schedule and fit the bingo posts in as I can. I stretch my regular content but don’t throw posts in haphazardly just for the bingo. But I love doing the new-to-me posts and to me that’s the point of the challenge – to grow as a blogger.
Here’s how I did with mine:
http://julia-mindovermatter.blogspot.com/2009/07/2009-blog-improvement-project-13-blog.html