Scratch

Your might also want to create a project that could serve as an infomercial for the group.  I just put one together that should be pretty straight forward to remix.
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/ashbyr1/219343

I might make a critique group. Do I need to make the gallery myself? I want to make a critique group that is mainly focussed on feedback because already half of the critique groups are not giving any feedback at all.

there I made a cool group:
http://scratch.mit.edu/galleries/view/24568

Last edited by Colkadome (2008-07-20 00:45:23)

Yes a rating system is both fun to do and is considered feedback. It is also a matter of getting these groups known by more people. Currently not many people bother to look at the forums enough to see our sticky about our critique groups. Maybe we can ask the scratch magazine makers to include an article about these groups.

Two critique groups are featured galleries on the homepage right now.  That should help.

soccerisawsome wrote:

I don't have anyone in my critique group yet and it's been almost a week.

People aren't swarming into critique group, but they have been trickling in.  A few things I've done that have helped:
1) Add a sig tag link in forums (and actively participate in a few threads)
2) Personally invite people I'd like to work with.
3) Post some of my projects in the gallery.
4) Create an infomercial project for your group.
5) Post a simple intro project for people to complete as an application.
6) Critique projects you admire.

And here is some advice I posted elsewhere for Critique Group leaders...

It might be good to include some of these details in your gallery description so people know what is expected if they decide to participate:

--What is the focus of your critique?
--How many people do you want involved (a few, anyone?)
--Who should submit projects? (beginners, artists, kids, etc)
--How are you going to support those that join your critique group?
------how will they know which projects they should critique?
------how will they know how often they are expected to critique?
------how will they know when their project will receive a critique?
------consider making frequent announcements in your gallery
------consider asking people to focus on a single project at a time, so one person can receive feedback from many...then move on to the next project
--How will you keep things organized/structured
------how are you going to keep track of your members?
------how are you going to keep your members focused?
-----consider creating a schedule (new project to critique every day? week?)
--Consider developing some guidelines such as:
------for each project you submit, offer critique to 5 other people's projects
------each person can submit 1 project for critique
------each member must commit to submitting a critique every day/week/month
------critiques should be submitted in project comments

I am very enthusiastic about each of your efforts to engage the community in critiques...this is a great way to learn AND to make new friends!

mletreat wrote:

ashbyr1 wrote:

I know, getting people to start giving feedback has been a slow for me also.  The question is how to we get people to start giving feedback so that we can reinforce that behavior? One thought I've had is that people might enjoy giving feedback by remixing a project.  Another idea I've had is to give people a rating system so they can score projects from 1-4 based on specific criteria like playability, graphics, originality.  I also think that once we get a few good discussion about a project, we could post them in the forums to help people see why they can be valuable.

One thing you can do to help generate more activity is to explain the expectations of your critique group up front...for example: every member must submit 2 critiques per week/month...then, as the group leader, it is up to you to follow up with your members to make sure they are doing so (send them a friendly reminder that they are participants and if they want to leave, you can remove their projects)

Many people seem to want to join, not fully understanding what they are joining...explaining this up front might help 

I agree 100%.  I think it's a learning process for all of us because our members need to know the expectations, but we don't know what to expect until we get to know our members.

One problem I've run into as a leader is that the spam filters make it difficult to send the same message to a group of people.  So I can only post things and hope members remember to check the gallery. 

I also wish that there were a way to subscribe to a gallery so that it appeared on the "my stuff" page even if I didn't create it.  I'm in the tutorial critique group, but check on it less frequently because I don't have that visual reminder.

joeisawesome wrote:

It could be a good idea to use a guestbook for users to introduce themselves to their critique group. just an idea...

That is a good idea.  Keeping track your group members seems like an important step.  What have others done to help support their groups?

There are some things you should all consider when approaching this idea of leading a group:

1) How are you going to recruit new members?  This seems like a challenge many of you have faced and perhaps needs some additional plans of attack.  Perhaps you could ask each member who joins the group to recomend 2 friends to join the group.  You could then have them invite the friend.

2) How are you going to keep group members around?  Many people join critiques because they are seeking feedback.  How will you ensure each member of your group receives sufficient feedback?  One thing would be to keep track of who is posting projects and assign people to projects to critique.  This might take more management, but it ensures that people will get the feedback they seek and will give them more reason to stick around. 

3) How many people are you willing to manage in your group?  The more people that join, the harder it will get for you to manage.  If  you want large numbers, you might want to set up your group in a way that they can manage themselves.  Create simple and easy to follow guidelines: "Add a project and give a review of someone elses."

4) What about content of these reviews...you might want to remind your group of what kind of feedback you are hoping to share: advice, tips, questions, etc

5) Keep talking with one another and support the cause.  Feedback is an essential part of the learning process and your efforts to help the community is beneficial to everyone.  While you explore new ways to coordinate your groups, share what you have learned with us all.

ashbyr1 wrote:

soccerisawsome wrote:

I don't have anyone in my critique group yet and it's been almost a week.

People aren't swarming into critique group, but they have been trickling in.  A few things I've done that have helped:
1) Add a sig tag link in forums (and actively participate in a few threads)
2) Personally invite people I'd like to work with.
3) Post some of my projects in the gallery.
4) Create an infomercial project for your group.
5) Post a simple intro project for people to complete as an application.
6) Critique projects you admire.

Thanks I'll try the ideas.

GoogleplexPlus wrote:

Hey, excuse me. I'm sort of new to this critique group thing. I just started one. This one: http://scratch.mit.edu/galleries/veiw/48827. Where do you think is a good place to set my bait?
Facts About My Group:
-It's empty. Very empty.
-It's supposed to be for people who want to make a variety of things.
-So far it's almost unknown.
-Someone else made a group like this one.

Help me out!

This thread was made a little less than a year ago. They probably won't respond.