Halle Berry's pet Octopus: NBS BIF 8

Film it and put it on Youtube.

 

We can't be both sending to you. I thought you were thinking that I was your sender?

 

Umm, not specifically, but in general, often enough that even a casual follower of the thread will notice participation.

For me, it's a tricky tightrope; I want lots of people in, because we're supporting NBS participation, and we want that to be a primary focus. But, I also want more people involved, because it creates a more enjoyable experience.

Someone who signs up, but doesn't actively participate, is taking another participants joy away, by not playing along. This is the 8th edition, and we've got folks who have been in all of them, most of them, some of them, and one of them. We have some incredibly generous senders. I think some lurkers see the boxes sent, sign up for one, do the minimum shipping (with less than minimum participation), get their great box, and call it good. Meanwhile, the person sending that awesome box is disappointed that their effort is going unappreciated, by nonparticipation.

It certainly is a fine line trying to define which new folks should be included. I tend to err on the side of inclusion. And, we have gained some great participants by gambling on someone without an NBS history. But, we've lost lost some outstanding senders over the matter. I, perhaps wrongly, thought the "soft, yet firm" parameters I set in the sign-up thread were enough of a signal to folks: support the weekly NBS thread, and be active in the H&H thread. I will be much stricter next round.

I mentioned upthread that I will have a group convo with a core group of current and former participants about what we want this BIF to be going forward. It's going to take a lot of convincing to get me off of this point: Future participants must have a history of posting on NBS before being allowed into the BIF. It won't have to be months or years, but at least a certain level (to be defined by the hive) to be considered.

I hate that we're having to go down this rabbit hole, but it seems that this is where we are.

TLDR; most of you are glorious bastards! We'll not let little shit deter us!