Today I found out that the Mentor Program has worked its way up to 6 pairs, so for at least 12 of you Enclavers, you've found a new person to interact with consistently. I'm really excited to hear that! For those of you that are interested in finding a mentor or mentee, just visit the page and sign up! It takes about 2 minutes.
This program is so awesome; it's one of the ideas that I liked most when it was first suggested and have really wanted to continue, but it's also been the most ill-fated. Constantly we've had volunteer leaders wander in only to wander out a few weeks later. This is our fourth time restarting this project, and I'm holding my breath, just ready for it to fail yet again.
But this time we've found a great leader in Akoji, who is relatively time-free, and definitely dedicated to keeping the group alive. I was pretty tepid about restarting this project, it's just always seemed to be doomed to fail, so I thought that restarting it was a pretty temerous idea. But so far, Akoji has done an excellent job!
I'm looking forward to this program's success, this really embodies what the Enclave is about. The reality of it is, since this whole thing started, the only people making money off of it have been our teachers. The rest is done by volunteers who really just want to see Go succeed, and love to support their fellow players. There is no better way to really support others than to dedicate your time to them, free of charge.
I've been so amazed by the way that the Go community freely gives away its time to help others grow, when a selfish investment would be much more personally beneficial for most of them. I love that attitude, I love that sense of community.
And I love how perfectly the Mentor Program embodies that. It seems to me that the Mentor Program, more than anything else we do, really is the heart and soul of us Enclavers, that we give away freely to help someone else.
It's so great to see you guys giving up your time freely! Now, you mentees remember this when you grow stronger and there are weaker players to teach! Passing on this favor will make us all stronger as time goes on.
08 October 2009
The Atsumi Go School
So a while back I met Daniel Benmergui (danigabi), KGS 6d. Daniel is an interesting guy with a passion for Go and an honest, straightforward attitude. He's a great guy that's working really hard to found a Go school, and I was duly impressed by his dedication and hard work, so shortly after meeting him I volunteered to help him with any graphics issues that he had.
I wasn't sure at first if he would take me seriously, but shortly after showing him the Enclave magazine, I was fairly certain he was. A few days later, we set up an arrangement where I would do some graphics and design work for him in exchange for lessons for The Enclave (exciting thing to look forward to!).
Now, this was great news for me! I love doing graphical work of any kind, and I love Go, and I love the Enclave, so this was a win-win-win for me. I would be doing this type of work for fun, anyway, so it was absolutely perfect!
I've already done a bit of work for them, so if you're interested in helping them out or anything, you can go ahead and use these in any way you see fit!
I made this for the Login windows on CGoban. It must have been fairly popular, within three days of being up, Daniel needed to pay for a few more clicks. We'll see where that goes!
At first, we tried to make some KGS pictures that had some pretty explicit advertising, you know "Atsumi Go School—Lessons, Study Groups, Reviews!," but those were turned down by the admins, who explained that avatars should not be used as an advertising medium. As one admin admonished, "If we let you put up an ad, you're only allowed to log in once a day!"
So, instead, we have this as the result. It's perfectly sized for KGS, and managed to look beautiful even so. I was very happy with this result. If Daniel isn't able to use it for AGS, I think I will steal it for myself!
So, I am very excited about actually getting some Go related "work." I'm really hoping for this school to succeed, it has such high hopes, I'd hate to see it crash and burn!
I wasn't sure at first if he would take me seriously, but shortly after showing him the Enclave magazine, I was fairly certain he was. A few days later, we set up an arrangement where I would do some graphics and design work for him in exchange for lessons for The Enclave (exciting thing to look forward to!).
Now, this was great news for me! I love doing graphical work of any kind, and I love Go, and I love the Enclave, so this was a win-win-win for me. I would be doing this type of work for fun, anyway, so it was absolutely perfect!
I've already done a bit of work for them, so if you're interested in helping them out or anything, you can go ahead and use these in any way you see fit!
KGS Banner
KGS Avatar Picture
So, instead, we have this as the result. It's perfectly sized for KGS, and managed to look beautiful even so. I was very happy with this result. If Daniel isn't able to use it for AGS, I think I will steal it for myself!
So, I am very excited about actually getting some Go related "work." I'm really hoping for this school to succeed, it has such high hopes, I'd hate to see it crash and burn!
Blitz Division Update
Well, the EBD is starting off nicely, it's much larger than the last tournament. We upped the prizes a bit and did some advertising, we had almost 30 people sign up. A few dropped out when they didn't show up, but that's normal in internet tournaments, so we didn't rush to get upset.
I remember my frustration the first time we organized a tournament. After almost a month of trying to get players to arrange matches, I handed the project off to somebody else and threw up my hands, swearing I would never do that again. Well, it's over a year later, but we've started again with that lesson under our belt. One of the most important things is imposing strict limits on when games need to be played, while also being flexible with schedules.
I'm glad we know that now, that first tournament was just really stressful. I know there's at least one of our original members that reads this blog, so if you remember how bad those first few were, leave a comment! I'd love to see how different our memory of it is.
But, back to the main point, the EBD is turning out great so far, and I'm excited to see it progress. I'm also looking forward to sending out a goban, even though I know it won't be anything incredible, at least somebody out there will get a goban. I hope they don't already have one!
We'll keep you updated as we get closer to the end of the EBD!
I remember my frustration the first time we organized a tournament. After almost a month of trying to get players to arrange matches, I handed the project off to somebody else and threw up my hands, swearing I would never do that again. Well, it's over a year later, but we've started again with that lesson under our belt. One of the most important things is imposing strict limits on when games need to be played, while also being flexible with schedules.
I'm glad we know that now, that first tournament was just really stressful. I know there's at least one of our original members that reads this blog, so if you remember how bad those first few were, leave a comment! I'd love to see how different our memory of it is.
But, back to the main point, the EBD is turning out great so far, and I'm excited to see it progress. I'm also looking forward to sending out a goban, even though I know it won't be anything incredible, at least somebody out there will get a goban. I hope they don't already have one!
We'll keep you updated as we get closer to the end of the EBD!
04 October 2009
Tough
Sometimes I hate doing things with Go players. Usually I love it, sometimes I seriously hate it. I suppose that's the way with most things, but it really frustrates me how complacent Go players can be. Sometimes it seems to me that the only people who want Go to become popular are brand new players, and the old players have settled into this, "I like things the way they are" routine.
I want this game to be huuuge. And some days it feels like I'm the minority. I actually am trying to get things going, rather than just talking about it. In this, I know I am in the minority. There's a lot of players that would like to do something, but for various reasons either cannot or do not. Sometimes it's work, school, families, other times, it's just a lack of real dedication. Whatever it is, I know that really dedicated organizers are few and far between in the Go world. Maybe it's that way everywhere and I've just missed it, since Go is the only thing I care about like this.
I don't really understand what it is about organizing that upsets people. I don't think I've really done anything to step on people's toes, yet, and for some reason I still run into people that get really mad or put off just because I try.
I've been called everything from "shady" to "iffy" to "bourgeois" for goodness sake! My latest project, MNGO, has been a really popular idea with players in my state, but I've run into some opposition or at least grumblings already, and we haven't even had our first meeting.
I suppose I shouldn't be upset about it the way I am, since a lot of people are just scared of change. But it kind of upsets me when I dedicate my time and people freak out about it. I'm not trying to do anything that's already been done, I'm trying to start something totally new to support just local players and clubs. We're not replacing, reorganizing or in any way changing the clubs, so I don't see the problem.
Do any of you guys have opinions? Should Go really just stay the way it is? Or is it important to change things up?
Leave a comment, let me know!
I want this game to be huuuge. And some days it feels like I'm the minority. I actually am trying to get things going, rather than just talking about it. In this, I know I am in the minority. There's a lot of players that would like to do something, but for various reasons either cannot or do not. Sometimes it's work, school, families, other times, it's just a lack of real dedication. Whatever it is, I know that really dedicated organizers are few and far between in the Go world. Maybe it's that way everywhere and I've just missed it, since Go is the only thing I care about like this.
I don't really understand what it is about organizing that upsets people. I don't think I've really done anything to step on people's toes, yet, and for some reason I still run into people that get really mad or put off just because I try.
I've been called everything from "shady" to "iffy" to "bourgeois" for goodness sake! My latest project, MNGO, has been a really popular idea with players in my state, but I've run into some opposition or at least grumblings already, and we haven't even had our first meeting.
I suppose I shouldn't be upset about it the way I am, since a lot of people are just scared of change. But it kind of upsets me when I dedicate my time and people freak out about it. I'm not trying to do anything that's already been done, I'm trying to start something totally new to support just local players and clubs. We're not replacing, reorganizing or in any way changing the clubs, so I don't see the problem.
Do any of you guys have opinions? Should Go really just stay the way it is? Or is it important to change things up?
Leave a comment, let me know!
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