Last year was my first A to Z Challenge and it allowed me to really become part of the blogging community. I found lots of welcoming spirits out there and I think this year I have found even more! Some of those who join in with this Challenge are well known authors, editors, artists, musicians etc and that they visit your blog and leave a thoughtful comment speaks volumes about how the Challenge works to inspire others as well as yourself.
I knew more about what to expect this year but I also wanted to push myself so I set myself a goal of visiting on average 10 blogs each day and I am very pleased to announce that I achieved this and a little bit more :)
One problem I did encounter though was the amount of blogs at the beginning (first week of the Challenge) who were on the list but not obviously taking part. This was very evident in the list of bloggers with less than 100 followers (as I am one of these I like to give some support in this area and follow those of interest) where some had not posted since mid 2014!! I know how hard the crew and their minions work (I got lots of comments from them over the course of the Challenge) so I think maybe next year I should throw my hat into the ring and offer to monitor the less than 100 followers sign-ups list.
There were still problems on one or two blogs where leaving a comment was difficult but I felt on the whole that this year was a lot better than last :) It might be a good idea to run some "tutorials" during March so people know how to turn off certain limiting devices as well as how to leave a link back to their actual blog (as I still encountered those who left a comment but I didn't know where they had come from and found it a bit of a marathon to visit them on their own blog). I am still not sure how I see those from Wordpress who are following me as my counters are only set for google connect and Blogster so a possible tutorial on this would benefit me :)
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the A to Z Challenge 2015 and just want to say a really big thank you to all those who visited and left a comment on my blog and a huge round of applause for those tireless souls who initiated and ran this wonderful event. Long may it continue :)
I decided to create this award in your honour.
(Big thank you to Krista Wallden for her thumbs up clipart)
Now I'm off to read what others have said - so please feel free to leave a comment below and I'll make sure I come over and do likewise on your post :)
Now I'm off to read what others have said - so please feel free to leave a comment below and I'll make sure I come over and do likewise on your post :)
It was certainly annoying visiting pages that clearly weren't participating, particularly early on when I was struggling to visit people and leave comments. And towards the end I just ran out of steam to visit people at all!
ReplyDeleteWell life can get in the way & you were busy stitching that amazing piece if I remember correctly to go along with the challenge :)
DeleteHahaha :D That's very true!
DeleteI think I missed most of the blogs who weren't participating, but that might have been as my blog hopping was down on the numbers I managed last year.
ReplyDeleteOne blogger explained in a post why they weren't taking part which was really helpful and I appreciated that post to let visitors know, rather than me searching for if they were or not.
I've not looked at my stats for this month as we've had guests for the last 5 days but I might have a gander and add any interesting insights to my reflections post later... what I did notice this year was a lot more repeat visits and more content in the comments so I spent a lot more time chatting on my own blog this year than last year... hmmm perhaps I should go rewrite my reflections post a bit more lol!
Loved your A to Z.
Mars
Curling Stones for Lego People
It certainly was great to get those longer comments that continued the conversations and allowed us to get to know others a bit better - such as yourself, Mars :)
DeleteGood reflections post! I am happy to become one of your new followers. And good for you in checking out so many blogs. Happy that you find mine!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and becoming a follower. I think the Challenge gives us the opportunity to meet like-minded and interesting people and after that they can blossom into friendships :)
DeleteCongratulations on the completion of the challenge, I'm glad last years' experience didn't put you off . I read with interest your above comments and I agree with some of them.
DeleteThank you for your support visiting me,
Yvonne......your latest follower.
It's been lovely getting to know so many extraordinary bloggers and take a peek into their world :)
DeleteCongratulations on completing the challenge! It was great fun, huh? See you soon :)
ReplyDeleteYou betcha !! Can't wait to see what you'll be up to next :)
DeleteI am glad you came back for a second year and had fun with the challenge! I'll have to come back to read more of your posts, I am really curious about them :) We try to monitor inactive blogs during the challenge, but it is often hard to tell... The tutorials in March is a good idea!
ReplyDelete@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary
MopDog
Thanks for popping over. I'm looking forward to visiting some more blogs once the A to Z Road Trip is under way!
DeleteI think, in order to keep a handle on this, we could do a "citizen's arrest". What I mean, is, copy the link of those bloggers who are *not* participating, and report them so that Lee and the gang could remove them from the list.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading everyone's posts and making new friends!
♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥
Yes I like the idea of flagging those bloggers who are not actively participating to the team but we might need a list of who was monitoring which part of the list I suppose?
DeleteSenco,
ReplyDeleteI read your Z to R posts from the challenge. You are so creative!
I liked your idea of visiting 10 blogs a day. I am your new follower. :)
Lovely to have you on board, Prunzaye and thank you for your kind words :)
DeleteCool award! :-) I'm glad you had a mostly good experience. I'm looking forward to next year.
ReplyDeleteHi again Devika - it just seems better each year so 2016 should be awesome!!
DeleteI really enjoyed your posts (and I fell behind on my regular blogs during April so I'll be going back and catching up on them later).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about it being frustrating when you find a blog that hasn't even started or has stopped without any comment to say way. I think that the teams do a really good job of helping to clear out the blogs that aren't participating.
Good luck if you go ahead with being a minion next year. :-)
Yes I didn't look at my Blogster teaching feed all month - so there will be one heck of a lot of catching up there!!
DeleteThanks for participating again! I only came across your blog towards the end of the Challenge. I was one of the minions who periodically reviewed blogs and notified Co-hosts if they went AWOL or didn't even blog at all. It actually seemed fairly common,but I was pleased to see that many people tried. Sometimes I would come across a blog that was quite lovely by a newbie and they just weren't getting a lot of comments, but I also think it may be that they were not commenting much themselves. I agree there could be more support for newbie bloggers, like how to turn off commenting obstacles like Captcha phrases or allowing links, or teaching WP newbies how to comment on blogger, or blogger newbies how to comment on WP easier.
ReplyDeleteMaui Jungalow
Yes those suggestions particularly on how to make commenting easier would be most welcome :)
DeleteFinding you through your reflection. I really liked your idea that a series of tutorials happen in March. This was my 3rd year to participate and the same problems seem to reoccur each year. In my own reflection I wrote what I thought worked and didn't. Not sure who reads these reflections and a good suggestion like yours, but I hope this comes to pass. Congrats on finishing the challenge. I'm proud of us!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you too :) I've just popped over to your detailed reflections post and left a comment there as well.
DeleteWell done for finishing for a second year. I'll have to come back to take a more thorough read of how you got on. I've usually managed to comment on most but struggled to comment on more this year due to the limited options many I visited had.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynne. The size of the A to Z Challenge means we can't comment on everyone's nor follow blogs every day but we all try :)
DeleteCongrats on finishing the challenge. I didn't get to your blog much so will have to read additional posts as I have time. I get long winded myself at times and find it hard to keep it short.
ReplyDeleteSunni
http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/
Thanks Sunni - I think we all did very well :)
DeleteCongrats on completing the A to Z Challenge! Looking forward to next year! See you on the Road Trip!
ReplyDeleteMary @ Jingle Jangle Jungle
Thank you Mary and yes now I'm thinking ahead to the Road Trip!
DeleteCongrats on finishing the Challenge! I liked your dual theme, both helpful and interesting. I remember playing a barrier game when I was much (much) younger, where we had to give instructions to a classmate to do something, I forget what. It really made us think and be so much more specific with our word choices.
ReplyDeleteThe attack of the 50 foot cat made me laugh. You're an amazingly crafty person. I loved the illuminated lettering and the idea of yarn bombing.
And no, I do not work well in noisy environments.
Thanks again for stopping by my blog! Have a great week!
Thank you, Lori - I'm so pleased you liked my blog and themes - you obviously dipped in to one or two of them so thank you for taking the tie to read and leave feedback :)
DeleteThis was my first year and I really enjoyed it! Looking forward to next years already!
ReplyDeletePopping by on the A to Z Road Trip
Debbie
www.myrandommusings.blogspot.com