Fred, my wife speaks English very well (and constantly), and isn't known for her tolerance. She can also be quite dangerous when provoked.

If I should suddenly disappear from this forum, you'll know something went terribly wrong with my plan. 


John
[/quote]

John, hmmm, woman speaking constantly AND not known for tolerance, why I have never heard of such a woman other than my first two wives.  Fred

to MIRKO and UNDERUSED.....

With regards to what you mentioned about pros not taking "progress shots"........I would wholeheartedly and emphatically disagree with you.
I design and fabricate furniture and architectural sculptural objects for a living, on a commission basis. 
I also work with architects and designers whose perception of how some their details within their projects and the reality of actually getting it done the way
they suggested are I would say "Out of sync with the nuts and bolts of getting it done without having a change order down the line"
Usually at that point in the conversation I would pull up out of my IPhoto on my laptop a citing a similar situation using "Process photos" of a past project.
and guess what? Their next words are "I'll get back to you with a redraw". Thank you and end of discussion.

Also, since what I get paid for a project depends upon how I bid a project accurately....... it sure does help when going through a particular operation and how much time
I will allot for that procedure.....Going back in time and seeing photos on how I worked out a particular problem  saves me from "assuming I know better"
in the future. .........and I also avoid repeating a mistake I may have forgotten about.

What does it take to keep up a photo diary? ..........about the same energy it takes to CLICK, CLICK open a Festool systainer and take out a tool.
It becomes just what you do during a job, a design process.......a matter of discipline which becomes routine.

Oh, by the way, SNAP, SNAP and the tool is back in the systainer / or SNAP, SNAP the image is on my hard drive.
Its that easy.

Monte

I think a series of photos showing Eiji ripping it all out, and then re-installing it, would make it a sure winner. 

Seriously, it seems to me that complete documentation is likely to be an issue only with previously completed projects. Anyone (professional or hobbyist) who is aware of the contest and starting a new project that has "contest potential" is sure to document accordingly. And I'm hoping this contest idea has a long run.


John

Monte,

I undertand your point. In fact, with the contest as a backdrop, there may be added encouragement for the pros to do a little more documentation, which could then lead to other previously unrecognized benefits. At my day job, we take photos quite regularly to archive pertinent info. The expression about "one picture being worth a thousand words" is probably the most used of any I can think of. And, in the digital age it can hardly be easier to put into play. Personally, I am still adjusting to the fact that I have a camera with me virtually every waking moment (cell phone). I can whip it out to document most anything and be back to the task at hand without missing a beat.

There is thread ongoing about 'how do you work'. I would not be suprised if someone posted that they "take pictures of everything"

I know all about The Wood Whisperer contests.  For a site like The Wood Whisperer, I think a random drawing works better.  It's difficult to do too much with visitor involvement on  a static Web site.  But for an active forum, it's better, in my opinion, to ask members to take initiative.  My hope is that a contest like ours will deepen forum project posts.
Matthew

I, too, take pictures of everything (well, almost everything  ).

Bill, have you checked out the photography section on this site?

Everyone,
Just a quick note.  As the judges work on choosing a winner for this month's contest, we are planning themes for future contests.  We have some exciting prizes for upcoming contests!

I just made one addition to the contest rules, which I am sure everyone will understand:
The project cannot be posted in another forum prior to entering the FOG contest.

I have edited the first post in this discussion to include this new rule.

Thanks,
Matthew

How would you know?

Matthew, with all due respect, I don't think I understand at all. From my perspective, I think it just might be nice if Frank, or someone like him, could go back to a previous thread elsewhere and bump it with a post saying, "I entered a contest over on FOG and won a new Festool XXX with this project."

No, I don't think that it is a good restriction.  If someone uses Festool tools on a project and describes how they (and other)  tools were used, why should it matter which forum the project was first posted on?   

Because I posted both projects to the Canadian Woodworking forum before I posted them to this one.

Frank,
The thing is, I'm walking a fine line here.  The forum needs to have special content, something to set it apart.  I've worked hard to make this something unique to the FOG, and it's  one of the goals of the contest.  On the other hand, of course, we don't want to restrict anyone from winning if he or she has a great project.

Any suggestions on how to handle that differently?

Matthew

OK Matthew, I guess that I now understand your perspective.  But, I think the fact that you are running contests does make things unique here and I don't think you require the restriction.

By the way, I did not post information about any of my projects either here or on Canadian Woodworking with the idea of winning some contest.  I posted them, because I found them interesting and thought that others would too.

Not that I expect any of my current projects to be contenders, but this removes all of my extant projects from consideration.

As long as it appeared here first, we're all set!  But I will edit the wording to be clearer.
Thanks!
Matthew