This isn't smart. I'll just state up front that I *know* that. But before the rails come off completely, I want to take a stab at it.
No one expected the first outing to go smoothly. How could it? The Merriweathers are a brand new, very ambitious format, and it will take more
than one cycle- perhaps many- to work out the knots. I totally get that.
To-ta-lly.
So, with that firmly in mind, the things I don't understand are these:
Did Paul not win either? He said his scores were lower than Laura BF's. If that's the case, how did that happen? And who are the winners?
Why can't a story be submitted under a pen name? If the entries are judged without names, I just don't understand why that matters.
Why is Katrina's ID banned? If it's a matter of her forgetting to say "posting on behalf of Mcom" then I hope this is resolved very quickly. I don't see how we'll get this cleared up without
her being able to post.
Why the venom? As a bystander/writer who doesn't own a waffy vignette to her name, I was just waiting until the next story cycle to see what's next. But Mcom's official post was off-putting and unkind enough to give me pause.
Again, of course these events are frustrating, and no, it didn't go smoothly, but the public face of Mcom- in my opinion, which I am now just tossing about- needs to be one that's welcoming,
does it not? That encourages participants, not chases them away.
I would venture that requires a very long fuse, and a large dose of grin-and-bear-it diplomacy... or it should.
That said, I hope those who had a *positive* experience with Mcom and judging will come forward and post on it. I'd be really interested to know what you liked about it, what you found helpful, why you would enter again, etc. And maybe it would balance out the negative.
Also, I *adored* Jenni's story. Have no complaints with her taking the top prize, whatsoever. And while I certainly haven't agreed with all judges comments, they've made for interesting reading, and offered some contrasting povs. Always a good thing.
When she is able, I'd really like Katrina and Mcom to address these issues directly and clear things up for the next go-round.
I don't see any reason this has to be combative.
CC
