TPF Across America - The Journey of One Lens Across the USA - Round 2

Tee · Feb 1, 2014

Who made you the Grand Poobah on who gets to start a project of sending a lens around? You may have been around the forum for a long time but you have been non-existent for months and months. The members who have been waiting patiently have given you ample amounts of time to resurrect this project. You chose to disassociate yourself from this project by not logging on and give updates. The only hurdles you're project encountered was your inability to facilitate a proper project.

This ship hasn't only sailed. It's been stripped, towed out to sea, and sunk. Good luck to you in school and everything else, but given your claims of how busy you are, it's probably best you let this one go.

sm4him · Feb 1, 2014

I have mixed feelings about this one, Mark.

On the one hand: No matter WHY you went "incommunicado," no matter why the lens stopped in its tracks even BEFORE that--the fact is, we were ALL frustrated by the lack of communication and progress, because, speaking for myself at least, I felt pretty vested in the project. Still do.
I absolutely, wholeheartedly agree with the call to "put our behinds in our past" as Pumbaa said. DONE. So the issue simply becomes whether the LOA Round 2 dies here and Round 3 moves on alone, or whether BOTH rounds continue on.

In the end, I think only YOU can answer that. If YOU want to see it to its completion, and you believe that you are in a place now to keep up communication and really see it through, I'd be all for it. I'd even be willing to get the Round 2 lens back again for a second stab at it. I would LOVE to see it get finished up and have as many participants from as many different places as possible.

But I'd HATE to see another failed attempt at it. So, If *I* were you, I would want to be absolutely certain that I could commit the time to see it through this time, or else I think I'd say the fact that the lens is back in my hands means it IS finished.

That's a really long rambling way of saying this:
1. No matter what you do here, some people are going to hold this LONG absence in communication against you and will no longer support the project (I am not one of those).
2. No matter what you do here, some will support you in the decision. If you end it here, I wouldn't call it a failure no matter what, just perhaps smaller in scope than what you originally intended. But the lens DID start with you, and end with you, and did some travelling in between.
If you choose to keep it going, I believe there will be plenty who will still support it and participate in it, regardless of whether or not they also participate in Round 3. I'd be perfectly happy doing both.

The only absolutely, horrifically WRONG choice you can make here: Start the lens moving once more and then drop back off the face of Planet TPF again. THAT would end badly. Very badly. Tar and feather bad, possibly. So I'd just say make very, very sure that you can commit...

ratssass · Feb 1, 2014

sm4him said:
2. No matter what you do here, some will support you in the decision. If you end it here, I wouldn't call it a failure no matter what, just perhaps smaller in scope than what you originally intended. But the lens DID start with you, and end with you, and did some travelling in between.
If you choose to keep it going, I believe there will be plenty who will still support it and participate in it, regardless of whether or not they also participate in Round 3. I'd be perfectly happy doing both.

The only absolutely, horrifically WRONG choice you can make here: Start the lens moving once more and then drop back off the face of Planet TPF again. THAT would end badly. Very badly. Tar and feather bad, possibly. So I'd just say make very, very sure that you can commit...

QFT

Markw · Feb 1, 2014

sm4him said:
I have mixed feelings about this one, Mark.

On the one hand: No matter WHY you went "incommunicado," no matter why the lens stopped in its tracks even BEFORE that--the fact is, we were ALL frustrated by the lack of communication and progress, because, speaking for myself at least, I felt pretty vested in the project. Still do.
I absolutely, wholeheartedly agree with the call to "put our behinds in our past" as Pumbaa said. DONE. So the issue simply becomes whether the LOA Round 2 dies here and Round 3 moves on alone, or whether BOTH rounds continue on.

In the end, I think only YOU can answer that. If YOU want to see it to its completion, and you believe that you are in a place now to keep up communication and really see it through, I'd be all for it. I'd even be willing to get the Round 2 lens back again for a second stab at it. I would LOVE to see it get finished up and have as many participants from as many different places as possible.

But I'd HATE to see another failed attempt at it. So, If *I* were you, I would want to be absolutely certain that I could commit the time to see it through this time, or else I think I'd say the fact that the lens is back in my hands means it IS finished.

That's a really long rambling way of saying this:
1. No matter what you do here, some people are going to hold this LONG absence in communication against you and will no longer support the project (I am not one of those).
2. No matter what you do here, some will support you in the decision. If you end it here, I wouldn't call it a failure no matter what, just perhaps smaller in scope than what you originally intended. But the lens DID start with you, and end with you, and did some travelling in between.
If you choose to keep it going, I believe there will be plenty who will still support it and participate in it, regardless of whether or not they also participate in Round 3. I'd be perfectly happy doing both.

The only absolutely, horrifically WRONG choice you can make here: Start the lens moving once more and then drop back off the face of Planet TPF again. THAT would end badly. Very badly. Tar and feather bad, possibly. So I'd just say make very, very sure that you can commit...

I agree with that. 100%. Like I said, I don't want to make excuses here. Something funny happens on the interweb where everyone thinks everyone's lying, and everyone takes all facts for truth. So, it really makes no difference.

Thank you for the long, well-thought-out reply. I'm not making any promises saying that I WILL get it rolling again. I have to gauge interest from you guys, and decide which route I'd like the project to go in. Or if there is even room for 2 projects with the same premise here.

In any case, I will be starting a new project. On what platform is the question.

Mark