Next Challenge? Who is with me?

Jim1960

First and foremost I'd like to thank britishbroccoli for this past challenge. If I had to think of one thing about MFP that in these past 10 weeks has made the biggest difference for me it has been this challenge. No kidding. So thank you very much.

I know that britishbroccoli has decided to not run another challenge. For me that means it's time for one of us to stand up and do our part to keep it going. I'm willing to "run" the next one: meaning that I'll post the weigh-in threads, calculate the results, form the groups, and so on. But before I launch into that, I want to ask those of us who remain do you want to be in another challenge? And if you do what format do you want? I know this has been asked before - but I'm asking it again.

For my part the following is what I liked about this past challenge that I'd like to continue:

1) I loved being in a group. I liked the little group threads we formed. I liked pulling for each other. I like that the groups were randomly formed. It forced me to form new relationships and find out about each other.
2) I liked he simplicity.
3) I like the time frame. 10 weeks seems good.
4) I like the hard rule of 2 misses means your dropped (mostly - more on this below).

What I didn't like. Only one: the number of people who dropped out. We seemed to lose a third early on. Then the 2nd third through attrition over the ensuing weeks. I have some ideas on how to address these. First, I'd like to open the challenge to as many who join during recruitment (say 2 weeks). Second, have a qualification round of 2 weeks. If you miss any weigh ins during that period you're out. THEN form the teams. Third, open the weigh-in thread from Thursday night through Sunday evening at 10pm Eastern. Finally, 3 strikes and your out; not two.

So, who's with me? Share your thoughts. If I get enough of a response I'll create a group and start advertising it and recruiting.

BettyandVeronica

Hello Jim,

I echo your admiration and gratitude for Britishbroccoli. It is a task and a half to keep on top of everything every week.

I'm in for another challenge. The only trouble,as you stated is people dropping out quite early on. Could we have the opening number at 120 people instead of 100. We will likely lose 20% of those in the 1st 2 weeks,however it will give those who are serious about losing weight and being healthy a chance. Those who would have otherwise not been able to join due to the timewasters filling in the spots.

I look forward to being in a new challenge. I really like all my Orange team mates and look forward to randomly being in another group.

digger61

I am in for a challenge hope people that join stay with it thanks britishbroccoli for all her work

trudywc2

Count me in, and thanks for picking this up. Two thumbs up to britishbroccoli for doing such a great job.

becksxxx70

I'll give it a whirl! Might even lose something this time round!

Thanks for taking it on!

BreeeRN

I'm in!!! I agree with everything, especially the revisions.

GREAT JOB britishbroccoli!!!!!!! It's tough doing all the hard work, and time consuming. Thank you SO much for all the effort you put into it!

Also, thanks jim for taking this on!

ashleigh315

I'd like to open the challenge to as many who join during recruitment (say 2 weeks). Second, have a qualification round of 2 weeks. If you miss any weigh ins during that period you're out. THEN form the teams. Third, open the weigh-in thread from Thursday night through Sunday evening at 10pm Eastern.

YES! I think that would really help with the drop out rate. Thank for stepping up! You can count me in

leggup

Thanks for taking up the challenge (and sticking with this to the end). I am going to pass on any challenges for the time being. I encourage anyone from the group to add me. Jim- I will privately message you with some of the data I collected later tonight when I'm by my computer. I tracked which users dropped out which week, how many people posted to the threads after the deadline, etc.

I had some ideas as to how to keep user retention. I recommend beginning with a private group and only invite users who made it through the first half of this challenge. Then, create a forum post in which you invite other people to join a challenge. Restrict to users who created their accounts in the prior month. A good number of people create accounts and deactivate/disappear in their first month. Have the first weigh in VERY soon after creating the group. That was one of my biggest mistakes. People forgot about the group.

Personally, I think fewer groups with more users in each is likely to be more successful and more chatty. With the teams being random, I didn't know that some teams would have zero active users on the forums/team threads. If I had to do it all over again, I would have done 4 teams of 25.

Good luck in the next challenge, everyone!

rezekiel

Thanks Britishbroccoli for all of your work! I too would like to partake again. Although, I didn't find my group very active in terms of communicating an supporting one another so perchance a bigger group might elicit more communication between members. I like the idea of starting right away and forming the groups after an initial 2 weeks. Thanks for doing this.

hismogwai

Thanks Brittishbroccoli for the last ten weeks and I would defo be up for the next challenge thanks for taking this up

jenrap315

I would be up for another challenge and thank you britishbroccoli for all your dedication and hard work.

Icoza87

I'm in!

commit1440

Even though I gained weight during the challenge, I would like to continue. I appreciate all the work Britishbroccoli did over the part 10 weeks; the final charts really put things in place for me, Seeing the final numbers really provides some motivation.

RosieRaz

Yes, I would do it again. I liked brittishbroccoli's suggestions - always good to learn from past experience. As far as qualifier rounds for 2 weeks...sounds complicated and unnecessary. The rest of your suggestions sound good! Thanks for taking this on, it has been a lot of fun and I was able to make new friends.

jemsurf

I'm in

Jim1960

Thanks for all the feedback and enthusiasm. I'll be starting up the new group soon. I'll be modifying the rules based on the feedback; particularly the lessons-learned from British Broccoli. I'm a bit muddy right now (and yesterday). I fell victim to the illness that my eldest son and wife had this past week. So I'm running a fever, hacking and coughing (productively) and generally feeling yuck. So please bear with me.

Jim1960

I created the new group and shamelessly stole the images British Broccoli used for this one. Any artists around want to take a stab and coming up with new ones?

I invited everyone who made it through 7 weeks of this challenge. If you are very interested in joining the new competition and didn't get an invite please let me know. I want to get it started fast with the first weigh in next week.

mVeneciaL

Yes, Please count me in this was very helpful for me joining this biggest loser challenge . Thank you for stepping up and considering helping others. Thank you and look forward to starting

CarlynMatthew

Im definitely in