Jigsaw Puzzling goes SG50 in Singapore!

Jigsaw Puzzling goes SG50 in Singapore!


A few friends and jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts are getting together to organise 2 jigsaw puzzle events in Singapore in 2015 as part of SG50, Singapore's celebrations of 50 years of independence.

The first event is planned for 22 Mar 2015 (Sunday), to tie in with the SEA Games which Singapore is hosting. The event aims to connect people and bring people together, and will cater to puzzlers of all levels.......from those who do jigsaw puzzles regularly to those who have never done jigsaw puzzles before.   :)

Details of the event will be made known once finalised.
 
The second event is planned later in the year.

Stay tuned!

I was a jigsaw puzzle participant again!

I was a jigsaw puzzle participant again!

One of the reasons (there were other reasons, of course) I started organising jigsaw puzzle events under my WengsWorld brand was that I couldn't find any jigsaw puzzle competitions to take part in. However, organising my own competitions didn't really solve my 'problem', as I chose never to take part in my own events.

So it was really good news when Bee Yong (from my jigsaw puzzle community) informed me that there was a jigsaw puzzle competition organised by the National Environment Agency and the South East Community Development Council on 15 Nov 2014. I quickly formed a team with Dorothy and Chloe (both regular participants at my events) and signed up to take part in this South East Clean and Green Singapore Carnival Jigsaw Puzzle Challenge.

When I got to the competition venue, I was actually quite anxious. I understood what it was like for the participants to my jigsaw puzzle competitions. When I was the organiser, my anxiety was always to get the event running smoothly. As a participant however, my anxiety was in wanting to do well. And on that day...........I was a participant!

When the competition started, the 3 of us attacked the 360pc puzzle! Despite our best efforts however, our team came in second at the end of the 1 hour time limit, just 7 pieces behind the winning team (Bee Yong and her son and daughter). We were that close!

[Picture taken from http://www.customizedpuzzle.sg]

Overall, it was a great experience being a participant again. I rode the coattails of Dorothy and Chloe, my more competent team-mates. The prizes were very attractive (certainly more 'expensive' than those offered at my competitions.......haha), but there was a slight hitch in the prize-giving ceremony. I also met others who had previously taken part in my events.

Looking forward to the next opportunity when I can be a participant again!

WengsWorld's Jigsaw Puzzle Tips

WengsWorld's Jigsaw Puzzle Tips



What should you do when you've been working on a puzzle for a while and just can't seem to make any progress?

Here's what you can consider doing:

[1] Take a break
Stop, get up, and do something different. Do anything except the jigsaw puzzle. After a while, return to the jigsaw puzzle with a fresh mind.

[2] Work on a different part
Move away from the part that you are stuck at. Start doing another part of the puzzle with a different colour, texture or picture. Don't give up.

[3] Change your focus
Shift your position. If you are sitting on one end of the table, move to the opposite end. If you can, turn the puzzle around so that you are viewing the puzzle from another end. You'll be surprised how this change of perspective can sometimes help.

  

Something New for WengsWorld

Somethings New for WengsWorld

I had previously blogged about the jigsaw puzzle workshops for parents and children I had done in the past, and how the responses to those were generally poor. During the last week of the school holidays, I again publicised the workshop but this time I conducted it on a weekday 23 Jun (unlike in the past when it was always on a weekend), thinking that parents would find the timing better. But alas......the response was still not too good :)

Thankfully though, Sugandha and Asmita, who are both regulars at my usual jigsaw competitions and events, pulled along their friend Tanuja for the workshop and I ran the workshop for the 3 of them. 

The children attacked the puzzle with gusto, and they were able to maintain good concentration throughout the session. The parents were themselves regular puzzle-doers and hence of somewhat advanced ability already. However, it was suggested that they let their children explore the puzzle and make their own 'mistakes' in completing it, while they as parents encourage their children throughout the process.

The other new thing which happened at WengsWorld this week was at the regular jigsaw event on 29 Jun. 5 teams signed up but as often enough happened in the past (sigh!), there were some last minute withdrawals and I was left with 3 and a half teams. Min Yu was left without a partner and although she could have completed the puzzle on her own I'm sure, it was a good opportunity for me to become a 'participant' myself. It helped that the event was a non-competitive one, so teams were not really 'competing' against each other for a prize or something. In competitions, although the prizes I offer are not expensive by any means, I do make it a point to not be involved with the teams until the winning places have been decided.

I'm happy to report that I didn't embarrass myself in my puzzle-making.......haha. I thought Min Yu and I complemented each other quite well (I did most of the sorting and she did most of the making....<wink>). But in my own enthusiasm to complete the puzzle, I realised that I 'neglected' my other usual duties as event organiser. I usually take many photos of the event and participants to share on facebook after the event/competition, and also usually post a couple of pictures in-event/in-competition. But as my solitary in-event picture and dearth of pictures (soon to be posted) will show, I just can't multi-task!

WengsWorld Collaborates with Perfect Fit

WengsWorld Collaborates with Perfect Fit

I had previously done other activities involving commercial entities, like a shopping mall in March 2012 (the mall organisers allowed me to latch on my activities to their mall promotion event), a restaurant in June 2012 (the competition was held at the restaurant itself, and participants were served food/drinks during and after the competition), and a pet products chain in October 2013 (the company sponsored prizes for my jigsaw puzzle event which had a ‘Pets’ theme). But the 15 Feb 2014 jigsaw competition was different. It was the first time I managed to do a direct collaboration with a commercial company having something to do with jigsaw puzzles.

Perfect Fit opened a store at Novena Square in October 2013. I actually didn’t know about it, until some of my WengsWorld supporters and friends, Nicola, Sherry and Min Yu, started telling me about it and sending me pictures of the shop and also what they sold. I decided I would try to meet up with the folks of Perfect Fit to explore how we could work together to promote our own respective objectives. I contacted Perfect Fit via Facebook, and made an appointment to go down to the shop at one of my lunchtimes.

When I went to the shop, I met Yuin Yan, one of the partners of Perfect Fit. We discussed a couple of ideas, without firm conclusion, and agreed to explore the options further. Subsequently, I met Yuin Yan and her other partner Aaron on a separate Saturday. We firmed up a few important details, such as the date of the competition, the number of puzzle pieces, the registration fee per team, and then I began advertising the event. The rest, as they say, is history. Things sped along and with Perfect Fit’s assistance, they and I managed to sign up 8 teams for the competition.

For me, collaborating with Perfect Fit was good because I could potentially tap into their customer base to let customers know about the social jigsaw puzzle activities that I was organising under the WengsWorld umbrella. Also, because the shop’s jigsaw puzzles were being used as the competition puzzle, I did not have to purchase puzzles to use at the competition. Indirectly too, the slight financial risk to me of participants not turning up for the competition at the last minute was ‘passed on’ to Perfect Fit, so to speak. This “financial risk to me” thing needs further explaining. Because I don’t require participants to pay upfront prior to the event and only collect the registration fee at the event itself when participants turn up, I actually bear the risk (however slight) if participants sign up but then can’t make it for whatever reason. Plus, I end up having to ‘store’ extra boxes of puzzles in the house. :) 15 Feb was the first event in a long time where I didn’t have to think about my wallet!  :) :)

For Perfect Fit, I’m guessing that the event was a good opportunity for them to introduce their product to the WengsWorld jigsaw puzzle community, and I thought they did a good job of it. They offered some ‘event only’ discounts on some of their products, and handed out their collaterals.

As the competition puzzle was from the range of plastic puzzles which (to the best of my knowledge) only they carry, it was also a good introduction of the plastic puzzle to the jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts.

 

All in all, for me certainly, it was a very good tie up with Perfect Fit, and an event keeping in line with my goal of bringing people together. Thanks Aaron and Yuin Yan!

WengsWorld - Thanks for all the Support!

WengsWorld - Thanks for all the Support!



Ever since I started WengsWorld some 2 plus years ago, I've been lucky to have good support not just from jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts, but also people who have allowed me to use their premises for my events, people who have collaborated with me on joint projects, and people who I don't know who have dropped me a kind and encouraging word. My thanks to all of you for being a part of my journey!

But to thank the jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts in particular, I decided to hold an invitation-only, special jigsaw puzzle event on 14 Sep 2013. The purpose of the event was 2 fold, to thank my strongest supporters of course, and also to introduce a new range of puzzles to the jigsaw community here in Singapore.

The puzzles I selected were 6 impressionism and post-impressionism art pieces, mostly by Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh. Next, to create the right setting, I also printed out pictures of the art pieces (taken from the internet), and pasted them on the walls of the function room where the event was held. With a little bit of imagination (actually...... a whole lot!), participants could imagine themselves walking through the aisles of the WengsWorld Art Gallery, coming to an art piece they liked, and deciding to make a jigsaw puzzle of that art piece.

Well, that was the plan and I know there were several missing steps in between but........you get the PICTURE <wink>.

The participants attacked the new jigsaw puzzles with gusto. The puzzles were definitely different, but I'll leave it to the participants to describe the difference, and to share their experiences.

At the end of 2.5 hours, the participants were able to complete Monet's "Impression: Sunrise".

Monet's "San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk" however, remained uncompleted  :(

At the end of the day, the connections made between people are just as important as completing the puzzle. I hope everyone had a good time!!

WengsWorld - Selection of Competition Puzzle

WengsWorld - Selection of Competition Puzzle


How does one organise a jigsaw puzzle competition where the puzzle is not too simple and is sufficiently challenging to participants, and yet not so difficult that many participants are discouraged? Select the correct competition puzzle of course! Easier said than done though, as competition puzzle selection is more an art than science.

In all of my competitions, I targeted that at least some of the participating teams of 2 persons would be able to complete the puzzle between two and two and a half hours. I thought that this would provide the needed balance between making it too easy and making it too difficult, between having the event end too quickly and the event not ending at all. :)

To achieve this, I mostly selected puzzles of 500-550 pieces, sometimes 300 pieces. In addition, I also tried to select puzzles which had many colours, so that participants could use the colour differences to complete the puzzle easier.

Until the recent competition on 30 Mar 2013, I managed to get the selection correct. In each of those other competitions, at least 1 or 2 of the participating teams was able to complete the puzzle within two and two and a half hours.

The streak ended on 30 Mar 2013 however. Mid way through the competition, it was apparent that the teams were behind the pace set by teams at the same stage in previous competitions. At the end of the stipulated time-limit of 2hrs and 15mins, none of the teams were able to complete the puzzle. In fact, the leading team was quite far away from doing so.

This is what the leading team was able to piece together after 2hrs and 15mins:

 

So what happened?

Well, it was because I wanted to create that complete experience for the participants, the one I blogged about previously:

http://wengsworldjigsawpuzzles.blogspot.sg/2013/04/wengsworld-union-of-sight-and-taste.html

that I needed to choose a puzzle which had chocolate pictures. And the one I chose happened to have a lot of the same colour, with very little shade and other colour cues. 

Although it was obvious that nobody was going to complete the puzzle at the competition itself, the teams were very nice about it and took it in their stride. After the competition, some of the participants went back and completed (with some effort) the puzzle at home.

Let's hope I get the selection correct the next time!  :)