I'm back! Been away for way too long!!
I did a jigsaw puzzle activity on 30 Dec 2012. To start...... the good news! Unlike previous events where the number of participants always fell short of my target, this time I actually exceeded my target. I planned to have the event with 5 teams, but ended squeezing in another team (making it 6 teams) and also had to turn down a couple of other enquiries. Yes the 5 team target was not a high target to begin with, but it's nice that there were no empty spots at the event, and that no team pulled out at the last minute.
The next good thing that happened was that 5 of the 6 teams were first-timers at my event. Regulars and die-hard puzzle-loving enthusiasts are very important, but it is also nice to see newcomers joining in for the first time.
The last good thing that happened was that of the participants who took part, we had people from India and Indonesia, and (I think) people who were born in Mexico and Malaysia. Again, it's a very small event, but it does reinforce my belief that my events can connect people from all over the world who have a common interest in jigsaw puzzles.
Unlike previous events which were conducted competition style (ie, all teams start with the same puzzle and the first team that finishes 'wins'), I tried something different this time. With the prior concurrence of the participants, the 6 participating teams each started on a different puzzle. At pre-determined times, each of the teams switched to another puzzle, and then on to a third puzzle and so on, until coming back to the original puzzle they started on. Because teams started on different puzzles and the puzzles had varying difficulty, there was no 'winner' to the event.
Now........the bad news!
This 'switch-about' format is probably not something I will try to expand on soon. When asked, the participants were rather diplomatic in sharing their feedback about the format, but I could sense quite a bit of fatigue among the participants from doing parts of 6 different puzzles in a 2.5 hour period. A few participants fedback that it was disorienting having to begin on another puzzle each time after short periods. This is understandable, as each team would have their own style of sorting pieces, of putting pieces together, etc. But the teams were all very sporting, and I appreciate the feedback given by the participants.
In summary, the attempt at the new event format went well I thought, thanks in no small part to the willingness of the participants to try something new. However, rotating teams across six 500pc puzzles is probably asking too much. I'll see if I run an event using this format again in the future.
The 6 puzzles do make for colourful viewing though. Do enjoy these pictures, courtesy of Dorothy!
Hello Weng, thanks for organizing the event, I had so much fun there. It's really nice that you started such events in Singapore, you have no competitors you know? I'm still hoping for a regular event, crossing fingers :D. By the way, do you know anyone here interested in doing the largest puzzle in the world, the Double Retrospect?
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving useful information aboutpictures jigsaw puzzles activities and event that are going to held or already held, i will start to do practicing for largest puzzles.....
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