just awarding the best photographs. There's an opportunity for growth here, on both the community and individual levels. Games are a proven way of bringing people of all types and skill levels together in a community environment.I'm really excited to be involved in this! @jarvie, I liked what you said about bridging the gap between photographer and non-photographer, or between pros and beginners. We love the contests and challenges we've seen on Steemit already but I feel there's a need to involve photographers on all levels and go beyond
game was a catalyst for all my subsequent learning. There are more than a handful of other Scavengers who can tell the same story and have gone on to become successful photographers.I say it's proven because I've seen it happen in an incredible way and was lucky enough to be a part of it: in the early days of Google Plus, Chrysta Rae created a photo contest called the Scavenger Hunt (the idea is that you have a list of 10 things to photograph, and the photos are judged and awarded at the end). It started small but grew fast with the help of a few people who had established followers. Within a year there were hundreds of photographers of all skill levels participating, and many of them had joined G+ just for the contest. The Hunt drew in big name judges in the photography community (including @jarvie). The community built up around the Scavenger Hunt was so tight it was like a family, and when we had a Scavenger Hunt meetup in Las Vegas it was like a giant family reunion. I've never seen anything like it. I was lucky enough to get in early - I went from total amateur photographer to pro, largely thanks to the creative impetus provided by the challenge of the Hunt, and I would credit it for most of my later success, because as silly as it sounds, that
The Scavenger Hunt became one of the biggest and most vibrant communities on G+, and is still going, even when that network has fallen into decline.
We aren't trying to replicate the format of the Scavenger Hunt, but we hope that offering an organized series of games and challenges will bring the Steemit photography community together in the way that it was brought together on G+.
I've only been on Steemit a couple of weeks, but I've been so impressed by the quality of the interaction that I've seen - it's refreshing, and more than that, it's inspiring: I haven't written or participated so much on a social network since the glory days of G+. I can't wait to help get @photogames up off the ground - I think it has great potential for this curious infant network - I've seen it happen before and have been lucky enough to be a part of it.