They should have been last year. Since they weren´t, i think they are dead.

Looking at the whole situation of the GUI department and apps of SD it seems quite logical.

Who should drive and care for it ?

The last GUI Champs had terrible numbers as far as attracting a lot of traffic, and to be honest it's difficult to get people to participate even in simple contests.  We have like 3 entries for the CFX contest so honestly I don't see many contests in the future at all.

People will lose interest after awhile and then some only enter if the prizes are significant. 

Well I can think of two things that might be of concern, time and available manpower.  Some folks might take exception that a contest was being held when other things needed to be worked on. 

As prizes go, most folks want more than just an OD or WC subscriptions.  Some of the early GUI's had very significant prizes.

Just my feelings on the subject.

I entered the last GUI Champs and was really looking forward to the next one (that never came).  I think the big turnoff for most people was the prizes being offered, most people were just not interested in those type prizes, and especially not anything associated with deviantArt (at least for me). I think strictly cash prizes or WC/OD subscriptions only would have been more enticing.

Kitty I have had the same question for a while. Thank you for bringing it up!

ID you know for years I entered nearly every contest there was, I have uploaded 2 summer style cursors since the start of thee contest ,not putting them in was primarilly for the reason of wanting other skinners to enter.

I agree whole heartedly as a matter of fact my daughter is still using PlasticFantastic on her PC.

DaveBax I agree with you on several points .

TO: Spencer

I would be glad to do either:

guarantee my entry I loved the GUIC

or

Take my self out to help in any other fashion

Noteably I think the options for exposure are higher this year than in years past with social exposure like Facebook etc....

A good example my wife and myself have WC as a friend consequently the other day a Facebook friend of my wife's asked her "what was skinning and what did I do?"

(this person does not know me or her persnally)

She explained then I sent out DL links for the free version of CFX to peak thier interest I found out that now thier whole circle of friends is running CFX.

I offer what ever I can to help as I believe GUIC's are very important (as I do audio/video) I would even be willing to donate a prize dealing with PC's or Audio/Video electronics

ex...spaekers...video card...etc...

Harley

Yep, I knew the prizes Doc, but except for the cash and OD/WC subscriptions, nothing on that list was of the slightest interest to me personally. I know it is tough work running a contest, but as they are not going to do GUI Champs any more...

Harley, from the heart: You represent the best there is in the Community.

oh, thats sad, i never knew that, i hope the champs comes back cause i love them.

but seriously, i think cash is the best insentive, people can buy whatever they want with it. and its also universal.

im on the same feeling as harley, id be willing to help to make it happen.

Cash is hardest to come by.  It is easier for companies to donate products or services than give up cash.  With the economy being in the dumps and no signs of it getting better, everyone is being tighter.

And an even sadder fact is, that skinning, as a whole, is a dieing art wether we like it or not.
I've had a finger on the skinning-pulse for over a decade and I fear it's going to flatline within a few years.
The past years -every- single skinnable application have seen a serious decrease in submissions, and not just here in WinC.

There are only a small handfull of applications that still are, relatively active.
Setting up competitions simply isn't enough to bring in 'new blood' anymore.

And seriously, when is the last time we've seen a new skinnable application, that could drag artists away from existing applications?
It's been years!!

We'll just simply have to make due with what we've got, and hope for the best.

idea for you Spence....

you guys are so into the twitter and facebook thing, why not advertise a comp through that? didnt you say recently that this kind of social network

brings in new blood, new customers ect? its out there...you guys just have to set it up.

Your quote Spence:

*sigh*

You don't have to participate on Facebook if you don't like it.  The fact is we have thousands and thousands of "fans" on our Facebook pages and people use FB now to get info and things of that sort.