For those just joining us, why did you sign up for Weekly Geeks? What would you like to see here?
This post was written by unfinishedperson from an unfinished person (in an unfinished universe).
While I have been a daily geek for most of my life, I was a “charter” Weekly Geek – one of the original 150 or so who signed on when Dewey originally floated the idea of a weekly blogging challenge, although I didn’t participate in every assignment. There were some assignments that I just didn’t have the time to tackle, some that really didn’t apply to me (such as anything pertaining to reading challenges or catching up on reviews), and others that really weren’t up my alley (most assignments involving photo-blogging). On the other hand, one assignment led to a new standing policy on this blog – linking to other bloggers’ reviews when I post a book review of my own.
But whether I did the assignment or not, I’ve always felt like part of the “geek community,” and that’s one reason I’m glad to be part of the team that’s keeping WG up and running. I also like the fact that it’s not tied to a specific day of the week, so I can post my response on the day it fits best (although I do play fast and loose with the “daily” memes around here anyway). I’ve always liked the range and variety of assignments, but what really makes it special is the way that visiting other participants’ WG posts has been part of it from the very beginning; in fact, the very first assignment was a blog-hopping task, and several others have specifically included a blog-hopping, link-sharing requirement. That’s something I’d like to see continue as Weekly Geeks goes forward – and since I’ve signed up for the Weekly Geeks feed now, it will be a lot easier!
I think WG #3, remembering our favorite children’s books, may be my favorite WG assignment so far, since it was a nice thematic lead-in for the Bookworms Carnival I hosted last summer. I really liked the Weekly Geeks assignment to talk about “other forms of storytelling,” too, since it was timed perfectly for one of my movie reviews – I think a variation on that one could be used again, especially since there are so many new Geeks now. I also wouldn’t mind seeing a repeat of WG #16, in which two Geeks interviewed each other about their most recent read, or WG #24, looking up and posting “fun facts” about an author. WG #21, which involved identifying the first lines from 100 novels with the help of our fellow Geeks, was a lot of fun; maybe we could do a variation with last lines some time.
Once WG gets back into its groove again, it might be nice to bring back some version of the wrap-up posts that Dewey used to do, although the logistics of that could be trickier now. But as I’ve said, I’m really glad to be part of the Geek Community, and as long as we can keep people interested and participating, I hope we can look forward to much more geekery to come!
Dewey was wonderful at community building and her idea of the Weekly Geeks events was just another example of how creative she was. I am so glad that it’s continuing on even after she’s no longer with us. I haven’t participated too often in the events, only occasionally when the moment inspires me, but I have enjoyed reading other people’s responses to the weekly topics.
Wendy (Literary Feline) – Hopefully, some of the topics in Weekly Geeks 2.0 will inspire you to participate more often :-)!