and there is only so many times that you can blog about your cats throwing up on you ... or how you managed to cut your nails!

Lol! That gave me a good laugh.

So, the concept of communities is something that is critical to the retention of new (and old!) Steemians. Communities give a reason to stay on STEEM that far transcends the payout figure at the end of your post.

Agreed. Well said. That's the main piece of advice I give to newcomers to steem these days, try to find some good communities to be a part of.

So, when I found the @ifc, it really started to give some focus to my writing! The idea that I would have some time (roughly a week) to mull over some hook, and think of a interesting angle to write about, was quite refreshing and liberating! For at least one post in the week, I would have a interesting new topic to research and write about... and I have to say, it has been really quite formative in my evolving as a writer. I have never written so much since... well... never! I never wrote much....

That's cool to hear about it from that perspective. It's always refreshing for me to hear about it from the players and community members as it's different from my own way of looking at it and I could see how that would be pretty fun and helpful if roles were reversed and I were a player instead of host/judge.

So, if you are looking for a contest that has a great community attached... or is that a community with a great contest attached... then @ifc is perhaps a very nice home to branch out from. The contest will really engage your creative mind in creating great posts (many of the posts from our first season attracted votes from @curie and other curation projects!)... and reading interesting and completely different points of view on the exact same topic!

Some really good points there! And yeah.. It's almost like what came first the chicken or the egg with our contest/community.. They go hand in hand and are both great aspects yet would fall short without the other. A true good marriage I think of such important things. :)

Here is a little video from the creator of IFC (@apolymask)... he looks a touch scary in the mask, but he is a really great guy!

Aw shucks. That was nice of you t say. Thanks. I think you're a great guy as well! And you inspire me.

Thanks a bunch for mentioning our community/contest! That was cool to see and read and hopefully we get another player or two or more from your efforts. That would be cool! Also good luck with your classical music and radio communities as well! Cheers bengy! :D