well, we have our ideas down, but we couldn’t do it all exactly like Google does it. what would the plan be for the students? they need some sort of organized plan or schedule. and since jME is an international project in a way, i’m pretty sure 99% of everything would have to be long distance, unless you want to raise the money for travel expenses. This is fine. But you still need an organized timeline.
timeline is the summer. 3 months. june, january, august. For 3 months a programmer should implement a project.
Meeting for rejected GSoC applicants starting in 5 minutes.
join #gsoc at freenode if you wanna participate.
Please, post here the result of the conversation.
I’m pasting the log of our “meeting”. It was a very fast-paced event where several rejected organizations would queue up for a couple minutes of brief feedback. I do greatly appreciate the GSoC organizers taking the time to actually host such an event at all, but I have to say the feedback hasn’t left me with much to go on. Recommended GSoC application practice is a minefield of contradicting pointers, and apparently modeling our application (our Ideas Page mainly) after long-time participants like WordPress and Blender wasn’t necessarily the recipe for success.
End of rant. I am truly sorry if my writing cost us our GSoC participation. Here’s the log:
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:21:13 PM
yay. Hiya Carol
carols 03/22/2011 06:21:23 PM
hey erlend_sh
just a sec, reviewing your app
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:21:31 PM
mhm
carols 03/22/2011 06:22:12 PM
we would have liked more info on the project itself on your ideas page.
carols 03/22/2011 06:22:26 PM
i'd like the students to get a sense of who you are and why they should like you up front
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:22:49 PM
but isn't there an "information page" in the application to GSoC?
carols 03/22/2011 06:22:50 PM
i think the ideas themselves could have used a *weensy* bit of fleshing out, but I like the structure you have there
@erlend_sh: yes, but most students' first interaction with you is via your ideas page. i realize its somewhat redundant but its really helpful 03/22/2011 06:23:16 PM
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:24:04 PM
right. but, really, are we rejected on the basis of a lacking introduction and some not-so fleshed out ideas?
I was hoping for a bit more feedback than that, seeing as I checked multiple other projects before making our application, e.g. Blender and WordPress 03/22/2011 06:24:28 PM
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:25:02 PM
our ideas page is just as fleshed out as theirs. also the booki guide specifically said that more "general" ideas could also be a good thing
carols 03/22/2011 06:25:07 PM
think of this like an interview process. i realize these seem like very little things, but when we're reviewing 430 applications every little bit counts
carols 03/22/2011 06:25:27 PM
@erlend_sh: yes, general ideas are good as well.
have them all 03/22/2011 06:25:34 PM
with lots of info 03/22/2011 06:25:40 PM
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erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:25:54 PM
mmkay
well, I suppose I'm just wondering then, what should we pay attention to next year? better introduction and more fleshed out ideas, and that's it? 03/22/2011 06:26:21 PM
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carols 03/22/2011 06:26:45 PM
yes, let me also look at the rest of your app and see if there's other stuff
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:26:57 PM
alright, appreciate it.
carols 03/22/2011 06:27:59 PM
actually, yeah. i would have preferred more of a fleshed out reasoning on why you were applying.
that's an important part to us too 03/22/2011 06:28:08 PM
also, you don't need to list your mentors' age in the future, but that has nothing to do with your rejection
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:28:44 PM
hmmm alright, thanks. is the application still editable/viewable somewhere?
couldn't find it last time I checked
carols 03/22/2011 06:29:01 PM
i liked your answers to our questions about disappearing students and mentors but the upper part about why you're participating could have used work
carols 03/22/2011 06:29:08 PM
yeah, try this link:
http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org_app/review/gsoc_program/google/gsoc2011/orgapp?id=6163207
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:29:28 PM
"There is no entity with the required status."
carols 03/22/2011 06:29:36 PM
hmm SRabbelier can you help?
SRabbelier had to run off, try asking in #melange and I guess he'll reply when he gets back
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:30:06 PM
in my "List of Documents" nothing shows up.
carols 03/22/2011 06:30:07 PM
SRabbelier might be able to help you offline with that. im pretty sure you can still see it in "list my org apps"
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:30:07 PM
okay
erlend_sh 03/22/2011 06:30:32 PM
right. thank you very much for the feedback. see you next year
carols 03/22/2011 06:30:34 PM
please do apply again next year
thank you
If I didn't edit my last draft before submitting, our "Reason for applying" looked like this:
Why is your organization applying to participate in GSoC 2011? What do you hope to gain by participating?
Participating in GSoC is to us one of the best ways to establish ourselves as an up-and-coming project.
jMonkeyEngine was left stagnant for a while before we, the new team, picked up development; through GSoC we can effectively announce our vibrant progress over the past 2 years.
What we hope for:
- Excellent code contributions made immediately available in the jME core/ecosystem.
- Strengthened ties with existing core contributors in the community.
- Exposure to prospective end-users and developers unaware of our existence.
- Keeping the “feature space” exciting while the jME3 core focuses on stabilization in preparation for Stable.
- Finalize Android support as our first step towards publishing to all major mobile devices.
3 Likes
erlend_sh said:
End of rant. I am truly sorry if my writing cost us our GSoC participation. Here's the log:
Don't blame yourself dude you're doing great.
I guess we have to keep asking if we can get in, years after years ;)
+1
erlend_sh you are cool!
I would say like in the Forest Gamp movie: “Shit Happens”. 
Life is like a box of chocolates thrown in your face without warning and explanation.
2 Likes
erlend_sh said:
Life is like a box of chocolates thrown in your face without warning and explanation.
Quote of the day for me ... Really like your comparison !
Hey guys, I just found this thread. @erlend_sh: sorry for the rejection this year, but I think you did a great job. Sometimes the rejection has nothing to do with you, but with forces that you have no control over.
money? who needs some? i have none, and still everything i need is done! whapaaa!!!
there will always be next year for you. if you believe that world will end in 2012, there is no reason for new innovations in 2011. there is always better side of view.
I’m a bit late to jump in on this thread, but have you considered a student research grant? I got a UREKA grant when I was at the end of my 1st year at Uni; The money probably isn’t as great as with the GSOC, but pays the bills…
http://www.sfi.ie/funding/funding-calls/closed-calls/sfi-undergraduate-research-experience-and-knowledge-award-ureka-sites/
Might be worth a look.