I would say...

  • Team size balance. All teams will generally have the same number of players.
  • Set number of teams. Perhaps six?
  • Members are drafted first. Once initial draft is complete, then the team theme is discussed and decided on so everyone gets a chance to have a say in it and come to an agreement upon something generally everyone in the group likes.
  • 4 Week duration. I find this has worked out the best and balances it between having enough to enjoy but not run too long until it becomes bland.
  • 100 points per section per week. Judge allocates points based on quality percentage, but every entry gets at least 1 point (1 would mean it's really terrible quality, but at least something was done). A lot of entries means points will be thinned out among all of them, but a few entries means there's likely more points that will be awarded to those few participants.


That's the best I can come up with. It bears in mind Neko's idea where participants at least get something for their efforts, but still judges based primarily on quality.