First things first, you're all probably wondering why the author of this piece is me as opposed to Skankyrich who, let's be fair, thought this whole thing up. Well basically there are three reasons for that:

1. He's busy.
2. I'm an attention seeker.
3. When future generations of hootizens look back at this, the moment when the community turned round and made a stand against the failure of the project, I want to be able to say that I helped as much as I could.

And, let's be honest, reason three is the real reason that the Researchers' Group exists. Still, enough of the rhetoric and waffle – I'll leave that to more charismatic writers than I.

November is, in a way, a flawed sample. The group didn't start until five days in, and my tally of entries was made with two days to go and quite a lot of the relevant data was, and is still uncollated. Still, let's see how we all did! Did we hit our target of 18 entries per month picked from PR?¹.

2 Per Month Pledges:

• Skankyrich – 3 submitted
• AlexAshman – 3 submitted
• Fizzymouse – SIX picked!²
• Psycorp603 – 2 picked
• Bob Stafford – Unknown – at least one in PR, and a few in the EGWW.
• Galaxy Babe – Unknown number of picks, at least 5 in PR, unless I missed any.
• Antelia – Who truly understands the workings of the mysterious Nats?

Subtotal: 8+ Picks; 12 Still in PR

1 Per Month Pledges:

• Deke – "a few in PR"
• Boredlaura – At least one in PR that I've seen.
• Jimi X – No submissions but extra reviewing time.
• Broelan – 2 in PR.

Subtotal: Unknown Picks; 3 plus 'a few' Still in PR

As And When Pledges

• Lil – One WIP
• B'Elana – 1 Pick
• Elentari – 1 Pick, 1 in PR
• Tartaronne – Unknown
• Jules K – Unknown
• Mr Dreadful – Unknown
• Paff – 1 in PR that I've spotted
• Tamrhind – 4 in PR that I've spotted
• ST MKII – Unknown
• Wilma Neanderthal – 1 in PR

Subtotal: 3 Pics, 5+ in PR

Grand Total: 14 Picks; 20+ in PR!

So well done to everyone in the Researchers' Group! Just four picks and my awful maths away from hitting our 18 per month target, and looking very good for December.

Right, assuming you're all still reading, I want to direct you to my claim that I wouldn't be resorting to rhetoric and waffle in this column. Guess what dear readers?

I lied.³

It's all well and good us at the Researchers' Group patting ourselves on the back – but we can't shoulder the burden alone. The Front Page goes through between five and fifteen new Entries per week, which means we can't even cover a fortnight. That's where you come in.

The Edited Guide, and h2g2 in general isn't a place where a 'hardcore' of writers can keep fresh, interesting entries on the front page indefinitely. It never will be, and more importantly never should be. The same old faces writing in the same old style indefinitely will become boring, so we need you. Let me say that again, in bold, on its own line so that it sinks in.

We. Need. You.

We're not asking you to meet quotas, or write about things that don't interest you, we just want you to share that knowledge inside your skull with your community via your keyboard. Write an entry now, go on, it's easier than it looks. If you really don't want to, don't worry about it. Go and spend fifteen minutes in Peer Review, or the EGWW. You casting an eye over a newbie's entry and going "Hey, I like this entry, you've got potential, thanks for contributing" can be the difference between an author Elvising or becoming the next Gnomon. If you want a badge and a bit of recognition, the Scouts and Subs can always do with new recruits and the ACEs are possibly the great unsung heroes of the site - and that's without mentioning the UnderGuide. So basically, what I'm saying is that if you can give something back to the community, you really should. Who knows, it could be the start of something wonderful...

Thanks for reading.

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