I'll try to explain, in general, what a LIMS is:

- A pool of icon makers sign up at the beginning of a round.
- At a regular interval, whether it's weekly or every other week, icon makers submit an icon made from caps provided by the moderators.
- A vote is held, with people choosing the most technically proficient and the least technically proficient icons -- and they must explain their reasons for voting.
- At the end of voting, the makers whose icons receive the most votes for "least technically proficient" are eliminated from further competition in that round.
- Icon makers have the choice to ask for their comments. These are given either screened or publicly, depending on what the maker wants.
- The competition continues until there's a single icon maker left.
- Icon makers get one "skip" when they sign up and can get a second skip for pimping the competition in their LJs or in comms. Maybe that would help on weeks when you're too busy? We plan to post the caps at least several weeks in advance, so that, too, might help. You could make several icons when you had the chance and just submit them when they were "due."
- Then, it starts all over again. :)

It *is* a time commitment and but it has one advantage over the usual competition format: feedback. I love knowing what people did and did not like about an icon I made. I used the opportunity to try new techniques and get honest feedback about how I did.

As an example, for one round I entered this:

And these were my comments:
- Ronon looks cold, fierce and dangerous. The background--soft, pastel and innocuous--is an unusual setting for a warrior, which makes for a striking and very effective contrast.
- fantastic, interesting coloring

Of course, comments are NOT always positive, though the comments must be constructive. I hope that helps!

~~**~~

Every other week *is* a long time on LJ and I worry about it losing momentum, but for now that schedule is ahead in the poll. With all the other contests and fandom and real life, we're all very busy. I want to get the most people possible having the most fun possible and making the best icons possible -- which is why I asked about people's preferred schedules. :)

I hope it is successful. I'd love to see an avalanche of gorgeous SG-1 icons like we do whenever lantis_lims is running!