The last mapping competition thingy died because of the horrific complexities of doing something for HL2. That and lack of interest and direction, but we'll ignore that for now.
How about this : Week long Quake 1 mapping contest to create a small DM level.
Less time/effort/commitment required and I think it could be genuinely interesting. Quake is what got me into mapping in the first place and it's setting allows us real creativity. Looking back at some of the stuff that was done for it still impresses me because of sheer creativity.
If we get enough folk interested then we'll sort rules regarding whats allowed and what ain't. Stuff like using new fangled engines so you can use higer res textures and coloured lights. I'd rather keep it fairly pure, but up to you lot.
What think ye?
I realise I've not been her a huge amount of time, but I think it could be fun and hopefully one of the moderbaters would be willing to sticky a WIP/Release/Judging thread or whatever.