B2MeM 2014 (Yes, Really!)
Nov. 3rd, 2013 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dawn_felagund posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
b2memYes, my comods and I have really started talking about 2014's Back to Middle-earth Month. However, there is a good reason behind this! (Normally, the mods start discussion in December, with the members being brought on board by January or February.) There are two important things that we wanted to bring up to B2MeM participants for feedback.
First is the event for 2014. We have done daily-prompt challenges for the past three B2MeMs. These are always popular and are pretty easy to do (so long as BINGO cards aren't involved ... ;), but when we started running B2MeM, it was not necessarily a daily-prompt challenge, and while daily prompts are usually well-liked, we have also had requests to try a different format. So we wanted to propose an idea and see how the community felt about it.
Instead of a daily prompt, we have considered putting together a compilation this year. Those of you who have been SWG members for a few years know that we have done compilations there in the past. (Akallabêth in August is probably the best example of this.) The idea is that participants claim a prompt or prompts well before the event itself. Each participant then sets out to create a story, poem, or artwork based on that prompt, only instead of trying to get something created quickly to be ready for the next day's prompt, the participant has time to make the piece the best it can be. During the month of the event, one or a few of these pieces are "released" each day. By the end of the month, there is a compilation of stories, poetry, and art based around a theme.
Our idea is to put together such a compilation for this year's B2MeM, based around a theme that encompasses the diversity that our community has to offer, i.e., whether you write First Age or Fourth, Hobbits or Noldor, there will be a place for you. The pieces will be revealed over the course of March. At the end of the month, we would also like to offer an e-book or print-on-demand book of the compilation (for writers and artists who want to be included--this would NOT be mandatory). Ideally, there would be the opportunity for writers and artists to pair up to do illustrated stories, and we would offer beta assistance and other for authors who want it.
So what say you all? Are we willing to give the daily prompt a break for this year? Does a compilation seem like something we'd like to try for this year's B2MeM? Please remember that this community exists to promote a fandom holiday that will help bring the various corners of the Tolkien fandom together, so we need to know if our participants think an idea will work for them or not. In short: please be honest in your feedback! :)
The second point concerns moderators. B2MeM started as an alliance of Tolkien fandom groups that wanted to offer a month-long "holiday" in which Tolkien-based transformative works are celebrated. As a result of this basic structure, it was always assumed that the mods of the groups that participated would be the mods of B2MeM. In actuality, this doesn't work that well. For one, group mods already have significant responsibilities in running their groups. In many cases, they cannot also run B2MeM. Secondly, this keeps those who have ideas about B2MeM, time to volunteer, and who would make excellent moderators from actually serving as moderators.
As a result, we will be opening up moderation of B2MeM to more than just the mods of the groups that sponsor it. Moderators help plan out B2MeM events and get them ready for March. They help run things behind the scenes before and during the event. They help to answer questions from participants and cheer participants on. We tend to work closely together on planning and then divide up responsibilities for actually running the event, based on the talents and interests of each mod.
Please comment here, message me, or email me at DawnFelagund@gmail.com if you'd like to be a mod for this year's B2MeM. You should expect to be available beginning in December through early April. (Obviously, everyone needs time off, and we cover for each other when needed, but this is our "busy season," so to speak.) I will make sure to begin including anyone who is interested in moderator correspondence going forward.
First is the event for 2014. We have done daily-prompt challenges for the past three B2MeMs. These are always popular and are pretty easy to do (so long as BINGO cards aren't involved ... ;), but when we started running B2MeM, it was not necessarily a daily-prompt challenge, and while daily prompts are usually well-liked, we have also had requests to try a different format. So we wanted to propose an idea and see how the community felt about it.
Instead of a daily prompt, we have considered putting together a compilation this year. Those of you who have been SWG members for a few years know that we have done compilations there in the past. (Akallabêth in August is probably the best example of this.) The idea is that participants claim a prompt or prompts well before the event itself. Each participant then sets out to create a story, poem, or artwork based on that prompt, only instead of trying to get something created quickly to be ready for the next day's prompt, the participant has time to make the piece the best it can be. During the month of the event, one or a few of these pieces are "released" each day. By the end of the month, there is a compilation of stories, poetry, and art based around a theme.
Our idea is to put together such a compilation for this year's B2MeM, based around a theme that encompasses the diversity that our community has to offer, i.e., whether you write First Age or Fourth, Hobbits or Noldor, there will be a place for you. The pieces will be revealed over the course of March. At the end of the month, we would also like to offer an e-book or print-on-demand book of the compilation (for writers and artists who want to be included--this would NOT be mandatory). Ideally, there would be the opportunity for writers and artists to pair up to do illustrated stories, and we would offer beta assistance and other for authors who want it.
So what say you all? Are we willing to give the daily prompt a break for this year? Does a compilation seem like something we'd like to try for this year's B2MeM? Please remember that this community exists to promote a fandom holiday that will help bring the various corners of the Tolkien fandom together, so we need to know if our participants think an idea will work for them or not. In short: please be honest in your feedback! :)
The second point concerns moderators. B2MeM started as an alliance of Tolkien fandom groups that wanted to offer a month-long "holiday" in which Tolkien-based transformative works are celebrated. As a result of this basic structure, it was always assumed that the mods of the groups that participated would be the mods of B2MeM. In actuality, this doesn't work that well. For one, group mods already have significant responsibilities in running their groups. In many cases, they cannot also run B2MeM. Secondly, this keeps those who have ideas about B2MeM, time to volunteer, and who would make excellent moderators from actually serving as moderators.
As a result, we will be opening up moderation of B2MeM to more than just the mods of the groups that sponsor it. Moderators help plan out B2MeM events and get them ready for March. They help run things behind the scenes before and during the event. They help to answer questions from participants and cheer participants on. We tend to work closely together on planning and then divide up responsibilities for actually running the event, based on the talents and interests of each mod.
Please comment here, message me, or email me at DawnFelagund@gmail.com if you'd like to be a mod for this year's B2MeM. You should expect to be available beginning in December through early April. (Obviously, everyone needs time off, and we cover for each other when needed, but this is our "busy season," so to speak.) I will make sure to begin including anyone who is interested in moderator correspondence going forward.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-04 01:20 am (UTC)Writing inspiration and the ability to concentrate can be very fickle for me, so having to commit to something a month in advance would make the whole thing very stressful and sounds like a sure recipe for writer's block in my fuzzy brain.
I definitely understand that. But if I can offer a nudge of encouragement (assuming this idea happens, which is certainly not a definite yet), if the prompts are anything like similar challenges that we've run on the SWG, then they are very open-ended. So it's not like a ficswap prompt: "I want angsty Elrond at the seaside on the eighty-eighth day of the Second Age musing about Elros with bonus points if he's wearing purple and feeding seagulls.) Akallabeth in August (which is probably the closest example of what I'm thinking of with this idea) simply gave an event from the Second Age, and writers could do what they wanted with it, whether that be a drabble or a novella, a traditional retelling of the event or something way out there; the piece just had to take place somewhere on Arda during that time period. We had a mixture of it all, which is part of what (in my opinion) made it work in the end.
I also don't see any advantage at all to the writers/artists/etc. in having to submit their work in advance, not be able to edit it
The only reason that we'd have to have due dates for this would be because, speaking from experience, people are horrible about turning things in on time. So if we counted on people to post things the day they were due, probably half of what was due would actually get posted. Sorry if that sounds cynical! :) The way it has worked well in the past is to have the due date the week before the reveal date. Then people have space to be late and also time to tinker and edit (because they'd post their own work to this LJ comm, it would just be set on moderation and would be revealed by a mod on the day it was due.)
Oh, and I would make a very poor mod, but I'm happy to keep helping with the comm tagging or icon-making or whatever.
Thank you! :) And thank you for your feedback too!
no subject
Date: 2013-11-04 01:50 am (UTC)I honestly think that the pressure would make me more likely to bail on the whole thing -- sorry! I've managed deadlines-in-advance on AO3, because the story is still there and accessible to me and I can futz with it to my heart's content, but LJ comms just don't work the same way as far as I know.
Thanks for listening. I know it's very difficult, if not impossible, to make everyone happy with something like this. If I wind up not doing B2MeM this year, it won't be "I'm mad so I quit!!" it would honestly be "My brain is not capable of doing this thing, even though I can't explain why."
no subject
Date: 2013-11-04 02:00 am (UTC)I'm pretty sure you're right that you cannot edit a post submitted to a queue in an LJ comm. However, if multiple versions were submitted (with edits) then we would take the most recent and delete the others, hopefully allowing writers to meet the deadline and then satisfy the urge to endlessly tinker while waiting for the reveal. (Which a lot of us do. I have to sit on my hands when rereading old stories not to edit them again.)
The good news, if this is the project we end up doing, is that B2MeM is supposed to be something different every year, so hopefully future years would be something you'd be more comfortable with. :) And you've been such an amazing volunteer for our community that I definitely want you to keep being around! :)