B2MeM 2014 (Yes, Really!)

[dawn_felagund]

Yes, 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.

Comments

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

I knew you and the mods would check to make sure any project was legal, just wanted to bring up the issue. So, let me understand. Prompts would come out to be claimed, when? In January? So people would have two months more or less to write or draw something? The results would be submitted to a mod who would then post the applicable work each day in March for the community to comment on? I do like that idea because it is true that in the past when all those ficlets were coming out so fast and furious, it was impossible to read and comment on other people's pieces, especially while trying to do your own. This way the focus during the month will be on people's work. I assume any number of people can claim a prompt, so it's possible some prompts wouldn't be claimed at all, but others would have a lot of folks writing them?
Sorry if you've already answered some of the questions above, I'm supposed to be writing today (LOL) not reading through all the posts.

[dawn_felagund]

No worries! :) I wouldn't want to read through the comments on this post either, at this point, even if I didn't have stuff to do today! :) Nothing is carved in stone yet--we don't even know that this is going to be our format yet for next year--but the only thing I'd change in your description of how it works is that everyone would post their own pieces, here to this community. The community would be set to moderation before B2MeM starts, so a mod would "release" the story from the queue on the appointed day. That will allow the original author power to edit and delete her/his own work without having to go through a mod to do so.

I'm also not sure how multiple claims will be handled. We haven't discussed that yet at all.

Good luck with the writing! :)

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

So obviously, If only one person could claim a prompt, there would need to be multiple prompts each day, otherwise only 31 people could participate. I suspect, because it's the way things go, some prompts would be a lot more popular than others and some wouldn't be claimed at all. So, whatever you decide should be amenable to that inevitability. You and the mods have done such a fantastic job in the past, I'm sure it will work well again. Btw, thank you for all the time and energy you put into this. SWG is an active viable community as a direct result of the energy you put into it.

[dawn_felagund]

I could see posting multiple prompts per day. Given the diversity of our participants' interests, I think it would be best to err on many prompts versus trying to limit it to 31. (Of course, some of this would depend on the theme we end up working with. This wouldn't be a problem with very open-ended prompts that could accommodate almost any character or time period.) So if we had 50 prompts and all 50 ended up claimed by a different person, then we'd release on average two pieces per day with some days only one (probably for longer pieces).

With open-ended prompts, though, I can see allowing multiple claims per prompt working well. I guess it comes down to the theme we end up going with and the sorts of prompts it generates.

Regardless, there will enough spaces for anyone who wants to participate. No format will have space only for a limited number of participants.

And thank you for your kind words! :)

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

As I said above, I think you could use some of the past monthly challenges posted on the SWG site, certainly as a starting point for this. I've found the past ones very inspirational and wished I had more time to try to write something to answer some of them. For example, this last one on standing at a crossroad to make a decision, focusing on turning points is excellent.

[dawn_felagund]

I'm glad you repeated that because I missed it above! :) And I love that idea! Thank you.