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A handful of you, whether by one-on-one explicit arrangement with a mod or owing to the fact you said you were flexible enough to pinch-hit, will be getting a prompt-set assigned to you that is not on your list of preferences. We thank you for your willingness and patience, as we had two or three prompts this year that appeared on nobody's preference lists (this does NOT mean you made a bad prompt; besides, one of those prompts was made by a mod, so it just goes to show even people who have been doing this for years sometimes end up in that position), which meant we had to re-calibrate and start looking for things similar to what people asked for. We're lucky in that, as the assignments list stands right now, there's a one-to-one correspondence: nobody will be stuck writing/drawing more than one gift right from the start; doubling up will only happen if we have drop-outs later in the process and have to start asking people for pinch-hits.
This new system of sign-ups is several years in practice now; I personally have only been a mod since last year, which means this is my second year experiencing this new system from the inside rather than from the outside. The old system was simpler; people left a screened comment giving broad-strokes ideas of things they like and things they don't like, and then assignments were given at random. It meant you had no specific prompts, just guidelines for what your recipient might like to get and what definitely not to give.
We're beginning to think that reverting back to the old system for next year might save everyone grief, and we want your thoughts on this. The mod team is now a completely different set of people than it was in the beginning (minus one, Vulgarweed, who's been a mod from the start; the other two of us who are currently mods have participated every year since the beginning, however, and can honestly say that neither of us particularly prefers the new system over the old one, at least from the standpoint of long-term-participants-turned-mods).
We really want to hear back from you, even at this early stage, as many of you will make up next year's body of participants as well. We want this to run smoothly, and we also want the spirit of the thing to be what matters!
ETA: ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE SENT OUT AROUND / SHORTLY AFTER 7 PM EST.
This new system of sign-ups is several years in practice now; I personally have only been a mod since last year, which means this is my second year experiencing this new system from the inside rather than from the outside. The old system was simpler; people left a screened comment giving broad-strokes ideas of things they like and things they don't like, and then assignments were given at random. It meant you had no specific prompts, just guidelines for what your recipient might like to get and what definitely not to give.
We're beginning to think that reverting back to the old system for next year might save everyone grief, and we want your thoughts on this. The mod team is now a completely different set of people than it was in the beginning (minus one, Vulgarweed, who's been a mod from the start; the other two of us who are currently mods have participated every year since the beginning, however, and can honestly say that neither of us particularly prefers the new system over the old one, at least from the standpoint of long-term-participants-turned-mods).
We really want to hear back from you, even at this early stage, as many of you will make up next year's body of participants as well. We want this to run smoothly, and we also want the spirit of the thing to be what matters!
ETA: ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE SENT OUT AROUND / SHORTLY AFTER 7 PM EST.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 03:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 05:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 05:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 05:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 11:16 pm (UTC)I don't know about other participants, but I definitely could've offered that many. I think I offered five possibilities instead of the usual three, due to not reading the directions properly and possibly misremembering a previous year, but I took those from a much longer list of prompts that all had at least one option I felt comfortable with. I definitely couldn't have done any/all the prompts, due to people wanting, for instance, something like this: 1) a crossover with a fandom I don't know; 2) hardcore porn (I am, to paraphrase one of the prompters, decidedly not one of the great porn masters); 3) an historical period I haven't studied enough to write well. This is a generalization, NOT taken from anybody's specific prompt, just to be clear. Anyway, when I eliminated all the prompts with no options I felt I could do, that still left about half the total list. So maybe instead of having people offer three prompts, you could ask us to offer at least three, up to as many as we'd like?
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 11:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-02 01:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-02 02:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 06:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 06:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 07:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 07:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 07:39 pm (UTC)Otoh, I can spend forever just figuring (and re-figuring) how to make the old-style prompts into a cohesive work. With the current, more specific system, it makes figuring out what I'm doing a loooot easier and it's more certain that I'll get something I'm into and know I can make work. I wasn't entirely sure I'd jump in this year, but then I saw some of the prompts, and was like 'DO WANT,' so here I am once again.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 07:57 pm (UTC)Speaking as a mod, I suppose I'm very anxious about those few people who will inevitably end up getting something that wasn't on their preferences list (under the new system). I don't ever want them to feel bitter or put-upon while everyone else is (more or less) getting something they preferred. We do our best to ask permission, but sometimes there's no wiggle-room and we have to count on somebody being flexible for the sake of everything else working out. It's such a difficult balance.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 07:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 07:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 08:43 pm (UTC)I also see why it must be much harder for you.
What about requiring every participant to include one easy pretty general prompt that will give any writer room to play to his or her own strengths and not guaranteeing that people will get one of their favourite three prompts from the start?
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 08:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 08:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-01 11:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-02 10:57 am (UTC)I'll be honest in saying that I'd be a little worried if the prompts were completely random, but that wouldn't stop me from singing up in the future anyway.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-02 02:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-02 05:29 pm (UTC)Because I, for example, am the Midas of fluff, and it seems everything I touch will turn teeh-rotting sweet if I am not precedently forewarned about the receivers dislike of that kind of things!;) I see that it could be thrilling to have more creative control, and I know that some people really like surprises. And if it would give us more time to create our gift, I certainly wouldn't be adverse to it.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-04 04:27 am (UTC)I don't really mind the 2 vague, 1 detailed prompt idea. Might be worth a shot.
I haven't had any problem with spoilers, as I never remember the prompts by posting time anyway, and they're usually interpreted in really interesting ways. ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-25 07:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-12-03 10:53 pm (UTC)I'm new to this exchange, but I've participated in a few others. I've actually gotten a few prompts I wasn't sure what to do with, but I was pretty OK with it because I could get in touch with the person who wrote the prompts through the mods and it actually worked out well.
It might actually help if it was possible to either when picking prompts or offering to pinch-hit to go "any prompt for X/any prompts except for ones for X." (So, for example, somebody could say "Just give me an excuse to write Aziraphale/Crowley" or "Anything but porn.") I knew I could write something for the prompts I requested, but...
I didn't offer to pinch-hit in part because I knew some of the prompts I would end up eying like a suspicious lump of something found washed up on a beach that Pollution is vacationing on.