ds_c6d_bigbang

[happy-29.livejournal.com]

Is the ds_c6d_Bigbang dying off? I hope not. I'm bummed that there are only five Big bang entries this year, down from 9 submitted last year. How can we generate some more excitement for this yearly challenge? I hope that it is just a slow year, that everyone has been overly busy and that things will pick up again next year. I love the rush of trying to sprint to the finish and make the deadline. Which I've done the last two years in a row ;) Thanks to those who have worked so hard at getting your stories finished, pushing through chaotic lives, ask bghost about mine, and making this another successful year. It will only become unsuccessful when there are no entries submitted (gasp) the thought!
Keep those fingers typing and those creative minds energized everyone! Best of luck and writing vibes sent everyone's way!

Comments

[desireearmfeldt]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for a discussion of this, though I'm also not sure what a right-er place would be. Anyway, it is a thing I am interested in discussing, with you and/or anyone else. :)

My take: there are a lot of new people becoming active in DS and to a lesser extent C6D, but most of them are doing so on Tumblr rather than LJ/DW. A few are not very Tumblr-y and are wandering in on AO3. I have recently been trying to get better about identifying new folks, pointing them to the active LJ/DW comms, and talking up the annual challenges. (You, too, can help in this way! :) )

At the same time, a lot of the folks who are still here on LJ/DW have largely moved on. So, fundamentally, the issue is that fewer of the people who used to participate are still around, and the new folks who might be suck-in-able don't necessarily know the challenge exists and don't do their fandom activities in this neighborhood.

So, I personally think that we need to recruit folks from Tumblr to be in the challenges. I'd prefer to keep running them over here because a) I'm a technology curmudgeon :) and b) links to history. But that may in the long run be a pipe dream.

We have added a Tumblr comm for Seekrit Santa this year & are going to be cross-posting announcements there (thanks, wagnetic!), which I fondly hope will get some of the newer DS folks to participate in Seekrit Santa. If so, hopefully that can be a gateway for getting people interested in other challenges.

[wagnetic.livejournal.com]

I think LJ and DW are still more practical platforms for challenge-running, but I do think cross-posting to tumblr might help with getting more people to participate for things like the big bang as well as dSSS. I really hope the challenges don't die off!

[desireearmfeldt]

:)

[bghost.livejournal.com]

It's true that a lot of folks are coming in through Tumblr - I have an account, but keep forgetting to use it! Next year we could have a big recruitment drive there, perhaps.

And Happy, you're right! Chaotic lives can get in the way. One of the things which makes this challenge so inspiring (and my favourite one of the year) is the feedback and encouragement people give each other throughout - the Skype chats and so on. (Or the sitting and swapping of coffee.) I don't know how Tumblr would fit in with that - I'm pretty sure it could work though? This year the Skype feedback helped me no end. It is one of the most valuable things I find in how this challenge is run.

Maybe when it is over this year folks interested in the BB could all meet in Skype or such like, and have that discussion?

[desireearmfeldt]

The Skype chats could presumably still happen no matter what media were being used for announcements and so on -- they're already an adjunct.

Maybe when it is over this year folks interested in the BB could all meet in Skype or such like, and have that discussion?

That could be a good idea -- might present some logistical challenges, e.g. scheduling a time everyone can make, having a facilitator to cat-herd the conversation -- but nothing unmanageable.

[bghost.livejournal.com]

Or perhaps we could all meet up in a closed group to chat about it, for those who have trouble with Skype, or to help manage timezone issues. So, a place where we could take a little more time to think things through and leave our thoughts there?

[desireearmfeldt]

Also possible; has a different set of pros and cons. :)

[happy-29.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a large interest in it when it comes to signups, but then when the deadline for submissions arrives, it's like a large chunk of the interest has vanished. I'm going to blame it on people's busy lives this year. I admit to never being on tumbler and don't have an account on DW either and wouldn't have even signed up if it weren't for BG doing it for me. I guess I don't understand the reason behind the many different forums if they are all basically the same? But yes... would love to generate more interest in this yearly challenge.

[desireearmfeldt]

There seems to be a large interest in it when it comes to signups, but then when the deadline for submissions arrives, it's like a large chunk of the interest has vanished.

Actually, I think -- though maybe the mods can correct me if I'm wrong -- that about the same *proportion* of people who signed up made it to the finish line as in the last couple of years. It's just that this year, ~10 signed up and 5 finished, whereas in past years, ~25 have signed up and ~10 have finished.

So, you're right, that's a thing that usually happens, but I don't think it's worse this year.

I, personally, did not sign up this year because of Busy Life and am planning to sign up next year, assuming that work-post-graduation doesn't throw me any nasty surprises. I know a couple of other people had Real Life issues too. But I suspect that, too, happens every year, just to different people each time. :)

[sassyinkpen.livejournal.com]

I'm one of those for whom life just took over in a way I wasn't expecting. I'm still VERY interested in this, and fully intend to join next year - I just hope I can actually FINISH. Which I should - all the things that have been eating my time the past two years are resolved now.

I think recruiting from Tumblr is a good idea - I know there's a lot of fandom going on there. I just can't for the life of me figure out how to do it! I know people have conversations and stuff, but I can't follow them. I MUCH prefer this platform.

[desireearmfeldt]

And one of the nice things about this challenge is there's no penalty for dropping out, so people feel free to try -- on the other hand, that does mean that about half the initial people each year don't make it all the way to the finish line, which is fine as long as we continue to have enough people starting. :)

P.S.: looks like they still need one complementary-work maker, if you're interested in jumping in. Needs to be non-fic, though.