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Suave View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (3) Thanks(3)   Quote Suave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 11:40pm
I did not make it into round 2, but will still do a master list for it!  Just need to wait on the genre to come out.   Tongue
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tcFlash View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tcFlash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 11:44pm
Originally posted by nixie nixie wrote:

Originally posted by tcFlash tcFlash wrote:

Here's my pat on suave's back....Great job. Thank you for making this year's SSC as enjoyable as it has been. 

Now, regarding the maintenance of the ML in the future, would two, smaller forums with an ML of their own be more effective and encourage participation?


I think, in the general scheme of things, the forums are tough to search and posts accumulate quickly.  The "most-recently-touched-post-to-the-front" logic makes it easy to miss posts, and the more random subject lines are, the harder it is to sort them in any meaningful way.  I can totally understand how 'fewer things in one place' would make that easier to wade through.  But that annoyance is the origin of the Master List.  

I don't know that 'separate forums" would be that much different, at this point, as long as someone picks up the ML task (I am "in" for FFC - if you see my Nixie nose, there will be a Master List - so kiss up to Suave to keep doing one for SSC ;) ).  Splitting into two forums *would create extra steps for those who, for example, skim the ML to find other groups that wrote in their genre, etc.

Thoughts?

I actually dislike the idea of two forums. I brought it up because it is an option, I suppose, but splitting causes more potential problems. Besides, I don't want to lose the sense of a whole community. Two MLs with two coordinators might be good. suave split it this time. We could begin with a split ML next year with two coordinators. I don't know if the current coordinators work full time. I do. I'd be willing to handle one of the MLs if we split it.


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tcFlash View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tcFlash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 11:48pm
Originally posted by Suave Suave wrote:

I did not make it into round 2, but will still do a master list for it!  Just need to wait on the genre to come out.   Tongue

suave, that is a high level of commitment, and I for one do not take it for granted and do appreciate it. It will be a much smaller group too. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MakiSupaStar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Mar 2017 at 1:06pm
Originally posted by Suave Suave wrote:

I did not make it into round 2, but will still do a master list for it!  Just need to wait on the genre to come out.   Tongue

Came here to find out this specific piece of info.  Thanks.  You did a fantastic job with the ML, and I want to personally thank you for all your patience with me personally being new to this forum.   I personally got a lot out of giving feedback as well as receiving it.  I'd love to read the next round, even as just an ex participant helping those that advanced.  

Cool to hear.    
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nixie View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nixie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Mar 2017 at 6:46pm
Originally posted by tcFlash tcFlash wrote:


I actually dislike the idea of two forums. I brought it up because it is an option, I suppose, but splitting causes more potential problems. Besides, I don't want to lose the sense of a whole community. 

Still - good to put it out there, either to hear alternative POVs or, if all agree, to know why we *chose not to do it :) For those reasons, I think it was  a good question for you to ask, anyway :)

Originally posted by tcFlash tcFlash wrote:

Two MLs with two coordinators might be good. suave split it this time. We could begin with a split ML next year with two coordinators. I don't know if the current coordinators work full time. I do. I'd be willing to handle one of the MLs if we split it.


Speaking just for myself - Suave's experience may be different - but doing ML for FFC would be harder if it were shared.  rather than just 'ticking every new post' i would then have to make decisions about each one to determine if it were in 'my area' or 'the other person's area' - by the time that is done, i could be halfway through the task of adding it to the list. Plus - folks figuring out "whose list' to post their stuff to seems like it could get to be a nightmare. 

Setting aside "just honest mistakes" - my experience has been that some folks are more and some less tech-savvy - so just herding everyone up into getting a forum post (vs a link direct to their doc) and the right info posted is a bit of a zoo. :) Add in "figuring out which list to post to" and I think it might tip some folks into madness <3 Having everything in one place, and having the experienced folks in the forums providing added support directly to that (both through adding missed posts and through coaching new forumites) has been a good system, and a manageable one. 

[that said, I would love to hear from both Suave - as to whether he reached the same or a different conclusion - and from FFC folks to say whether this has been 'good' and sufficiently timely, with just one person doing it, etc. If I am too optimistic, don't let me live in my illusions :)]

I see how you used "coordinators" there - but just in case anyone reading is not 100% clear - the folks who maintain these Master Lists are not 'employees of NYCM' - just 'other writers who are also in the contest.' I work full time, with a 2-hr one-way commute - and I believe Suave works full time as well. :) So, tcFlash is being considerate of our volunteer time here (as opposed to "making a comment about whether we 'work full time for NYCM or are just part-timers' ").  It *is a bit to keep up but only for a week or so, and folks are patient and helpful. 

All that stuff said - the Master List concept is new - we only did it for the first time last year in FFC, and Suave expanded it here to SSC for the first time with *this year. So there have to be better ways to do it. Things that have already been discussed:
- Multiple people maintaining the (single) master List post
---[the forum software doesn't really have a permissions mechanism that allows shared ownership or editing of a post]
- posting the list outside of FFC in a multi-editor location (like someone's G-Docs)
---[concerns included privacy - to allow folks to add their own entries, we'd need to share the doc 'edit' for 'anyone who comes here'; people who link directly to their doc instead of a post losing the protection of the contestant-only forum; having to bounce back and forth between forum and someone's g-docs; losing the history (right now, you can go back and look up stories from last year, and some links are still accessible. Mostly, some writers use it to review the feedback after they have got a few months' distance from a story).

Other options?
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