A tower by any other name.
Part of innovating is experimenting, which means knowing that not everything you try will work out equally well but not letting that stop you from trying it. I've seen the "comment auction" model work out well for people trying to help out with emergency situations and things like that.
I'm curious to see how it works outside of that, so I'm running one now for the right to name a building on the MU campus.
It's always great to see people rallying around to support artists in need, but at the end of the day we're always going to be "in need" if we're not getting what it takes to survive, and it's better if we have it before we're driven too close to the edge of the cliff. If this works, it'll be one more thing to add to the repertoire. Not something to be overused... I don't want to be running the equivalent of a sports broadcast with logos superimposed on the field... but there are a lot of things in a story that need names. Buildings, people, ships. They might not all be prominent things, but they're there.
Even if the auction does work, I've got some other ideas I might rotate or alternate with it, including things like doing a drawing for everybody who contributes money in a month (including the regular sponsors) and a few ways that don't involve money at all. Because apart from potentially being a way of raising money, I think this could also be a good way to draw the audience in closer... at least one member at a time. The first time I did anything like this (I think for the "Save Our s00j" campaign), the result was the T.M. Lazar center, for which I invented what I think is a nifty in-universe background that I hope the winning donor appreciates.
Anyway, some of the things I've dreamed up for future naming awards involve site promotion schemes I've been brewing but haven't hatched yet. As Tales of MU approaches 400 regular installments and probably over a million words... and as I learn to pay more attention to the way my brain retains and processes information compared to most people's... I'm starting to understand more of where the pacing/time complaints come from. :P I'm going to be making some changes to make the story more accessible to new readers, and also attempt a few adjustments to the rate at which the story progresses, once the big events of the "current" weekend are over.
I'm curious to see how it works outside of that, so I'm running one now for the right to name a building on the MU campus.
It's always great to see people rallying around to support artists in need, but at the end of the day we're always going to be "in need" if we're not getting what it takes to survive, and it's better if we have it before we're driven too close to the edge of the cliff. If this works, it'll be one more thing to add to the repertoire. Not something to be overused... I don't want to be running the equivalent of a sports broadcast with logos superimposed on the field... but there are a lot of things in a story that need names. Buildings, people, ships. They might not all be prominent things, but they're there.
Even if the auction does work, I've got some other ideas I might rotate or alternate with it, including things like doing a drawing for everybody who contributes money in a month (including the regular sponsors) and a few ways that don't involve money at all. Because apart from potentially being a way of raising money, I think this could also be a good way to draw the audience in closer... at least one member at a time. The first time I did anything like this (I think for the "Save Our s00j" campaign), the result was the T.M. Lazar center, for which I invented what I think is a nifty in-universe background that I hope the winning donor appreciates.
Anyway, some of the things I've dreamed up for future naming awards involve site promotion schemes I've been brewing but haven't hatched yet. As Tales of MU approaches 400 regular installments and probably over a million words... and as I learn to pay more attention to the way my brain retains and processes information compared to most people's... I'm starting to understand more of where the pacing/time complaints come from. :P I'm going to be making some changes to make the story more accessible to new readers, and also attempt a few adjustments to the rate at which the story progresses, once the big events of the "current" weekend are over.