K-Pop Olymfics 2019 Changes and Feedback!

[olymficsmod]

It's almost that time again: K-Pop Olymfics!

Those of you who have participated in the past know Olymfics is a multi-fandom fic event unlike any other - and like the K-pop groups we write about, we can't keep coming back without revamping the way we do things.

For the past few months, the current modding team has been thinking about and discussing how to update Olymfics, taking into account input from past mods and participants as well as common concerns floating around. We've outlined below some changes we've decided on, along with our schedule, and we'll open up this post to address any additional concerns or suggestions you have.

Our goal is always to make sure K-Pop Olymfics is an incredible team ficcing event! So without further ado:



CHANGES
Teams
As usual, participants will be distributed across different genre-based teams according to preference and the groups they intend to write, aiming for an even distribution of fandoms. To address some issues regarding the genres, this year we're splitting into 4 teams.

• 2 Canon/Alternate Reality/Future teams: These two teams (CF1 and CF2) will write fics set in the idol-verse (aka reality). Fics can be set in the present, in the future, or in an alternate reality based on our current one (but not sci-fi in nature). They should be about K-pop as we know it.
• 2 Alternate Universe teams: These two teams (AU1 and AU2) will write fics set in any alternate universe that strikes their fancy. The main characters cannot be part of K-pop as we know it.

All four teams are totally separate, and will compete equally against each other. For example, CF1 and CF2 don't have any interaction or alliance with each other, despite writing fics in the same genre.

Leadership
Since there will be four teams, the modding team is now comprised of four active and invested mods. This year's mods are: disappointed (Team Canon mod 2015 & 2017), naladot (Team AU mod 2017), baexil, and kas2umi. In addition, we're introducing "vice-captains" to the leadership structure of Olymfics to address one of the biggest problems past participants have experienced. Each of these vice-captains will be chosen from among the members of their team. They will be in contact with all four mods, and will take on a bigger leadership role should their team mod become unable to fulfill all their duties. One aim of this post is to discuss how vice-captains should be chosen; we want you to have a say in this.

Scoring and Prompts
As always, fics will be scored via reader survey. This year, the survey will be comprised of three questions:

• How much did you enjoy this fic? (10 points)
• How well was the prompt interpreted? (5 points)
• How well were the genre and universe of the fic explored? (5 points)

Fics must be inspired by the music video and/or song lyrics of your assigned prompt. Supplementary prompts will still be included, and we encourage you to use them, but they are just that: supplementary to the main prompt, which is your song.

Late Fic Policy
Fic deadlines will be stricter this cycle, since each posting set now requires four fics to complete it. If a participant cannot complete their fic on time, they must immediately contact their team mod, who will provide them with two options:

1. Receive an extension. To receive one, the participant must submit what they have - as much or as little as it may be - to the AO3 collection. This provides proof something exists, and serves as collateral. They may continue to update it up until the end of their extension, but whatever is on AO3 on the fic's posting date will be posted, finished or not.
2. Give the prompt to a pinch-hitter.

If a participant has not submitted a fic or been granted an extension by an assigned date, the prompt will automatically be given to a pinch-hitter. If no pinch-hitter can be found, or the pinch-hitter can't finish in time, the team will be disqualified for that round.

SCHEDULE (2018-2019)

October 12 - 26: Participant feedback
December 7 - 21: Sign-ups
January 1: Team assignments sent
January 6: Prompts posted; writing period begins
February 9: Check-in
March 24: Writing period ends
April 1: Posting begins

All deadlines are at midnight in the Pago Pago timezone.

FEEDBACK
We welcome your feedback! We're happy to address any concerns you have, answer questions and receive additional suggestions for this round of Olymfics. (Please allow a little time for a reply, since the mod team will be discussing our answers before we provide them in order to fully think them through and reach a consensus on how to move forward.) We would especially love to hear your thoughts on how vice-captains should be chosen, since this is a very important change and we want you to feel confident in it. We also encourage you to discuss with each other - this is a process we're all going through together. Comments will close on October 26th in order to give mods time to synthesize feedback, consider suggestions, and finalize everything for this cycle.

The floor is open to you!

Edit 10/13: Anon comments should be enabled now.
Edit 10/26: Comments closed, thank you everyone! Update post to follow.