telperion1
in
mefas
(no subject)
Hey gang,
I'm working with Tanaqui and Aranel Took to get ready for the 2008 MEFAs. We had hope to be ready to start on May 1, which is fast approaching. If everything's ready by then nominations will run May 1-June 15, and the awards will proceed from there. (We may have to push the start date back to May 15 if the website isn't quite ready - if so I will make another announcement.)
--- PASSWORDS ---
In the meantime, I want to make sure everyone will be able to log in. Can everyone try to log in to
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2007/
If you can log in here, you should be able to log in to the 2008 website as well. So go ahead and try to log in to the above address, to make sure you remember your password and everything. I sent one member her password earlier this week, so you'll be in good company if you can't log in.
(There's one exception to this. If you were a nominated author last year but not a member of MEFAwards, you will probably receive a new account if you're nominated again next year. If you want to keep your old account, please join the MEFAwards Yahoo group. If you're unsure of your status, let me know and I'll check into it.)
If you *do* have troubles, either now or once the 2008 awards start, please email mefasupport-at-gmail-dot-com.
Remember, to nominate stories you need to be a member of the MEFAwards Yahoo group. If you're not a member and would like to nominate stories, please go ahead and join now so that we can get you set up now.
--- VOLUNTEERS ---
If you want to get involved, you can become a nominator. Or let your story participate. Or (perhaps most importantly!) review some stories. These are the three most common types of participants. It's not glamorous work, but it is crucial - we wouldn't have a MEFAs without you.
We do need some more specialized volunteers, though. If you're interested in doing any of these things, please email mefasupport-at-gmail-dot-com.
1. PROMOTER. If you're a member of a group, you can make MEFA announcements there, and either answer peoples' questions or pass them along to me for an official answer. I will send out announcements to promoters, which you can personalize if you like or just forward them on.
*** Time Commitment: You'd need to be available fairly regularly from now until the end of the awards (either the end of October or November 15, depending on when we start). But it's not a major problem if you're unavailable for one or two announcements, so if you go away on vacation for a few weeks that's generally okay. Making the announcements doesn't take much time - you just have to send an email or make a forum post, at most once every week or two. (Usually not
even that often.)
*** MEFA Experience Needed: None needed. It's good if you know a little about the awards, in case people ask questions at your group, but you can always pass those questions along to me and I'll write up an answer that you can give to your group.
2. BANNER CREATORS. It's just what it sounds like - you would create banners for nominated authors, reviewers who reach their reviewing goal, and for authors whose stories win a prize. You can do as much or as little as you'd like, and create on whatever topics you like. Fiondil (who is managing banners this year) may approach you to create a certain type of banner if it looks like we don't have enough of a certain type. However, you can always say no.
*** Time Commitment: As much as you'd like. This really depends on how many banners you'd like to create.
*** MEFA Experience Needed: None. If you can follow basic instructions (as in: include these phrases, make the banner around this size), you don't need to know anything else about the awards.
3. LIAISON. Author liaisons work with authors to get stories ready to compete. You will email authors when they are first nominated, answer any questions they have, and look over their story forms when they're completed.
*** Time Commitment: Liaisons need to be available pretty consistently from May 1-June 21 (or May 15-July 7, if we start later). How much work depends a lot on how many authors are ominated, how much help they need, and how many liaisons volunteer. The good news is that if you find yourself short on time, we can often stop giving you new authors - but it is pretty critical that you be able to check email every few days during this period.
It's particularly important that you be around the last week, (June 16-June 21, or July 1-7 if we start later) because that's when your authors will be under the most time pressure to finish their nominations.
*** MEFA Experience Necessary: It's good if you've participated at least once, as an author or an author liaison, so you have a general feel for the process. But if you can follow instructions and are willing to ask questions when you don't understand, that's not really *necessary* - just might make things easier.
4. WELCOME MANGER. This is a new volunteer position. Your job would be to email every new participant within a few days of their joining the website, welcoming them and offering to answer any questions they might have. If you don't know the answers I can help (as can other volunteers). The point is that you'd be a first point of contact for new members.
*** Time Commitment: The WM needs to be pretty much available throughout the awards. If you know you'll be away for a few weeks another volunteer could step in short-term, though.
This is a new position, but I don't imagine it would require much time once the awards get started. Things may be more busy at the beginning of nominations, when most members will be joining for the first time.
*** MEFA Experience Necessary: It would be good if the Welcome Manager has some experience with the MEFAs so he or she can affectively answer questions. However, it's more important that you're friendly and patient. If you're asked a question you don't know the answer to, you
can ask the other volunteers. (In fact, I recommend that you do that.)
5. RATINGS PANEL. Sometimes authors will be unsure what rating to give their story. The ratings panel is a group of three volunteers who will read scenes or chapters and give their opinion on how the story containing that scene or chapter should be rated. I would then tell the author that the story should be rated whatever the majority of the panel chose.
Not every story nominated goes through the rating panel. An author can request the RP's recommendation, and this happened maybe a half-dozen times last year.
*** Time Commitment: You would need to be available fairly regularly during nominations, especially toward the end of nomination season (June 7-21, or June 21-July 7 if we start later). In theory you might also be called upon to review a story later, if a member questions whether the rating of a story is appropriate, though this has never happened. How much time would be required depends on how quickly you read, but the scenes you'd have to read shouldn't be that long.
*** MEFA Experience Necessary: The Ratings Panel members should have some experience reading MEFA stories, so they have a feel for what types of stories are usually given what kind of ratings. You also should be able to follow the guidelines given in the Ratings Guide (in
the FAQ section of the website).
That's it! Let me know if you'd like to help out in any of these capacities.
Marta
(MEFA Admin.)
I'm working with Tanaqui and Aranel Took to get ready for the 2008 MEFAs. We had hope to be ready to start on May 1, which is fast approaching. If everything's ready by then nominations will run May 1-June 15, and the awards will proceed from there. (We may have to push the start date back to May 15 if the website isn't quite ready - if so I will make another announcement.)
--- PASSWORDS ---
In the meantime, I want to make sure everyone will be able to log in. Can everyone try to log in to
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2007/
If you can log in here, you should be able to log in to the 2008 website as well. So go ahead and try to log in to the above address, to make sure you remember your password and everything. I sent one member her password earlier this week, so you'll be in good company if you can't log in.
(There's one exception to this. If you were a nominated author last year but not a member of MEFAwards, you will probably receive a new account if you're nominated again next year. If you want to keep your old account, please join the MEFAwards Yahoo group. If you're unsure of your status, let me know and I'll check into it.)
If you *do* have troubles, either now or once the 2008 awards start, please email mefasupport-at-gmail-dot-com.
Remember, to nominate stories you need to be a member of the MEFAwards Yahoo group. If you're not a member and would like to nominate stories, please go ahead and join now so that we can get you set up now.
--- VOLUNTEERS ---
If you want to get involved, you can become a nominator. Or let your story participate. Or (perhaps most importantly!) review some stories. These are the three most common types of participants. It's not glamorous work, but it is crucial - we wouldn't have a MEFAs without you.
We do need some more specialized volunteers, though. If you're interested in doing any of these things, please email mefasupport-at-gmail-dot-com.
1. PROMOTER. If you're a member of a group, you can make MEFA announcements there, and either answer peoples' questions or pass them along to me for an official answer. I will send out announcements to promoters, which you can personalize if you like or just forward them on.
*** Time Commitment: You'd need to be available fairly regularly from now until the end of the awards (either the end of October or November 15, depending on when we start). But it's not a major problem if you're unavailable for one or two announcements, so if you go away on vacation for a few weeks that's generally okay. Making the announcements doesn't take much time - you just have to send an email or make a forum post, at most once every week or two. (Usually not
even that often.)
*** MEFA Experience Needed: None needed. It's good if you know a little about the awards, in case people ask questions at your group, but you can always pass those questions along to me and I'll write up an answer that you can give to your group.
2. BANNER CREATORS. It's just what it sounds like - you would create banners for nominated authors, reviewers who reach their reviewing goal, and for authors whose stories win a prize. You can do as much or as little as you'd like, and create on whatever topics you like. Fiondil (who is managing banners this year) may approach you to create a certain type of banner if it looks like we don't have enough of a certain type. However, you can always say no.
*** Time Commitment: As much as you'd like. This really depends on how many banners you'd like to create.
*** MEFA Experience Needed: None. If you can follow basic instructions (as in: include these phrases, make the banner around this size), you don't need to know anything else about the awards.
3. LIAISON. Author liaisons work with authors to get stories ready to compete. You will email authors when they are first nominated, answer any questions they have, and look over their story forms when they're completed.
*** Time Commitment: Liaisons need to be available pretty consistently from May 1-June 21 (or May 15-July 7, if we start later). How much work depends a lot on how many authors are ominated, how much help they need, and how many liaisons volunteer. The good news is that if you find yourself short on time, we can often stop giving you new authors - but it is pretty critical that you be able to check email every few days during this period.
It's particularly important that you be around the last week, (June 16-June 21, or July 1-7 if we start later) because that's when your authors will be under the most time pressure to finish their nominations.
*** MEFA Experience Necessary: It's good if you've participated at least once, as an author or an author liaison, so you have a general feel for the process. But if you can follow instructions and are willing to ask questions when you don't understand, that's not really *necessary* - just might make things easier.
4. WELCOME MANGER. This is a new volunteer position. Your job would be to email every new participant within a few days of their joining the website, welcoming them and offering to answer any questions they might have. If you don't know the answers I can help (as can other volunteers). The point is that you'd be a first point of contact for new members.
*** Time Commitment: The WM needs to be pretty much available throughout the awards. If you know you'll be away for a few weeks another volunteer could step in short-term, though.
This is a new position, but I don't imagine it would require much time once the awards get started. Things may be more busy at the beginning of nominations, when most members will be joining for the first time.
*** MEFA Experience Necessary: It would be good if the Welcome Manager has some experience with the MEFAs so he or she can affectively answer questions. However, it's more important that you're friendly and patient. If you're asked a question you don't know the answer to, you
can ask the other volunteers. (In fact, I recommend that you do that.)
5. RATINGS PANEL. Sometimes authors will be unsure what rating to give their story. The ratings panel is a group of three volunteers who will read scenes or chapters and give their opinion on how the story containing that scene or chapter should be rated. I would then tell the author that the story should be rated whatever the majority of the panel chose.
Not every story nominated goes through the rating panel. An author can request the RP's recommendation, and this happened maybe a half-dozen times last year.
*** Time Commitment: You would need to be available fairly regularly during nominations, especially toward the end of nomination season (June 7-21, or June 21-July 7 if we start later). In theory you might also be called upon to review a story later, if a member questions whether the rating of a story is appropriate, though this has never happened. How much time would be required depends on how quickly you read, but the scenes you'd have to read shouldn't be that long.
*** MEFA Experience Necessary: The Ratings Panel members should have some experience reading MEFA stories, so they have a feel for what types of stories are usually given what kind of ratings. You also should be able to follow the guidelines given in the Ratings Guide (in
the FAQ section of the website).
That's it! Let me know if you'd like to help out in any of these capacities.
Marta
(MEFA Admin.)