Fannishness, (non)profit, and the OTW
In amidst all the commentary on Keith Mander and his ill-advised attempt to profit by fandom, 
facetofcathy wrote a great post in which she commented 'I think the OTW would be thrilled to know the AO3 let someone read fic by the pool'. My immediate response was 'YES OMG!', and it started a train of thought in me on what being in the OTW means to me. As I get more and more embroiled in career things, I have less and less time to spend on OTW work, and I know that a lot of my non-fannish friends and family wonder why the hell I use my leisure hours to do things which sometimes look an awful lot like a job. From the outside, it probably looks crazy, especially when I'm excusing myself from scial events to attend meetings, or sitting up till 2 in the morning on Christmas Eve doing Support requests, or stressing about things that aren't running smoothly. But the thing is, for all it's hard work and sometimes infuriating, it's also so gratifying. Cathy is totally right that hearing that we made a fan happy - because they can read fic by the pool, or they love the kudos feature on the AO3, or whatever - makes me happy. More than that, it's a huge pleasure to be part of a group of amazing, dedicated people who devote their time and enthusiasm to something that they're so passionate about. All the things which make being part of fandom at large awesome are also a part of beng involved in the OTW. When I tweeted the progress of the transition to the new servers earlier this year and saw people on Twitter enjoying my commentary, it gave me the same kick as when I get a comment on a fic I've written. When I've worked hard to write the release notes for new code, or I have spent an hour answering Support requests, I feel a warm glow of achievement and pride at having helped keep this awesome project on the road. Even when I'm not working on OTW stuff, I know I can hang out in Coders' and chat with like-minded people, and watch cool stuff going down. I've met OTW folk in real life and squeed over the awesome things we've done, and when life was going horribly awry for me, the OTW was a big part of my support. Essentially, for me the OTW isn't just a way to give back to fandom, it is one of my fandoms.
The OTW isn't unique in providing this sort of experience. On the contrary, this is the magic that keeps people modding LJ communities, or compiling fannish newsletters, or organising cons. The Keith Manders of this world will forever stumble into the same traps because they're simply incapable of understanding that the hard work and the giving back is integral to the joy of fandom. I feel super-privileged to be able to be part of a project and a community which is so awesome.
<3s OTW peoples and all the people who enjoy the fruits of our labour.
This entry was originally posted at http://zooey-glass.dreamwidth.org/109222.html. You can comment there using OpenID.
comments so far.
facetofcathy wrote a great post in which she commented 'I think the OTW would be thrilled to know the AO3 let someone read fic by the pool'. My immediate response was 'YES OMG!', and it started a train of thought in me on what being in the OTW means to me. As I get more and more embroiled in career things, I have less and less time to spend on OTW work, and I know that a lot of my non-fannish friends and family wonder why the hell I use my leisure hours to do things which sometimes look an awful lot like a job. From the outside, it probably looks crazy, especially when I'm excusing myself from scial events to attend meetings, or sitting up till 2 in the morning on Christmas Eve doing Support requests, or stressing about things that aren't running smoothly. But the thing is, for all it's hard work and sometimes infuriating, it's also so gratifying. Cathy is totally right that hearing that we made a fan happy - because they can read fic by the pool, or they love the kudos feature on the AO3, or whatever - makes me happy. More than that, it's a huge pleasure to be part of a group of amazing, dedicated people who devote their time and enthusiasm to something that they're so passionate about. All the things which make being part of fandom at large awesome are also a part of beng involved in the OTW. When I tweeted the progress of the transition to the new servers earlier this year and saw people on Twitter enjoying my commentary, it gave me the same kick as when I get a comment on a fic I've written. When I've worked hard to write the release notes for new code, or I have spent an hour answering Support requests, I feel a warm glow of achievement and pride at having helped keep this awesome project on the road. Even when I'm not working on OTW stuff, I know I can hang out in Coders' and chat with like-minded people, and watch cool stuff going down. I've met OTW folk in real life and squeed over the awesome things we've done, and when life was going horribly awry for me, the OTW was a big part of my support. Essentially, for me the OTW isn't just a way to give back to fandom, it is one of my fandoms.
The OTW isn't unique in providing this sort of experience. On the contrary, this is the magic that keeps people modding LJ communities, or compiling fannish newsletters, or organising cons. The Keith Manders of this world will forever stumble into the same traps because they're simply incapable of understanding that the hard work and the giving back is integral to the joy of fandom. I feel super-privileged to be able to be part of a project and a community which is so awesome.
<3s OTW peoples and all the people who enjoy the fruits of our labour.
This entry was originally posted at http://zooey-glass.dreamwidth.org/109222.html. You can comment there using OpenID.
comments so far.