Call me Post-and-Retract! Big Changes for Yuletide!
I tell myself posts like this are good for my humility. Right? *g* Think of me as impulsive! We're in the midst of trying to get Yuletide more consistent and automated, so this probably isn't my last misstep.
Primary note: The limitation on new TV shows is off the table, and all shows are again eligible. I was being a bit selfish (not to mention overwhelmed), and didn't really take into account the excitement generated for a lot of people by getting a chance to write a Yuletide challenge in that first flush of fandom. My apologies once again for any confusion that results. I know that like the original post, this will make some people happy and others unhappy, and I regret that I've compounded it by reversing it. (Note: this reversal is not a result of any comments posted here or received elsewhere).
Due to some reactions to my last post, (Yuletide Consultant Extraordinaire!) and I talked things out, and she made a radical suggestion that I'd considered, but thought was maybe too radical. But it's a change that would eliminate the stress and hassle of checking the long list of fandoms for errors and dupes and rarity, and I'm all over that. It would also allow us to institute some standardization that simply isn't possible with the setup as is.
For Yuletide 2006 and onwards, we're going to start over from scratch each year with compiling fandoms, and limit suggestions to fandoms you're actually are thinking about requesting, no more than 6 fandoms per person
This would allow people to suggest their favorites and cover the ones they want to request, plus a couple they know they want to write - you'd just start the process of culling possibilities a little earlier, and we hope it will make sign-up simpler.
It would also make matching much simpler, hopefully eliminating some of the matching problems we've had, by pulling the list of available fandoms in closer to what people are likely to request. And it will allow us to institute some standardization that should make things clearer, such as the qualifiers we started using within the last couple of years (book, TV, movie, etc.) and listing authors by last name first, which is more useful when picking fandoms at sign-up.
It will reverse what's become standard: Instead of calling for corrections, then additional characters, then new fandoms, we'll do a call for fandoms, compile it and post it, then put out calls for corrections and additional characters. It will change the flavor of things a bit, although it will be very much like Yuletide was in its first year. And the full list of last year's fandoms will be available for consulting and sparking ideas.
When Yuletide started, part of the idea was to have a challenge for fandoms that weren't large enough to support their own, with the added element of "obscurity" to make it extra special. Having no idea how big a challenge it would become, the idea of compiling any fandom that anyone could even think of as an option didn't automatically seem ridiculous. *g* And the brainstorming generated ideas in wild and wonderful ways! But it also meant that each year we've had to cull the existing fandom list for fandoms that had ceased being obscure by a fairly vague and arbitrary measure, and for the last few years we've just accreted fandoms, farming out the task of double-checking for obscurity and duplicate fandoms and corrections -- a huge task when you're up to nearly 2000 fandoms, and one I was dreading, even with your generous help.
Very great thanks to those who had already volunteered to help with the process! Hopefully you'll be willing to look over the fandom list when it's compiled and help us double-check then for dupes, corrections, and obscurity!
Primary note: The limitation on new TV shows is off the table, and all shows are again eligible. I was being a bit selfish (not to mention overwhelmed), and didn't really take into account the excitement generated for a lot of people by getting a chance to write a Yuletide challenge in that first flush of fandom. My apologies once again for any confusion that results. I know that like the original post, this will make some people happy and others unhappy, and I regret that I've compounded it by reversing it. (Note: this reversal is not a result of any comments posted here or received elsewhere).
Due to some reactions to my last post, (Yuletide Consultant Extraordinaire!) and I talked things out, and she made a radical suggestion that I'd considered, but thought was maybe too radical. But it's a change that would eliminate the stress and hassle of checking the long list of fandoms for errors and dupes and rarity, and I'm all over that. It would also allow us to institute some standardization that simply isn't possible with the setup as is.
For Yuletide 2006 and onwards, we're going to start over from scratch each year with compiling fandoms, and limit suggestions to fandoms you're actually are thinking about requesting, no more than 6 fandoms per person
This would allow people to suggest their favorites and cover the ones they want to request, plus a couple they know they want to write - you'd just start the process of culling possibilities a little earlier, and we hope it will make sign-up simpler.
It would also make matching much simpler, hopefully eliminating some of the matching problems we've had, by pulling the list of available fandoms in closer to what people are likely to request. And it will allow us to institute some standardization that should make things clearer, such as the qualifiers we started using within the last couple of years (book, TV, movie, etc.) and listing authors by last name first, which is more useful when picking fandoms at sign-up.
It will reverse what's become standard: Instead of calling for corrections, then additional characters, then new fandoms, we'll do a call for fandoms, compile it and post it, then put out calls for corrections and additional characters. It will change the flavor of things a bit, although it will be very much like Yuletide was in its first year. And the full list of last year's fandoms will be available for consulting and sparking ideas.
When Yuletide started, part of the idea was to have a challenge for fandoms that weren't large enough to support their own, with the added element of "obscurity" to make it extra special. Having no idea how big a challenge it would become, the idea of compiling any fandom that anyone could even think of as an option didn't automatically seem ridiculous. *g* And the brainstorming generated ideas in wild and wonderful ways! But it also meant that each year we've had to cull the existing fandom list for fandoms that had ceased being obscure by a fairly vague and arbitrary measure, and for the last few years we've just accreted fandoms, farming out the task of double-checking for obscurity and duplicate fandoms and corrections -- a huge task when you're up to nearly 2000 fandoms, and one I was dreading, even with your generous help.
Very great thanks to those who had already volunteered to help with the process! Hopefully you'll be willing to look over the fandom list when it's compiled and help us double-check then for dupes, corrections, and obscurity!