Further Discussion of the Creative Jam
Sep. 21st, 2011 12:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
crowdfundingFolks seem to like the idea of hosting a creative jam where everyone can play and anything goes in terms of medium. Let's discuss some further parameters. (This discussion also has a version on LiveJournal.)
Each session will have a theme of some kind so as to give people a starting point. Themes are being collected on the original post. You can suggest a favorite cause, something that's underserved by the mainstream, something you think will have widespread appeal, quirky concepts, whatever you want. There will be a theme poll on Monday. Currently my plan is to offer a question with checkboxes (mark all the ones you would participate in) and a question with radioboxes (mark the theme you'd like to feature first).
We need to decide some aspects of timing:
* How often should the creative jam happen?stryck suggests once a month.
* When should sessions happen? I suggested the last day of each month as a possibility, which gives different days of the week and doesn't conflict with an established project. Conversely, we might consider picking a Monday or Tuesday, which tend to be high-traffic days for blogging, the way the Poetry Fishbowl is typically on the first Tuesday of each month.
* How long should each session run?stryck suggests a 24-hour period from noon to noon, similar to Sketch Fest. Torn World's Muse Fusion has a weekend span.
Ideally, we'll reach parameters for timing that maximize the number of people who can participate, both as prompters and as creators. Nobody is expected to participate in every session; you can pick and choose based on your interest in the themes and/or your schedule availability. The goal is to attract a large enough pool of people that we can cycle through different folks over time and still have a good level of activity each session.
Since this community is all about crowdfunding, we should cover that too. Probably some creators will want to post a free sample, so that the audience has something to enjoy. Likewise many creators will want to make some items available for sponsorship in various ways. (If you don't want to post a whole item for free, consider an excerpt such as the beginning of a story or detail of a picture.) Do we want those posted in comments/replies under the jam session post, as new posts within the community, as new posts on the creator's site, etc.? If items are posted elsewhere, they should at least be linked from comments/replies under the jam session post so that they're easier to find.
Another crowdfunding aspect is that there are lots of established projects with unique characters, settings, etc. Some of those have relatively open participation (like the shared-world Torn World) while others are the work of one person. If creators want to do something from one of their own settings, or prompters want to request something from a favorite project, those are welcome along with new or one-shot items. The Muse Fusion has a rule that prompters aren't allowed to request a specific creator for their prompts. Do we want to instate that rule for our creative jam too?
Most projects have perks, sometimes different ones for individual supporters vs. collective audience. Some creators will probably use their favorite perks. Do we want to consider some kind of collective perk, maybe based on activity level -- number of creators participating, number of prompters participating, number of items posted, etc.?
A followup post after each session would be helpful, though it's not required. Those take some work to compile, but they make it easier to track progress and look at all the goodies. If someone would like to volunteer for this, please speak up. I may not have time for it myself.
What do we want to call this? I used "panjam" and "creative jam" in my original post. "Crowdfunding Creative Jam" would be a little more specific to the community. Other suggestions are also welcome.
Do we want an icon to advertise the project? Both the Poetry Fishbowl and Muse Fusion have session icons, and the Crowdfunding community has a variety of "Crowdfunding" icons. Once we've picked a name, artists and other icon makers could devise some possibilities that people could use, and we could vote on an "official" one.
If you have other ideas, suggestions, questions, etc. then please speak up. In particular, think of the projects you host and/or support, to see if they do things that might be helpful here.
POLL QUESTIONS
What should this project be called?
- Crowdfunding Creative Jam
- Creative Jam
- PanJam
Which of the 15 themes would you participate in? (checkboxes)
Which theme do you most want to do first? (radiobuttons)
How long should each session run?
- 24 hours, from noon to noon
- 48 hours
- weekend, Friday night to Monday morning
When should each session run?
- last day(s) or weekend of the month
- third Monday or weekend of the month
- some other time, consistent each month
- some other time, flexible each month
Working from prompts, should creators be REQUIRED to post at least an excerpt free?
- Yes
- No
Working from prompts, should creators be REQUIRED to share the resulting material with the prompter?
- Yes
- No
Where should creative material resulting from prompts appear?
- Entire content pasted directly into a reply to the prompt under the main post.
- Only an excerpt in a reply to the prompt, linking to full content elsewhere on Crowdfunding.
- Only an excerpt in a reply to the prompt, linking to full content elsewhere on creator's site.
- Separate message on Crowdfunding, linked in reply to prompt (no excerpt).
- Separate message on creator's site, linked in reply to prompt (no excerpt).
Should there be a time limit for creating work based on a claimed prompt?
- No, creativity takes however long it takes.
- Yes, one hour.
- Yes, one day.
- Yes, one week.
- Yes, some other timeframe.
May creators treat someone else's prompt response as a new prompt (i.e. sketch inspiring story)?
- Yes
- No
May prompters request a specific creator?
- No, all prompts must be general enough for any creator to use anywhere.
- Yes, but everyone else may still use that prompt if they wish.
- Yes, and only the named person may claim that prompt to post results.
May prompts specify a particular character, world, etc.?
- No, all prompts must be general enough for any creator to use anywhere.
- Yes, but creators may use the prompt for something else anyway and post those results.
- Yes, and creators must use the particulars specified in order to post their results.
How many people may make use of the same prompt?
- Only the first creator to claim the prompt, for maximum spread of creators over prompts.
- Everyone who wants to use it, for maximum flexibility of creator choice in inspiration.
Each session will have a theme of some kind so as to give people a starting point. Themes are being collected on the original post. You can suggest a favorite cause, something that's underserved by the mainstream, something you think will have widespread appeal, quirky concepts, whatever you want. There will be a theme poll on Monday. Currently my plan is to offer a question with checkboxes (mark all the ones you would participate in) and a question with radioboxes (mark the theme you'd like to feature first).
We need to decide some aspects of timing:
* How often should the creative jam happen?
stryck suggests once a month.* When should sessions happen? I suggested the last day of each month as a possibility, which gives different days of the week and doesn't conflict with an established project. Conversely, we might consider picking a Monday or Tuesday, which tend to be high-traffic days for blogging, the way the Poetry Fishbowl is typically on the first Tuesday of each month.
* How long should each session run?
stryck suggests a 24-hour period from noon to noon, similar to Sketch Fest. Torn World's Muse Fusion has a weekend span.Ideally, we'll reach parameters for timing that maximize the number of people who can participate, both as prompters and as creators. Nobody is expected to participate in every session; you can pick and choose based on your interest in the themes and/or your schedule availability. The goal is to attract a large enough pool of people that we can cycle through different folks over time and still have a good level of activity each session.
Since this community is all about crowdfunding, we should cover that too. Probably some creators will want to post a free sample, so that the audience has something to enjoy. Likewise many creators will want to make some items available for sponsorship in various ways. (If you don't want to post a whole item for free, consider an excerpt such as the beginning of a story or detail of a picture.) Do we want those posted in comments/replies under the jam session post, as new posts within the community, as new posts on the creator's site, etc.? If items are posted elsewhere, they should at least be linked from comments/replies under the jam session post so that they're easier to find.
Another crowdfunding aspect is that there are lots of established projects with unique characters, settings, etc. Some of those have relatively open participation (like the shared-world Torn World) while others are the work of one person. If creators want to do something from one of their own settings, or prompters want to request something from a favorite project, those are welcome along with new or one-shot items. The Muse Fusion has a rule that prompters aren't allowed to request a specific creator for their prompts. Do we want to instate that rule for our creative jam too?
Most projects have perks, sometimes different ones for individual supporters vs. collective audience. Some creators will probably use their favorite perks. Do we want to consider some kind of collective perk, maybe based on activity level -- number of creators participating, number of prompters participating, number of items posted, etc.?
A followup post after each session would be helpful, though it's not required. Those take some work to compile, but they make it easier to track progress and look at all the goodies. If someone would like to volunteer for this, please speak up. I may not have time for it myself.
What do we want to call this? I used "panjam" and "creative jam" in my original post. "Crowdfunding Creative Jam" would be a little more specific to the community. Other suggestions are also welcome.
Do we want an icon to advertise the project? Both the Poetry Fishbowl and Muse Fusion have session icons, and the Crowdfunding community has a variety of "Crowdfunding" icons. Once we've picked a name, artists and other icon makers could devise some possibilities that people could use, and we could vote on an "official" one.
If you have other ideas, suggestions, questions, etc. then please speak up. In particular, think of the projects you host and/or support, to see if they do things that might be helpful here.
POLL QUESTIONS
What should this project be called?
- Crowdfunding Creative Jam
- Creative Jam
- PanJam
Which of the 15 themes would you participate in? (checkboxes)
Which theme do you most want to do first? (radiobuttons)
How long should each session run?
- 24 hours, from noon to noon
- 48 hours
- weekend, Friday night to Monday morning
When should each session run?
- last day(s) or weekend of the month
- third Monday or weekend of the month
- some other time, consistent each month
- some other time, flexible each month
Working from prompts, should creators be REQUIRED to post at least an excerpt free?
- Yes
- No
Working from prompts, should creators be REQUIRED to share the resulting material with the prompter?
- Yes
- No
Where should creative material resulting from prompts appear?
- Entire content pasted directly into a reply to the prompt under the main post.
- Only an excerpt in a reply to the prompt, linking to full content elsewhere on Crowdfunding.
- Only an excerpt in a reply to the prompt, linking to full content elsewhere on creator's site.
- Separate message on Crowdfunding, linked in reply to prompt (no excerpt).
- Separate message on creator's site, linked in reply to prompt (no excerpt).
Should there be a time limit for creating work based on a claimed prompt?
- No, creativity takes however long it takes.
- Yes, one hour.
- Yes, one day.
- Yes, one week.
- Yes, some other timeframe.
May creators treat someone else's prompt response as a new prompt (i.e. sketch inspiring story)?
- Yes
- No
May prompters request a specific creator?
- No, all prompts must be general enough for any creator to use anywhere.
- Yes, but everyone else may still use that prompt if they wish.
- Yes, and only the named person may claim that prompt to post results.
May prompts specify a particular character, world, etc.?
- No, all prompts must be general enough for any creator to use anywhere.
- Yes, but creators may use the prompt for something else anyway and post those results.
- Yes, and creators must use the particulars specified in order to post their results.
How many people may make use of the same prompt?
- Only the first creator to claim the prompt, for maximum spread of creators over prompts.
- Everyone who wants to use it, for maximum flexibility of creator choice in inspiration.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-22 04:53 am (UTC)I would personally prefer prompt responses to be posted on the creator's own site or on the community (depending on the creator's preference) and links in comment responses. Or excerpts in comment responses, if they're very small/brief, but frankly, one of the biggest issues here is
I don't like the idea of prompters requesting specific responders. It feels exclusionary and kind of rude, I guess. But then I don't think very many people would want to do that.
Perks are always good. I don't have any ideas though.
I like the name "Creative Jam." The icon should have jam in it. That might be difficult to picture. I bet
And now I'm going to go post this at the LJ comm so somebody besides you sees it ;)
Okay...
Date: 2011-09-22 05:11 am (UTC)>>I like the name "Creative Jam." The icon should have jam in it. That might be difficult to picture. I bet meeks is up to the task! (Maybe I just want a Meeks icon for the project.)<<
*laugh* I am now imagining several jars of jam behind a slice of bread, with apricot-strawberry-grape-etc. spread in swaths, and then the text caption. Hee!
Thoughts on Timing
Date: 2011-09-22 03:13 pm (UTC)US Eastern, where the DW offices are?
UTC, which I feel is more suited to projects of world-wide scope?
Whatever time zone the person running a given session is in, possibly leading to problems with calculations?
Whatever time zone the person responding is in, which would lead to projects ramping up and tapering off over a 24-hour period?
Other?
Re: Thoughts on Timing
Date: 2011-09-22 04:43 pm (UTC)And that leads me to another question/poll suggestion (man, I am full of them today): how to include both versions of the comm? I think the main post should exist on both, but that's going to lead to two different sets of prompts, and that probably means fewer eyes on the DW prompts. Prominent links on each post to its counterpart?
Re: Thoughts on Timing
Date: 2011-09-22 05:16 pm (UTC)Yes, the LJ community is bigger and more active. I'm hoping this project may encourage the DW community to be more active also.
Re: Thoughts on Timing
Date: 2011-09-22 05:15 pm (UTC)Also, there's no need to be rigid about anything other than the start time for uploading the post and the end time after which no more prompts can be added. If people want to come back a week later and mine the post for inspiration, that's up to them.