Interest in a September 2014 ReadaThing?

There's been a request for a ReadaThing.
Most of our usual organizers are busy, but if there's enough interest, I'll organize a short 4-day ReadaThing in September. September 11-14 works best for me, but I'll consider other dates if there's a groundswell of interest/requests.

If you want/need a longer ReadaThing, you'll need to find someone else to organize it (create the Wiki, time zone charts, field signup questions, etc.). Four days is the most I can manage right now.

As I just said in the other thread, I'm more than willing to help out with anything that needs doing. :) Last time I only happened to swing by after it was already mostly organized, so just helped with some later wiki stuff and questions I was able to answer, but I'd be happy to help with the beforehand stuff as well.

Labor Day Weekend (US) is also an option for me. Friday August 29 - Monday September 1.

>2 .Monkey.:
Thanks! It would be great if you could help field questions and help people with the wiki (sign up before and during). (That way I can actually feel free to READ rather than be constantly checking the threads :) If we get enough interest and pick dates I can do the other set up parts. Let's see what happens.

So here are some options to vote on:

And if anyone knows how to put several votes into one post, please let me know. When I tried that, it repeated three of the first vote rather than showing three different votes. (or is this a preview bug?)

Yeah, only one works per post, I don't know if it's intentional or just some byproduct of however it's coded, but I know it's always been that way and isn't really considered a bug, just how it works.

Yes to all the above for me, I'm game whenever. Of course it's possible something will come up but, as of now there's no plans in the works that would thwart participation. :)

Erm...pleading ignorance.... I am a Brit....what IS a Readathing ?

It's just a reading marathon. The wiki is set up where people put their names in the time slots (1hr) they're going to read for (which can also be filled out later on, if you don't know beforehand when you'll have time) and we just trying to have someone, somewhere, reading in each hour throughout it. :)

I'm happy to help with organising a ReadaThing of any length (and available both slots) - I'm working part-time at the moment (and likely to be so through September), and based in Europe if that helps space us out around the globe for time zones! I've participated before but never organised, but happy to take instruction and pitch in.

>11 imyril: I'm Europe also, GMT+1 ;)

>12 .Monkey.: brilliant, so if I make any glaring mistakes you might spot them before our friends across the other side of the world wake up ;)

Hahahaha

>9 RuthieD:

From the Wiki for the April 2014 RaT:
"What is ReadaThing?
ReadaThing is NOT a read-a-thon!! You do not have to read for the entire week unless you want to (and have impossible endurance...)! ReadaThing is a time when we gather to read & share what we read. The best analogy I can offer is that ReadaThing is like a relay race where a runner hands a baton off to the next runner. Some of the readers sign up for specific reading times & some don't, but there is always someone in the group reading somewhere in the world."

The idea/hope is that during the time of the ReadaThing, someone will always be reading, but not always the same someone!! So we create a chart of reading times and try to have someone volunteering in each of the one hour time slots. So the more people we have scattered around the globe the better chance we have of knowing that one of our RaT group is reading at all times.

Hope this makes some sense . . . it's supposed to be fun, not complicated :)

Thursday the 11th is bad for me (intend to be out at a fair all day), but other than that it works. And I'm happy to help with anything - want me to work on the timeline PDFs, Lucinda (once the dates are set)?

and yay for more people helping to organize it! The more people who know how to run one the better.

>16 jjmcgaffey:
I thought you were busy? :)
Let's give it a few more days to see if we get more votes, but I'm fine with doing the setup . . . it's the monitoring of the threads and answering questions that's a bit harder for me (because I don't check LT every day).

More later.

I said (in the other thread) that I could probably do one early August (too late now) or early September. I'd rather help than do it, though - splitting the work is good. And aside from the 11th (and even then probably I'll be on in the evening), I do visit LT nearly every day and can check the threads.

I'm around most days at the moment, so happy to check threads and help answer questions. Good training :)

Just giving this a little bump . . . in case more people want to vote on the options above.

I'm getting ready to go out of town in a few days and will be gone until August 11th. When I get back I'll check the votes and comments and we can go from there.

Right now, Labor Day weekend is looking good . . . we'll see.
Those of you in other groups with people who've been known to join in on RaTs, please point them to this thread sometime over the next week so we get a good sense of who might join us.

Thanks!!

Okay, it looks like it will be Labor Day (US) Weekend. I've already started the Wiki and created the PDF with the Time Zones. You can find them at:
http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/ReadaThing-AugSept2014

The announcement thread is at: http://www.librarything.com/topic/179149

HELPERS!: Please look everything over and let me know if I missed anything or messed anything up.
Thanks!

Excited for this :D Thank you for all your work.

>21 LucindaLibri: hurray! Everything looks good. Jumping in :)

>20 LucindaLibri: People with interest in ReadaThongs will normally join or watch this group. Please do not encourage people to put messages in all their groups about this. It gets really boring to read one identical message after another.

>24 MarthaJeanne: Are they really identical? That's funny, if they are. Same subject by different people is usually expressed different ways. Though if you mean each person is posting in lots of groups, then yeah, that's probably overkill.

Every ReadaThing I've participated in, there have been at least a few new people - new to RaT or new to LT - who saw a message somewhere and followed it to the group. That's the aim.

Yes, one person put identical messages in various groups.

For the organizers to put one or two messages in other groups is one thing. This is just aggravating.

>25 jjmcgaffey: Yes, as MJ said, one person posted a heap of messages in other groups all at once. It's spam, plain & simple.

>24 MarthaJeanne:
In previous RaTs, people told us that they heard about it in other groups. It is also the best way to get NEW people into the (now less frequent) RaTs. Obviously, I have no control over people copying and pasting rather than customizing their message. You will get to read about it again in the upcoming SOTT. Try to just ignore it if it bothers you that much.

(I actually have stopped following most of TALK because certain groups (the challenges) have basically taken over the entire feed . . . not much any one of us can do about that . . . but it does make it difficult to get anything from a smaller group seen by the larger LT community unless you post in those groups (which I do not).)

Sorry for the inconvenience, just trying to get the word out so we can fill all the spots.

>27 .Monkey.:
If so, sending a message to that person is more appropriate than telling the organizers to not encourage spreading the word after they go to the trouble to make the event happen.

But that person said that it was being done because it had been recommended here.

@PolymathicMonkey I didn't seen any of the posts in question in my subscribed groups, but a quick search suggests there have only been 5 (which is no more than for previous RaTs). I think it's a bit harsh to call 5 posts spam.

MarthaJeanne, I think you got unlucky in seeing all 5 in your subscribed groups, but it is indeed encouraged to spread the word beyond this group to encourage first timers. I'd hate to see this practice discouraged - I'd certainly have never heard about RaT without it.

Do you want people from the challenge groups advertising the various group reads and monthly activities in all your groups?

As I said above, I'm not against the organizers mentioning it in one or two places, but creating identical topics in several groups is a good way to get people mad.

MarthaJeanne that's a fair point, but RaT don't happen regularly or frequently. However, I'm just an interested bystander chiming in with an opinion, which may not be helpful - I'll defer to those who are more experienced than me to determine what is deemed acceptable for the future and update the guidelines if needed.

I'm sorry you have been upset on this occasion by one overenthusiastic supporter. I'm sure we can find a common sense way not to throw the baby out with the bath water :)

Thanks for setting this up...I'm scheduled.