footie_springfling | Reveals and Post-Exchange Thoughts

Authors have been revealed! With that, the 2018 edition of Spring Fling is officially in the books.

To everyone that participated, helped beta, offered to pinch hit, spread the word, and read/left kudos/commented on the works: YOU ARE THE BEST AND WE LOVE YOU. This exchange wouldn't be anywhere without y'all and we are so happy to be running it :D

Like last year, we wanted to open up the floor for feedback and discussion. Knowing what worked for participants and what didn’t helps us to create an even better Spring Fling experience next time - anonymous commenting is enabled, so no need to create an account if you don’t have one.

Mandatory commenting. This worked pretty well last year in Last Minute Sub, and we do want to encourage everyone to at least leave a comment on their gift. What are people's thoughts about adding mandatory commenting on gifts to the rules?

Penalty for serial defaulters. We've previously not had any penalties for defaulters because we know, as well as anyone, that sometimes you just cannot find the time/will/creativity/whatever to finish an exchange fic. But late defaults in consecutive years without any acknowledgement from the participants feels like our goodwill is being taken advantage of. Our questions to you all are: how many chances is a reasonable number and what should serial defaulters do to earn back the ability to participate in Spring Fling?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i don't wanna be the first one to comment again but here i go, i guess :D

thanks for the smooth organisation, i had no problems with any parts of the process. it's always big fun to take part and it helps me to push myself to write something.

i'm all for mandatory commenting and i think i explained at LMS why i think it's not an unreasonable thing to ask for. it's a yes from me!

a penalty for serial defaulters seems reasonable as well. i think defaulting twice without any explanation is enough to deserve - idk, whatever penalty would be in place (i feel like if the participants just get in touch with you with an explanation, just some short sentences about why they can't make it, there should be no penalty. as you said, it can happen to anyone, but at least they should let you know.) a penalty could perhaps just be getting banned from spring fling until the person comes to you with an explanation/apology, just anything acknowledging it. but perhaps there are better ideas you guys can come up with.

uhhh yeah that's it, i think. if i remember anything else, i'll add it.

cheers! - frauke

i adore you for always responding so thank you! ♥

i guess the thing with serial defaulters is... i'm not particularly interested in an apologies or anything of the sort? nobody owes us that. my main concern, if they have defaulted twice or more but want to sign up again, is having some kind of commitment/proof that they'll submit a fic this time. using yuletide as an example, if you default two years in a row or after the default deadline, you have to write a "new years resolution" fic before signing up again -- basically write a prompt from a yuletide past, following the guidelines of a normal assignment (1000 words, no dnws, etc.) and then you've got amnesty. that's an option for something to implement, but definitely not the only one.

TLDR WE AREN'T LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO GROVEL AT OUR FEET HAHA i'm more interested in a tangible effort to commit to the exchange again if you want to sign up.

ohhh i didn't mean it like ~groveling at ur feet, i just meant getting in touch instead of radio silence.
the option you named seems good to me, but i guess in the end it's mostly about what you as mods feel helps, since it doesn't really touch me as a participant (since i don't plan on defaulting lol). so do what you think is best, i think.

have a nice day, you two!!

I could write my own comment, but it boils down to: YEAH, WHAT CAITLIN SAID

Thanks for another wonderful year of Spring Fling, Lovely Mods! I had a lot of fun as usual and enjoyed seeing everyone's prompts and filling some of my own.

I'm on the fence about mandatory commenting. On one hand, it's excellent because authors love comments. On the other hand . . . In this fandom at least, I have seen that when people get a gift, they try their best to leave a substantial comment with at least one or two lines about WHY they liked the fic. You know, putting in work because someone has taken their time with a gift for you. With that said, I'm not sure whether I would prefer no comment or simply a "thanks for writing this!" if someone didn't like the fic I wrote. Maybe this is just my mental health issues showing themselves though.

As for serial late defaulters, I like the idea of doing something like Yuletide. Twice is probably a reasonable number for an exchange that happens once a year. As for what they should do? That's an interesting idea in a reverse exchange. Maybe fulfilling one of the prompts they submitted?

Once again, I extend my congratulations for another excellent job done!

Thank you again for participating <3 <3 <3

For us as a mod team, we see the mandatory commenting as a way not only to remind people to leave their authors a comment but for there to be an enforceable consequence if they don't. It feels like the majority of participants don't have to be prompted at all to comment, but having an upfront rule does let us be transparent with what our expectations are. (Sidebar: I hate that "thank for writing this!" has become code for "this is terrible and I hate it" because I'm not a naturally effusive comment-leaver and sometimes that's all I can think of saying XD)

Yeah, I think either something like Yuletide's New Year's Resolution (where participants that aren't eligible to sign-up get that eligibility back by writing a fic) or something like giving these participants a probation year, where they have to finish their assignment by the default deadline are things we're thinking of.

Thanks for your input! It helps us get a perspective outside of our mode bubble :)

Reveals and Post-Exchange Thoughts

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