  Contests & Activities
This week: Edited by: Melissa is fashionably late!  
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Writing.Com is full of many wonderful things to read. Not only that, but Writing.Com is full of many things to keep you busy! Through this newsletter, you can find a myriad of:
 Contests
Auctions
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Groups
Crosswords
Mad Libs
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In & Outs
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Campfire Creatives
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This time around, the Contest & Activities newsletter will discuss campfire creatives.
Are you ready to get involved? I am!
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Creating a Campfire
There are so many interactive items to create on Writing.Com. One I have never hosted, myself, is a Campfire Creative. Over the course of this newsletter, I will show you how to create one, manage one, and hopefully successfully recruit and run one.
 What uses do Campfire Creatives have?
I can think of many uses for this particular item type. You can host a poetry or story campfire. I'm also involved in one that acts as a sort-of football forum where you post your picks for winner each week. You could host a contest within a Campfire, where each entrant only gets to make a single addition for you to judge.
How do I create a Campfire?
1. Click the Writing link at the top of any Writing.Com page.
2. Scroll down to the Writing: Interactive section and click Campfire Creative.
3. Enter a title, select to which folder you'd like to save your item, select which item type your campfire creative will be.
4. Enter a brief description. Remember that both your title and the brief description is what will draw potential participants, so you want to make it interesting!
5. Select an intro rating and content rating, choose access restrictions, then give the item a passkey, if applicable. Select any group edit access, if necessary, then enter your genres and keywords.
6. In the item body, you will give more explanation as to what your campfire creative pertains. Give any special instructions, if you have any, give the background to your story, or the first verse of poetry. If you're doing it as a contest, specify the rules.
7. Choose a minimum addition size and a maximum addition size. If you're not sure of this, I would start with 10 for a minimum size (that's 10 characters) and set the maximum to the highest possible amount of characters you think a person might need for your campfire.
8, Specify if you'd like to be CC'd for each addition, select whether you want your campfire creative open for ratings, and specify your Auto-GP rewards, if applicable.
9. Click Save Item to save your Campfire Creative after you have entered all desired information.
What do I do next?
1. Navigate to the folder in your portfolio where you saved your Campfire Creative.
2. Click Manage under that title's information section.
3. By default, the manage attendees screen will open. Here, you enter the full email address of each person you'd like to invite for participation. If you were going to invite me, you'd enter mworden@Writing.Com.
 You are limited to only 25 attendees per campfire!
4. Across the top of your Campfire Creative, there are several links.
View Campfire will take you to the publicly viewed page of the campfire, with all of the additions.
List/Edit Additions will take you to a screen which will allow you to edit any additions made to the campfire. You can completely remove an addition, if you wish, or rearrange any additions within the item as needed.
Manage Attendees will take you to the default manage screen, where you can send more invitations or remove attendees.
Extinguish Fire will put an end to your campfire and extinguish the flame. When a campfire is extinguished, nobody will be able to add anything further. If your campfire is already extinguished, this link will be replaced by Rekindle Fire. Rekindling will send attendees a quick email to let them know that the campfire has been rekindled.
How do I get attendees?
There are several ways to get attendees:
1. Send invitations to your Writing.Com friends. A few may find it interesting and accept your invitation.
2. Post your item on "Activities @ Writing.Com" . Anyone interested can request an invitation.
3. Ask if anyone is interested in joining in Scrolling Messages or Chat, if you have access to those areas.
4. Sponsor your item in the Writing.Com BidClick system to gain it exposure and more potential attendees.
5. Submit it to this newsletter for more exposure!
What makes a Campfire Creative successful?
There's a lot of factors that result in a Campfire Creative's success. The first is that people are actually posting entries. The second is that there isn't a lull in your campfire's interest that is resulting in attendees having to wait long periods of time in order to make an entry.
In most campfires, if you haven't made an entry within 5 days, you are skipped by the owner. (If you don't know what you're going to enter, it is always courtesy to go to the campfire and skip yourself so that the next person can have a turn.) Setting some sort of time limit to the entries will help it move along faster.
Extinguish your campfire when you don't think anything more can be contributed to it. If it becomes too long or off topic, it may be best to call it a day and douse the flame. You can always rekindle the campfire if you think you can get it up and going again.
(Be sure to check out the campfire I created in order to write this newsletter - "Invalid Item" - and request an invitation if you're interested! 
Next week, I plan on discussing Interactive Stories. I picked up a guest editor position, so please give me your comments on Interactive Stories, your favorite Interactive Story, or your questions about Interactive Stories! |
10 Campfire Creatives
10 Other Activities
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Ronis brain tumor is gone! says, "I think that campfires are cool, now that I have participated in one...I did not understand them at first...so it will be interesting to learn how to start a campfire for future use..."
I hope that I did a good job explaining them to you! Thanks!
Walkinbird 3 Jan 1892  asks, "I did not start my first campfire "Conspiracy in Fellowship" [E] with the idea that it should become a contest with rewards, but it deserves it. Has anyone successfully run a campfire with judging and rewards to individual contributors in WDC history?"
I haven't ever participated in one or had one brought to my attention, but the idea is fabulous! It would inspire campfire attendees to do their best to make an interesting and effective entry for your campfires.
My thoughts for rewards would be a merit badge + Gift Points. Judging would work as with any other contest.
I hope that you consider doing something like this, and if you do, please let me know!
jaya h asks, "I am with WDC for about 6 months now and actively participated in many contests. What I noticed was, that in some contest my entry never gets reviewed. The only reason I sent the entry in hope to get some exposure. So it's very disappointing to see the winner listed only without getting a review.
I believe it's mainly depends on the judges and their lack of time. Then they should mention it in the contest forum to avoid misunderstanding.
I was also thinking if it's possible to condense all the winner entries per year/per contest on WDC? That way the winners will be pleased to see their entry in a kind of a book form, we know in our heart that chances of being a published author for many of us are very slim. (can charge GPs for inculusion)
Anyway, your news letter is always been informative and I enjoy reading it."
I'm so glad to see that you've been an active member of the community! Thank you for your comment, though due to the immensity of contests that are hosted on Writing.Com, I don't think it's possible for any one person to track such an overwhelming amount of information. It is something that would have to be left up to the discretion of the contest host.
There are many variables that make it difficult for even the contest host to do, as well. Many people create items specifically for contests, and once the contest is done, delete that item if it didn't win. The contest host might not also have the room in his or her portfolio to house such an item.
If someone wants to try to manage such a large overtaking, I commend them and wish them luck!  |
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Contests & Activities: November 15, 2006 Issue [#1376]
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