tolkien_slashy_swaps | Important announcement!!!

Greetings, Slashy Swappers!

It's (almost) that time of year again! In anticipation of our next round of swap sign-ups, I'd like to make some important administrative announcements:

- This year's "Summer" exchange will be Sultry in September rather than Ardor in August. Actual dates will be announced shortly, but anticipate a later-than-usual timeframe.

- Due to a confluence of personal, professional, and travel-related issues, Red has graciously agreed to take over the Summer swap for me. I'm pretty much either out of town or out of commission throughout August, and I am concerned that I will not be able to deal with administrative issues as swiftly as the exchange demands, and I'd prefer to sit out a round than to have chaos ensue. Of course, Red also has MAJOR travel plans this summer, so she will be burning the proverbial candle at both ends. I hope to provide back-up assistance as necessary. Please be patient with us if we cannot respond immediately to your emails!

- Sultry in September will mark the beginning of a migration to An Archive of Our Own (Ao3) as the home base for the Slashy Swaps. Moving to Ao3 means guaranteed permanence for our stories, no matter who is running the swaps down the line. We won't have issues with vanishing websites, server downtime, technical support, hosting costs, or any of the glitches we've experienced with the old Geocities or standalone eFiction-based websites. The eFiction software is no longer being updated on any regular basis, the tech support forums are a ghost town, and neither Red nor I have the tech skills (or patience, frankly) to troubleshoot some of the back-end issues (disappearing comments, formatting snafus, spam comment floods, etc.) that have been plaguing our current site.

- I have NO PLANS to take down the current slashysanta site! But I do want to be prepared for any future eventualities, including loss of hosting space, catastrophic data loss or corruption, obsolescence or increasing bugginess of the eFiction software, change of swap management, or any other unforeseen circumstances.

- If you currently have an Ao3 account and wish to add any of your previous years' stories to the Slashy Santa collections, by all means have at it! The collection homepage is here, and all the individual exchanges (subcollections, in the parlance of Ao3) are listed here. They are all unlocked and unmoderated, so you may post or import your stories freely without any administrative intervention. Let me know if you run into any trouble.

- If you do not have an Ao3 account, but would like one, your should request one as soon as possible! There is currently a bit of a wait.

- YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE WITHOUT AN Ao3 ACCOUNT. If you don't have one and either don't want one or don't get your invite code before September (I can't imagine the wait is *that* long!) you will be able to email us your story and we can post it using the Slashysanta administrative account. We don't want the change of venue to be a barrier to entry for anyone.

- As far as I know, we will be using our USUAL sign-up methods, rather than the Ao3 sign-up form... unless Red is feeling really brave! She will let you all know when she posts the dates.

- I understand that not everyone will be 100% thrilled with a move. Some people feel that Ao3 is big and impersonal and scary. I can't say that I agree; it's only as big and impersonal as you want it to be. Having our little collection of exchanges there is no different than having our little collection of exchanges on its own site-- you needn't venture any farther afield than the Slashy Santa main collection page if you don't wish to. It does, however, guarantee a degree of stability, permanence, and technical reliability that the eFiction site no longer can. Who knows-- it could also mean an increased readership and an influx of new participants for future exchanges! I hope you all will see this as an adventure in moving forward, and a commitment to the longevity (almost a decade now!) of this swap... the heart and soul will remain the same, only the URL will change.

- Obviously, after the Big Day, you can and should post your stories wherever you wish!

Ok. that's it for now-- please let me know if you have any questions!

-Kenaz