August 2011 ReadaThing Planning Thread

ok, it is mid-June, but I'd like to suggest that we start planning & discussing the August ReadaThing.

What day or weekend do we want?
What time frames?

What theme do we want, if any?

Do we want to tie-in with any other group reads?
Do we want to be separate from other groups?

The weekend dates are:

August 6, 7
August 13, 14
August 20, 21
August 27, 28

What holidays conflict or coordinate INTERNATIONALLY?

I'd prefer the first half of the month as with any luck (damn MN government shut down) I'll be starting school again around the 22nd.

I am fine with any weekend dates. If my son has school I know I can read for a few hours.

August 15, The Feast of the Assumtion is a public holiday in Austria, some parts of Germany and many other countries with a Catholic heritage. That means 13-15 is a long weekend.

#3: Thanks, Morphy! and does that mean that the 20-21st isn't a good weekend to read?

#4: great!! Will your son want to read for a little bit, too?

#5: Thanks for the info!! Would that holiday make it good for reading for you, or not? Some people travel & have visitors, which makes it easier or harder to read.

Another question: In addition to Time Slots, should we have a general "I'm going to read for X hours/minutes during the ReadaThing" sign-up?

If possible NOT August 6-7 - that's our Folk Festival weekend and although I probably will do some reading, it isn't going to be my focus. Anything else is fine for me.

#6. Skittles I don't even try to get him to read. He reads whenever he wants even though he tells me he hates reading. He just likes to read what he wants to read not what I tell him to read.

The only weekend that wouldn't work so hot would be Aug 27-28. Even then I can get an hour in.

I'd be up for any time, though I wouldn't want to sign up for a commitment to a specific number of hours. I always just like to see what develops.

The weekend of the 13th & 14th is cluttered for me, but not impossible; any of the others is a bit better.

#10: Citizenjoyce, I hope to have a list for people to participate without a specific time slot, just a "promise" to read.... for this group, I don't think it would be a problem!

**Also, letting people know that if they do read without signing, then they can mention it in the RaT thread for the event.

Please comment even if you do not have a preference for a date, or you can't commit to any date at this time!

Opinions wanted, even if you don't have one!

The weekend of the 13th would work; the 20th is much worse (I'll be at Worldcon!). The other two work, as far as I know now.

I should be able to set aside an hour or two whichever weekend is chosen.

I could probably do any of those weekends. Here are some theme ideas I found on the internet:

August is . . . . National Catfish Month, National Golf Month, National Eye Exam Month, National Water Quality Month, Romance Awareness Month, Peach Month, and Foot Health Month!

It is also...
National Immunization Awareness Month
National Psoriasis Awareness Month
The Philippines celebrates August as the Buwan ng Wika ("Month of Language")
In the United States, August is National Back to School month.
In the United States, August is National Goat Cheese Month.
American Adventures Month
Audio Appreciation Month
Black Business Month
Cataract Awareness Month
Get Ready for Kindergarten Month
Happiness Happens Month
Inventors' Month
Neurosurgery Outreach Month
Panini Month
Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
What Will Be Your Legacy Month
Win with Civility Month

August 6 is . . . . . Wiggle Your Toes Day
August 7 is . . . . . Sea Serpent Day

August 13 is . . . . Blame Someone Else Day
August 14 is . . . . National Creamsicle Day

August 20 is . . . . National Radio Day
August 21 is . . . . National Spumoni Day

August 27 is . . . . Petroleum Day
August 28 is . . . . World Sauntering Day

Of those themes it may be easiest to find a romance story. Or American Adventures.

August 20 is . . . . National Radio Day

ohh, wouldn't it be interesting if we could all read books that were read and/or featured on radio programs? i know Matchless by Gregory Maguire started out as a story he wrote to read on NPR for their Christmas story special.

That's a fun idea, atlargeintheworld. Books that were featured on the radio would give people more freedom than picking a specific topic.

now just to find a list somewhere...

It sounds interesting to have a theme, I just know that for myself during a read a thon or thing I just choose a book at random if I am not already reading one. If it went with a theme I have to see if I have the book and/or if I could get access to the book.

I'm sorry, but I like the "wiggle your toes" day!!

and it would work in the northern hemisphere, but what about the southern hemisphere??

I guess that wouldn't be fair, would it?

17> Late Nights on Air is a radio book too. And there are all the Lake Wobegon stories by Garrison Keillor.

That said, I probably wouldn't vote for a theme myself - I'd rather grab whatever is on the top of the pile (or whatever I feel like reading).

Back to School Month would be an easy theme; so many school stories out there!

This sounds a little silly, but what about an "animal" read?

I thought about the "dog days of summer" but it isn't summer in all places of the LT universe....

but for an "Animal Read" you could..

..read about about an animal or with a animal a primary or secondary character.

..read with an animal nearby... dog, cat, hedgehog...

.. or read to an animal

..read at a zoo, dog park, or other animal themed place

Ways to show off your read...

take a picture of your animal & your book...

take a picture of the place you read your book...

just tell us what made your read animal themed, if you could

And, of course, while I'm writing this, my cat decides that my lap is the perfect place to nap & is requesting demanding that I pet & cuddle with him, so I'm signing off...

any other ideas??

I usually pick a book at random and figure out how it fits the theme. It's amazing how you can make just about any book fit any theme...

If we went with Radio, for instance -
A book that had been written for a radio show, or had a radio show related to it (Doc Savage, Lone Ranger, the Garrison Keillor books...)
A book written for the radio (the ones mentioned in msg 17 and 22)
A book about the radio, or someone on the radio (the Kitty urban fantasies)
A book in which radios play a part (a mystery with a ham radio operator as a character, perhaps?)
A book reviewed or read on radio, a book you heard about on a radio show

Same sort of things as Skittles' animal themes - there's a way to make any book match any theme.

I like the radio theme and back to school theme the best. I would be happy to go with any of the ones suggested so far though Wiggle Your Toes could test my theme matching skills (ala jjmcfagey - nice examples by the way!).

Also I think reading a book that fits the theme is always optional.

I will agree to any theme that the group wants, I'm really not picky... radio, back to school....

JJ is right. We can usually match almost any book to any theme, but it is always optional to adhere to a theme.... what if you are in the midst of a really good book & don't want to pick up a different one?

I figure with the "wiggling toes" it just means we can read barefooted or with sandals... which might be challenging in the Southern Hemisphere.

Another radio book: And Now, here's Max which is a funny autobiography of Max Ferguson, one of the greats of Canadian radio.

The weekend of the 13th works best for me, as I'll be traveling by plane. /Plenty/ of time to read there... I'd just need to work out the constant changing of time zones. ;)

As for theme... I can go with a theme or go on my own. I'm easy either way. A school theme would be good, but I could probably put up with a summer romance novel if I had to. I'd find just as much fun in trying to match my current book to a theme as I would finding one to fit said theme.

The first and last weekends of the month work best for me, I have a big weekend away with some friends one weekend, and a festival I'm helping with filming at the next. So the middleof the month would be tricky for me.

I'm sure I would find something to read no matter what the theme, though picking something more easily adapted (as mentioned previously) would no doubt make it easier while still making for fun conversation!

Sorry, I should have made that easier to scan through:
August 6, 7 and August 27, 28 are best for me!

Thanks for the early planning! No August conflicts with my calendar. I should be able to find a time to read (or listen; if we go with a radio theme I may choose an audiobook) on any of those weekends.

I really prefer no theme, but agree that I can usually make one of the many books I am reading fit into whatever theme is chosen by the rest of you.

BTW, I loved the podcast version of Late Nights on Air done by that CBC . . . rather lovely.

OK, I'm not good with the "polls" that we can do on LT, but if someone can put up each of the weekends as a poll and polls for all are good/none are good/most are good/can work with anything that would be appreciated.

Also, we need to decide if we want a one day ReadaThing or a weekend-long ReadaThing. Personally, I think we could do a 36+ hour ReadaThing considering our international flavor, starting with Saturday 12:01 am at the International Dateline with enough time that each time zone gets a full 24 hours of reading or so... We've had the number of people to do this before and many might be willing to read more than one time slot, too.

Let's firm this up soon so we can get as much publicity as we can!

I agree that a weekend-long ReadaThing would probably be doable. Last ReadaThing seemed to have more than one person per time slot, so I would have thought it would be possible. I'm from the UK, so I'd leave filling in my time till others have done theirs to attempt to fill in blanks if it ends up on a weekend I can do. I'd guess a lot of people with more time on their hands or more flexibility would probably be happy to do that.

Sorry I have no idea how to do polls either. :)

EDIT - Also, if it ends up on a weekend I can do, I could probably do more than one slot to fill up more gaps if needed, I'm sure other members would be more than happy to do that too. I think it'd be better to just go for it, and try for the whole weekend. I can't see it actually doing any harm.

The only poll you can do is a "Yes/No" poll as far as I know. How do you want me to word it?

That's all I want. Yes/No polls are fine.

I can participate a ReadaThing on (this weekend): Yes/No
using these weekends:
August 6, 7
August 13, 14
August 20, 21
August 27, 28

also:
Would a weekend-longish ReadaThing be easier/better than a one-day-longish ReadaThing? (approx 48 hours vs 24 hours) Yes/No

Thanks, Morphy!!

Thank you, Morphy!!

Question for the group: Are their any holidays (International) in August that we should consider? Would those holidays hurt or hinder our efforts?

ok, I'm going to go over the polls & the thread this weekend to make a decision by Sunday evening (US Time)

If you have any strong feelings, you can post them here or leave a private message on my profile. I will respect everyone's opinion & do the best I can to find the best possible time frame.

Thanks!

I suggest using Earth Calendar (http://www.earthcalendar.net). They have some of the holidays listed in #16, but also include some that aren't listed.

You can search by month or date and come up with some rather interesting ones... Which may or may not be real... Like World Lizard Day. ;) They show things by country as well as religion.

Looking by month alone you will find the following:

Month Observances
Children's Eye Health and Safety Month
Cataract Awareness Month
Foot Health Month
National Cat Fish Month
National Golf Month
National Parks Month
Medic Alert Month
Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month

First Full Week of August
Clown Week
World Breastfeeding Week
National Smile Week

Second Week of August
Elvis Week

Fourth Week of August
Be Kind to Humankind Week

Keep me posted on what weekend you choose; as far as I know, any would work fine, and I'm looking forward to participating as well!

August 29 is LT's sixth birthday, too, in case that affects any decision-making :-)

It looks that this ReadaThing will definitely be a 48 hour event.
(date to be determined soon)

I've made a NOT DRAFT version of a conversion chart using a number of popular LT & reference time zones. Please forgive me if I haven't included yours.


Please check the date/times for your area with reference to GMT or IDL/NZ. These times are for August with the Standard/Daylight times zones in effect at that time. (I hope)

My Group Question is "What time should we start the RaT?"

If we start at Friday/Saturday Midnight in NZ, then it is Friday everywhere else. They will get the full weekend until Sunday/Monday midnight. BUT if we start then, RaT will end on Sunday morning for the US and Sunday Noon (approx) for Europe.

If we start in NZ on Saturday Noon, then they get the rest of Saturday & all of Sunday. Europe will get all/most of Saturday & Sunday, while the US/Canada will end Sunday evening/afternoon.... or we can continue reading until Sunday midnight in the Western US/Canada....

My suggestion would be that we start in NZ at Noon on Saturday of the weekend we choose. It works best for everyone globally.

I really would like opinions, even if it is just yes or no.

Thanks!

(yes, I'm a member of the Combiner's group, so, of course, I'm OCD about this & a lot of stuff)

The times for Western US to GMT look right to me.

Another possibility is a rolling 48 hours - that is, it starts in each time zone at the midnight that begins Saturday, and ends at the midnight that ends Sunday. NZ would be reading before Europe could officially start, and Europe before the US...and NZ would be cut off before points west. That's the way FridayReads (on Twitter etc) works and it seems to work well.

If that's a no go (and the chart would be harder to do!), I think your suggestion of noon Saturday in NZ for the start works well.

Note that your chart is short - it's 24 hours, not 48. I'd suggest changing colors for different days, so that the Friday/Saturday/Sunday divisions are clear - blue, red, purple, maybe? I'm not sure what colors are hard to see and/or hard to distinguish for some people. I like the bolding difference for AM/PM.

jj, I just did a screen capture, not a posting of the entire chart.

your suggestion of different colors for different days is a good one & when I make the final chart, I will use it.

Times on chart are good skittles - I vote for starting noon NZ time, but does it matter if the actual time expands into every zone for a full 48 hours? It would still be a 'weekend' RaT... technically over a longer period is all, but still only a weekend. :)

I don't mind either way - I still get a lot of choice in my weekend.
It would allow more choice for everyone???

Lman, it will be in every time zone for 48 hours. I just used 24 hours on the chart because I did an edited screen capture in preparation for the sign-up chart.

I don't mind opening it up to early starts & late endings, but the chart will probably only be a 48 hour ReadaThing in total.

I just want to give everyone everything.... including a pony!

(no, I cannot give anyone a pony, even if I would like to.)

For the record, I'm happy with whatever time you start.

Skittles, the chart is brilliant! I think it would be very helpful to have that sort of thing permanently on the wiki page, because I always get muddled trying to decide what time to put in my entry when my time zone is not one of the ones shown.

>45 jbd1:
I love the idea of doing something for LTs birthday. If it doesn't work for the ReadaThing, I'll plan on doing some mass cataloging that weekend (I still have a long way to go to get my whole library cataloged!)

#52: staffordcastle, I will keep it up for the August ReadaThing, but because of daylight savings time changes world-wide it wouldn't stay accurate.

Because I email friends world-wide (as do many people here), I have gotten used to using this website:

http://www.timeanddate.com/

I've bookmarked the cities where I contact people the most. I used the site to help me start this, but because I had a fuzzy-brain migraine last night, I wasn't guaranteeing accuracy.

I'm okay with a rolling read or a set read, for the record. The chart looks great! Glad I didn't have to do it. :)

The (unscientific & unofficial) tally

opinions . . . . . . . ok / not ok
August 06 & 07 . . 19 / 3
August 13 & 14 . . 15 / 5
August 20 & 21 . . 14 / 5
August 27 & 28 . . 14 / 4

We also had a couple of "any weekend is fine" without specifics.

So, The August 2011 ReadaThing is now scheduled for the weekend of August 6th & 7th.

It will start at NOON on Saturday, August 6th in New Zealand and "run" for 48 hours.
Check the chart above for when it starts in your time zone.

I will be redoing the chart with colors for the four different days that this will cover & post it on the wiki page or the information page or somewhere...

Edited to add link to new chart:
http://pics.librarything.com/picsizes/ec/10/ec102b31793198f636770734177434b41716...
- - - - - - - - -

Last Call: Do we want/need/covet a theme??

radio theme?
back to school?
goat cheese?
language?
old book?
anything else?
- - - - - - - - - - - -

Edited again to add: I've started the wiki page for this one, but I'd like some experienced help, if possible?

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/ReadathonAugust2011

Great job, Skittles. I'll sign up for a couple of slots.

That sounds great, Skittles. I'll be waiting till most of the slots are filled. Being in the UK, I'll be able to help fill up slots that are inconvenient for the more plentiful US LibraryThing users. I don't mind what theme is used, so I'll duck out of that conversation.

I just put in the Participation page - where you can enter what books you've read (or plan to read). There's a link near the top of the Wiki page (under Participation). I also put in a link on the main Wiki page, under Events.

The link on the Participation page for the Main Thread for this readathon currently leads to this thread - when the reading thread gets started, that should be corrected.

Great job everyone on setting everything up. I already put my name in. I figure if I waited to do it I would forget or no times would be available. I hope to remember to read during those times.

As for a theme. I usually just read what ever I am reading at the time so not sure what I will be reading and what theme it would fit into.

Thanks for all the work you've put into this readathon!

I like the radio theme.

Sigh. This was the one weekend it will be very hard for me to manage. Oh, well. Maybe closer to the event I can figure out a time I'll be sitting in a lineup waiting to get in and put myself down for that time.

I signed up for 7pm PDT, just after Crazy4reading. It's always confusing to me how to do it. I forgot to look for the edit prompt at the right of the timeline. After that it was easy as pie.

tardis, I know & I'm sorry!! I don't know your schedule for your event, or where it is, but I hope you can find time before it, during it, or after it to join us!!

PBPirate, if others also want the radio theme, or another, please let me know soon so I can ask Jeremy to start publicizing it in the blog. I don't want to start the official announcement thread until/if we decide on a theme or none at all..... not that you couldn't go with a radio theme or that anyone has to follow it! When we had the "read in public" RaT, not everyone could read in public!!

and if anyone has any comments or concerns that they don't want in this thread, feel free to PM me on my profile page.

Heh. Judging by the April RaT - pick a theme if you want one, skittles, or declare it themeless - I picked for April because it was 5 days before and nobody was deciding. No one seems to have a strong idea for a theme; as discussed above, just about any book can be stretched to fit a theme; and earlier promotion is always better.

GROUP:

What about the "Declare Your Own Theme" ReadaThing?

When we state our book, if we do, we state what "our theme" is??

We can be as non-themey, specific or outrageous as we want to be!!

Works for me! Thanks for all your hard work, skittles!

I won't be reading to a theme, so whatever everyone else wants is fine.

I'm leaning toward a theme-less ReadaThing.

The difference this time is that we have scheduled a full weekend of reading times. So, let's keep it simple this time.

I'm getting the announcement thread ready....

EDITED TO ADD: and can someone proofread the wiki page, even if you don't want to change anything, I need a proofreader!!! I copied the April one & I'm sure I missed changing stuff!

the first thing I notice on the wiki is that the instructions refer to two columns, one for starting on the hour, the other for on the half hour, but the chart doesn't seem to match that description . . . so one or the other needs to be fixed . . .

in fact all of the instructions related to half hour signups seem to be either erroneous and/or confusing and/or contradictory . . . I've never used that option, I'm just proofreading . . .
Could someone who remembers using half hour slots in the past sort this out?

gocubsgo, I think that was written when we could also read for half an hour... I'm trying to edit it, but I'm not used to wiki coding.

we also aren't using placeholders for names, which the directions refer to. I may have to do a larger edit.

Anyone know wiki code?

We've gone live!!!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/120490

You might want to finish the "And if you can't commit to a time" sentence :)

I'm no help with the Wiki editing . . . barely managed to sign up for my two times :) Sorry!

Thanks, Annie!!

I can help on the wiki page if needed? Just let me know what needs editing and to what

Annie, anything you want to do/fix/write.. anything.

If you want to make one thing, I'd like to see a box, chart, anything so that people who are just going to read & don't want to sign-up for a time, can do that.

Does that make sense??

"If you are going to read, but can't commit to a specific time slot, sign in here:"

or something that sounds clearer or nicer or less awkward.

Thank you!!

What about this? :)And I will see what I can do for the text above that later today - on my way home so I can save a few books from the leasing office where UPS delivered them :)

Actually just made it a bit easier to edit (so whoever edits this section, can edit just that one). I will fix the instructions a bit more when I am back.

Awesome!! Thanks so much!!!

Some more fixes there - let me know if we need anything else changed but this is the easiest way in which I can put these instructions :)

OK - added a direct link, made the list a self-section (so less chances of someone editing the instructions instead of the table) and that should be enough :)

Annie, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

It looks great!!!

OK- edited the instructions to match what you added - anyone can do a new line or add with a comma - both described in the instructions. I will also keep an eye on the list and reformat if needed. :)

Many THANKS!! to Annie and Skittles for including the "sign up without a specific time" feature. Excellent addition! (and everything else looks good too!)

Has someone given the details to Jeremy so that a general announcement can go out on the blog? Hoping for a good turnout given such advanced planning!

Thanks again!

gocubsgo, yes, Jeremy knows & there will be a blog post later this week.

Hey, we've only got a three week headstart!!

Good to hear . . . I went ahead and left him a comment/message too . . . I should have known you would be all on top of this . . . great work!

I did a bit of editing and rearranging on the instructions for both the timeline and the non-timeline reading - I think it ended up clearer (someone check me, please?). I cleaned up the placeholder stuff. I don't really know wiki code, but there's always what I want somewhere else on the page (or on another page) and I fiddle until it's right. There are an awful lot of edits in the history from me!

jjmcgaffey, Excellent! Thank you!

To Eveyone, there are a few fingers working on the page, so check for updates. and if you have any ideas to add, post them here or feel free to PM me!!

Thanks to everyone. Your help & participation is greatly appreciated!!

Congratulations everyone! Great job!
Since I'll be on vacation that weekend, I plan to do a lot of reading, so I sign up on the No Timeline Readers.
I don't know what I'll be reading yet, but closer to the date I'll post it.

Just an FYI for the group reading this thread.... I'm putting all updates in my first post in the announcement thread with "updated/edited" or whatever.

I've added the link to the DNBR day sign in/up box.

Thanks to everyone who is participating to make this day great!!

Happy Coincidence that Do Nothing But Read Day is during our ReadaThing weekend!! Wuu Huu ! . . . both are now on my calendar. (though as someone who has CFS, any DNBRD here is more like read-nap-read-nap-read-nap repeat :)

#93: gocubsgo, hook up an audio book of bedtimes stories to listen to whilst you "nap"... then you are still "reading"... or listening/reading.

To the group: If you are traveling during RaT, you can count listening to a book while traveling as part of your ReadaThing time!! or for "Doing something easy while reading" day.... if you are on a train or a plane or as a passenger in a car, while listening to a book, does that count as doing nothing? maybe? maybe not??