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April 2014 TORn Amateur Symposium Feedback Thread (+ news on TAS4)!
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TORn Amateur Symposium
Bree


May 5 2014, 9:22am

Post #1 of 34 (435 views)
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April 2014 TORn Amateur Symposium Feedback Thread (+ news on TAS4)! Can't Post

The TAS team wants YOUR feedback, TORn Brethren!

Not that the April 2014 TAS is at an end - please do feel free to continue discussions, and enjoy the fine offerings from our authors.

We want to thank everyone involved in the TORn Amateur Symposium, including the TORn Modar and Founders, our membership and very particularly our authors. As always, it has been a wonderful experience, and it could not have happened without the support, enthusiasm and talent of all of you!

What we would like to know today is what you thought of the April Symposium. We would like to know, for the future improvement of the TAS, what things you thought worked and what didn't work; things you liked and things you did not. Perhaps some ideas you would like to see. We are interested in what you thought about:

- The spacing of essay posting and the overall pace

- For those essays posted between Friday and Sunday, do you feel these days are unfavourable for discussion?
- Ease of using the host links to the essays - does GoogleDrive work for you?
- Anything that might make posting responses and discussion easier or more engaging (i.e. author questions or notes)


And anything else you want to tell us!

We plan on taking all of your thoughts into account, to continue make the TAS grow even more, "in the spirit of enjoyable inquiry". We will take all of your comments into account to continue to further develop the TAS. If you wish to discuss something with us more privately, you can PM the TAS username with any issue you would like to bring up.


Exciting news: the next Symposium is planned for July, 2014. It will be what we like to call a 'JUBILEE TAS', celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the publishing of The Fellowship of the Ring . For such a special occasion, we are featuring essays specifically themed about The Lord of the Rings for this July, 2014 TAS4.


So .... do you have an idea about something interesting that relates to The Lord of the Rings? If so, start writing! We would love to see YOUR ideas HERE, in the next TORn Amateur Symposium, the Jubilee TAS!


Many thanks, and cheers to all!
TAS Team
Elaen, Daniel and Brethil
Smile



CuriousG
Half-elven


May 5 2014, 3:07pm

Post #2 of 34 (298 views)
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Feedback - it was terrific! [In reply to] Can't Post

The authors really outdid themselves this time. And thank you, Brethil, Elaen, and Daniel for all the organizing. May your beards ever grow longer. (Oh, wait, that only works for Daniel. NVM.)
  • Space/pace: I like having them appear every 2 days. I think it's ideal.
  • Fri-Sun: overall activity on TORN does go down most weekends. I think Fridays are fine, but Sat/Sun attracts less attention.
  • Using GoogleDrive: it mostly worked for me. I accessed the essays from my PC and my iPad, and most of the time they loaded, but sometimes I needed to reload them a few times to get them to display. Are the files too large to post as pdfs on TORN instead?
Just my opinion: maybe limit the papers to 5-6 total? By the end, I was running out of reading & responding energy which was no reflection on the papers themselves.


noWizardme
Half-elven


May 5 2014, 3:25pm

Post #3 of 34 (298 views)
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limits [In reply to] Can't Post

I'll heartily second the thanks for our excellent organizers!

In Reply To
Just my opinion: maybe limit the papers to 5-6 total? By the end, I was running out of reading & responding energy which was no reflection on the papers themselves.


There certainly is a lot to read & to think about! But it would also be a shame to have to turn contributions away. Could one get the best of both worlds by having a "session" of a few papers, then a pause before the next batch?

~~~~~~

"… ever let your aim be to come at truth, not to conquer your opponent. So you never shall be at a loss in losing the argument, and gaining a new discovery.”
Arthur Martine

"nowimë I am in the West, Furincurunir to the Dwarves (or at least, to their best friend) and by other names in other lands. Mostly they just say 'Oh no it's him - look busy!' "
Or "Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!"


DanielLB
Immortal


May 5 2014, 8:11pm

Post #4 of 34 (275 views)
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Thanks CuriousG! [In reply to] Can't Post

The suggestion of limiting the number of papers has cropped up before.

In an ideal symposium, you would have a limit the number of submissions, and you would accept or decline. However, there's no way of knowing how many people will submit at each TAS. In the past we have had submissions in that we weren't expecting, and we have had to decline some papers as well. It just seems unfair for someone to have written a 2-3000 word essay, only for it not to be read (potentially for a couple of months). Really, we do not want to put anyone off from submitting just because there essay not be accepted. And judging by the standard of all 33 essays we have featured, I wouldn't want to make the decision of when one paper should have priority over another. Using "first come first served" wouldn't be an option since essays have been submitted a few days after announcing TAS, before other people have even thought about writing! (Some TAS papers have already been written up for other purposes, for instance). Obviously there are also the benefits of limiting the number as well - participation drops if there are too many to read. Receiving no replies at the end of TAS may be more disheartening that waiting a couple of weeks/months for one's essay to be read by more people. It's something to consider for sure.

I'd have to check with elaen and Brethil, but I think we will do something like the above for TAS4 - any non-LOTR related essays will be submitted into TAS5 automatically. The three of us have discussed splitting a TAS into two sessions in the past (i.e. TAS3 and TAS3.5). That's something we might consider after TAS4, depending on the final count of papers.

Thanks for the feedback. Smile


(This post was edited by DanielLB on May 5 2014, 8:26pm)


Brethil
Half-elven


May 5 2014, 8:31pm

Post #5 of 34 (267 views)
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Thanks back Furincurunir! [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
I'll heartily second the thanks for our excellent organizers!

Thank you! Cool

There certainly is a lot to read & to think about! But it would also be a shame to have to turn contributions away. Could one get the best of both worlds by having a "session" of a few papers, then a pause before the next batch?


Its true, just as Daniel says, the when and how many is always a consideration, as our writers always have RL to contend with. We will have specific criteria for the next (the FOTR Jubilee) TAS, so we shall see how that goes.

The Third TORn Amateur Symposium kicks off this Sunday, April 13th, in the Reading Room. Come and join us for Tolkien-inspired writings!





**CoH Rem. Just sayin' **


Brethil
Half-elven


May 5 2014, 8:35pm

Post #6 of 34 (275 views)
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Questioning my beard length??? [In reply to] Can't Post

Hmmmph. Tongue

Thanks for the thanks! And the comments.

File-length wise, it does seem to work better with GoogleDocs; though it has its *moments* (shudder)

The point on cardinal number does make a difference; we want people to be able to keep responding and not be 'fried'. Something for us to ponder.
Cool

The Third TORn Amateur Symposium kicks off this Sunday, April 13th, in the Reading Room. Come and join us for Tolkien-inspired writings!





**CoH Rem. Just sayin' **


demnation
Rohan

May 6 2014, 12:10am

Post #7 of 34 (271 views)
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Everything seemed great! [In reply to] Can't Post

 The pacing was great, though I did notice participation drops on weekends. As ever, the contributions were brilliant. Much thanks to the organizers, and I'm really looking forward to the LOTR themed TAS.

"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule." Gandalf, "The Last Debate."


Morthoron
Gondor


May 6 2014, 2:16am

Post #8 of 34 (256 views)
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I enjoyed it immensely... [In reply to] Can't Post

Perhaps I'll even participate next time -- beyond the occasional comment and incidental input, of course.

I think the Amateur Symposium (which I suggest was far from amateurish) blew a fresh breeze into the stodgy old Reading Room. I mean, I don't know how many iterations of chapter-by-chapter book discussions I've participated in, but it gets quite tedious rehashing Chapter 18 of The Hobbit for the third or fourth time. Tongue

Please visit my blog...The Dark Elf File...a slighty skewed journal of music and literary comment, fan-fiction and interminable essays.



(This post was edited by Morthoron on May 6 2014, 2:18am)


Rembrethil
Tol Eressea


May 6 2014, 2:34am

Post #9 of 34 (252 views)
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I liked it!! [In reply to] Can't Post

So a big thank-you to our awesome organizers!

Pacing was quite good. I think it gave enough time for a paper to be discussed before we moved on. I didn't notice too much posting in the earlier essays as we moved forward, so that is the basis for my assumption. I recall earlier pieces being discussed for the duration of TAS2. I guess it all comes down to the subjective fact that it didn't feel rushed to me!!

Now, I did notice that the ones posted on weekends were less viewed, but what else can you do besides abolishing the weekend? (Cue rioting schoolchildren). ShockedLaugh

Google Docs was OK, in the sense that it is the best I've seen used. It's a bit hard to use on a small screen because of that sidebar. On a larger screen, I had to refresh the page perhaps twice for the whole TAS. Devil-you-know situation for me.

Authors were great at replying to the discussion this TAS! I don't think that there was anything wrong in the postings. I admit that the lengthy pieces closer to the end did take me a few days to read, so maybe you want to put them first? IDK of that will put people off or not, but the length of a few stretched out my reading time, curtailing my ability to discuss.

Call me Rem, and remember, not all who ramble are lost...Uh...where was I?


Eruvandi
Tol Eressea


May 6 2014, 4:16pm

Post #10 of 34 (241 views)
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The next one is LOTR themed, you say? [In reply to] Can't Post

Maybe just maybe I can get up the guts to participate.Smile Can the entries be on the LOTR movies as well as the books?

"But there’s empty cross, there’s an empty tomb
Fire and wind now sweeping in this tiny upper room
There’s a hungry world, there’s a risen King
Unlock the doors, what reason more could we ever need?
So sing with me, I dare you to
Because there’s an empty cross; there’s an empty tomb"
~Empty (Disciples)-sung by Dan Haseltine and Matt Hammitt



Brethil
Half-elven


May 6 2014, 6:22pm

Post #11 of 34 (230 views)
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Thanks Dem! [In reply to] Can't Post

Glad you enjoyed it! Point taken again on weekend drop-off...

Thanks for the input! We are excited about July too, and for marking the 60th Anniversary.
Cool

The Third TORn Amateur Symposium kicks off this Sunday, April 13th, in the Reading Room. Come and join us for Tolkien-inspired writings!





**CoH Rem. Just sayin' **


Darkstone
Immortal


May 6 2014, 6:25pm

Post #12 of 34 (238 views)
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Yeah. [In reply to] Can't Post

People aren't at work on weekends, so they're doing something else with their time other than cruising the internet.Wink

******************************************
Philosoraptor sez:

It has been said that fiction is often held to a higher standard of logic than real life.



Brethil
Half-elven


May 6 2014, 6:26pm

Post #13 of 34 (230 views)
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Really glad you enjoyed it Morthoron! [In reply to] Can't Post

Great to hear! We did debate the 'where' of TAS for a while, but the RR feels right to us too, since our members write such in-depth pieces. Thanks for the input and support!
Cool

The Third TORn Amateur Symposium kicks off this Sunday, April 13th, in the Reading Room. Come and join us for Tolkien-inspired writings!





**CoH Rem. Just sayin' **


Brethil
Half-elven


May 6 2014, 6:29pm

Post #14 of 34 (231 views)
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Very happy to have you featured again Rem! [In reply to] Can't Post

Abolishing weekends: seems feasible. Laugh

In truth its good to get data that suggests a pattern, and we will definitely consider scheduling things a bit differently with the info you have all given us.

The Third TORn Amateur Symposium kicks off this Sunday, April 13th, in the Reading Room. Come and join us for Tolkien-inspired writings!





**CoH Rem. Just sayin' **


Brethil
Half-elven


May 6 2014, 6:34pm

Post #15 of 34 (234 views)
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Plain truth Darkstone, re: weekends [In reply to] Can't Post

I love your philosoraptor's point. Like Confusionus say, in real life wise adventurers not care about existentialism of Balrog wings, too busy running like hell.

The Third TORn Amateur Symposium kicks off this Sunday, April 13th, in the Reading Room. Come and join us for Tolkien-inspired writings!





**CoH Rem. Just sayin' **


Rembrethil
Tol Eressea


May 6 2014, 7:04pm

Post #16 of 34 (227 views)
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Abolishing Mondays, or even early mornings, might get better support. But who knows? [In reply to] Can't Post

 

Call me Rem, and remember, not all who ramble are lost...Uh...where was I?


SirDennisC
Half-elven


May 6 2014, 7:43pm

Post #17 of 34 (234 views)
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Very well done -- [In reply to] Can't Post

From the submissions to the discussions, and the organizing too, everything was well done. Like sador I didn't have the time to participate as much as I might have done (I too missed Founders' Day entirely). However, I enjoyed everything I was able to engage with. As Morthoron said, I would judge TAS to be far from amateurish.

Regarding your next event... participation usually dips a bit when it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere. But perhaps TAS4 will be the exception that proves the rule.


Brethil
Half-elven


May 6 2014, 11:03pm

Post #18 of 34 (212 views)
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Thanks so much SirD! [In reply to] Can't Post

Wonderful to know you were reading!

I do hope in our sunny July hemisphere folks will check in after the beach to follow the TAS...Cool

Thanks for stopping in, and for the kind words - always good to see you!

The Third TORn Amateur Symposium kicks off this Sunday, April 13th, in the Reading Room. Come and join us for Tolkien-inspired writings!





**CoH Rem. Just sayin' **


Brethil
Half-elven


May 7 2014, 2:28am

Post #19 of 34 (200 views)
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Yes. Nix Mondays. *And* early mornings... [In reply to] Can't Post

(...unless fishing is involved.)Wink

The Third TORn Amateur Symposium kicks off this Sunday, April 13th, in the Reading Room. Come and join us for Tolkien-inspired writings!





**CoH Rem. Just sayin' **


Brethil
Half-elven


May 7 2014, 3:00am

Post #20 of 34 (199 views)
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TAS4: It is indeed LOTR themed Eruvandi! [In reply to] Can't Post

(I even updated my footer before answering you - see? You reminded me.)

We are excited that the 60th Anniversary of FOTR's publishing is coming up, and its our way of celebrating (that, and setting off on the FOTR readthrough on July 24th!)

Absolutely - if you have an LOTR idea, write about it!
Cool

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!








cats16
Half-elven


May 7 2014, 3:48am

Post #21 of 34 (203 views)
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"Watch out for fishing--that's how they get ya!"- Deagol // [In reply to] Can't Post

 


Theodora
The Shire

May 7 2014, 5:10pm

Post #22 of 34 (199 views)
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I enjoyed it a lot! [In reply to] Can't Post

A lot of different papers covering various topics and all of them interesting.
I printed them all, I find that easier to read and reread.
Look forward to the next Symposium.
Thank you for organizing this.


Brethil
Half-elven


May 7 2014, 5:49pm

Post #23 of 34 (186 views)
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You are most welcome Theodora! [In reply to] Can't Post

Thanks for the kind words - we all three agree with you, and we cannot thank our authors enough for all their contributions.

Very glad you enjoyed it!
Cool

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!








BlackFox
Half-elven


May 7 2014, 6:00pm

Post #24 of 34 (198 views)
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Great essays! [In reply to] Can't Post

I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them. I only wish I would have had the time to participate in the discussions that followed as well. I'm also awfully tempted to submit a paper myself next time... Angelic

A big thanks to all the participants and organizers! A job well done! Smile


"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake." - Henry David Thoreau


ajgetway
The Shire

May 7 2014, 8:04pm

Post #25 of 34 (182 views)
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Great Symposium [In reply to] Can't Post

This was my first symposium (both reading other essays and participating). I thought Google worked well, I personally did not have issues with it (I'm jinxing myself, aren't I?). I liked having a day or two to read the essays and respond. I agree, Friday postings would be alright, not sure about Sunday. I thought everyone was very encouraging and I know that this experience has got my creative juices flowing once again!

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