CaptainD’s Guide to Hosting a Write Off
Apr 22 '04
The Bottom Line Everything you ever needed to know about hosting a Write Off... apart from the things I've forgotten...
CaptainD’s Guide to Hosting a Write Off
I’ve done it wrong a couple of times before, and now I’ve finally done one right, so at last I feel I’m qualified to write this guide!!
What Is a “Write Off”?
Write Offs (commonly abbreviated “WO” or “W/O” – sometimes called “Write Outs” – but only by me when I’m confused…) have a long and distinguished history here at epinions. I have no idea when they started exactly but it was way back in the time before I joined. The basic idea is that the WO host comes up with an idea / theme, and other members write reviews etc based on that theme. Sometimes extra rules are attached but only two seem to be common – and these are often observed by participants even if not requested: linking back to the WO description page, and including an acronym in the title of the review. For example, you may well have seen a lot of reviews with “Lean’n’Mean” in the title – these were all entries into Tom(Sleeper54)’s WO, which was based around writing concise reviews (I think it was 666 words or less), and garnered a huge number of entries. On the other hand, there have been several “Getting to know you” type of WOs that are nothing to do with reviews at all. [Warning – the word “Zeitgeist” is going to appear in the sentence following the sentence following the following sentence – take whatever measures you need in order to avoid being harmed by this event.] One of these is the current epinions record-holder (Saralovesadam – that’s Sarah Loves Adam, not Sarah Love Sadam!) at something slightly over 300 entries at the moment. Nothing original about it at all – just one of those questionnaire emails you’ve seen a million times, with her answers, and asking everyone else to answer them too. But no-one had done it before and it certainly seemed to capture the Zeitgeist of the epinions community! (If seeing the word “Zeitgeist” was painful for you, don’t say I didn’t warn you.)
Over the years there have been numerous WOs with themes of various interest and sanity, and the only real limit is your imagination. However, there are some things that will definitely help your WO to be more successful. I shall now expound on my own vast experience (sic) and help you to avoid the mistakes I made at first.
My Experiences with WOs
My first two attempts (which are too embarrassing to even mention) suffered from many of the classic mistakes people make. I didn’t properly advertise it (the 2 WOs were so closely linked that I speak of them as one), the theme was uninspiring (well it was Carl – you can’t get more uninspiring than that…), and it was a pretty difficult thing for people to do – and there was no particular incentive for them to do so. The rules were also slightly restrictive. I got a grand total of one entry, besides my own, for this pathetic spectacle. But I was not completely put off, and a bit later I tried again.
My second attempt (and, my first real attempt) did fare rather better. By this time I was rather better known on epinions and had become a member of a couple of epinions-related user groups. I used the groups and my short biog to advertise the WO. The theme was a little more interesting, and the rules less restrictive. I got a few entries this time. In fact, this WO (CaptainD’s “Short Short Story” WO) is still open – I never set a time limit for it. So if you have any short stories of either 50 or 100 words (known in the trade as “mini-sagas” and “drabbles”, feel free to enter them. Click Here for more details (but read the rest of this article first – or right-click and open it in a new window so you don’t lose this one!!).
My most recent attempt, which at the time of writing is still in progress, has been much more successful. At the moment there have been 24 entries (yeah I know it’s hardly record-breaking, but still not too bad!), with a few more promised. One of the main differences is that I chose much more interesting theme and also pre-announced it, with definite start and end dates (though I might renege on the end date and keep it open for a bit longer). The fact that I’ve been here longer, know more members, have more readers & trusters, and have taken part in a few WOs myself, have definitely been factors in this WO being more successful by far than the previous ones. Tentatively open till 14th May 2004. Click Here for more details.
Summary
While there are few hard and fast rules, the following points will help you to be successful (albeit Sarah’s record-busting WO went against almost all of my advice here! – call it a freak of nature – the WO, not Sarah…):
Get known - don’t try to host a WO when you’re still quite new – build up your reputation / readers / trusters first. Actively read and rate other members’ reviews, and comment when you can. Enter a few WOs before you host one.
Spread the word - there are areas in most epinions-related user groups - use them! You can try emailing members, although this doesn’t usually have a huge effect (personally I don’t bother with this, but many others do). You can use a signature on your comments that advertises your WO. Pre-advertise – announce that you will be hosting a WO from a certain date about 2-3 weeks in advance (less and it’ll have no impact, more and people will be bored of it) – use your short biog (use your “edit public profile” page – accessible from your account summary screen) to advertise it – and don’t forget you can link to it from there!
Be a good host - post the details of your WO in the “Member Messages to the Epinions Community” section, then write the first entry yourself and link to it from your WO page. Link to all new entries. Reply to every comment on your WO page. Read, rate, and comment on every entry. Once you start getting entries it can be hard to keep up with all of this but it’s worth it. When the WO has started, your entries are effectively your advertising (not that you have to stop the other methods), so being a good host is imperative.
If you don’t ask, you may not get… - if you have definite rules about your WO (i.e. under 1,000 words, proper review, no bad language, link back to your profile page, etc) then state so very clearly.
If you do ask, you probably won’t get anyway… - yep, whatever you say, however clearly and nicely you state your rules, people are going to mostly ignore them anyway! But that’s okay (unless they do so in a really upsetting way, obviously) – you’re their best friend at the moment, remember?
If anyone mentions something noteworthy that I’ve somehow managed to miss, I’ll update the guide. Until then, happy WOing!
CaptainD
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More Member Advice Articles
CaptainD’s Guide to Epinions – Second Edition - a general guide to epinions, what it is, how to be a success here, etc.
CaptainD’s Guide to Writing A Really Bad Review - self-explantory really - what not to do when you're writing a review!
CaptainD’s Guide to Building a WOT - What is a WOT? How do you build one? And why should you? All is revealed...
The Ten Commandments of Epinions - well okay, there are 11 - things that'll help you be a success and most of all enjoy being part of the epinions community.
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