Readathon format options

[Jamie]

Now that we are nearly done with the official hours of our April Readathon, here's a nifty new discussion thread about our readathons.Think about how this event went for you. A significant portion of our participants already is not following the official times and 24hr format. If Dewey's had 3 options- 24hrs in one day, 24hrs in 2 days, or 24hrs in 3 days, which would you be more likely to complete within the official times?

[Cathy]

I am not clocking the hours I actually spend with reading, but I definitely do not read 24 hours at a stretch. I need sleep. 24hrs in 2 days over the weekend sounds better. 3 days is difficult, I have a full-time job…

[Vicki Willis]

I can't stay up for 24 hours anymore so 2 days would be better for me. Extend the fun!

[Jamie]

I'm brainstorming ways to include a 2-day variation as an option without adding more work for the admins. Right now a lot of the social media posting for the last 6 hours or so has so much less participation that it almost doesn't matter when someone forgets to post something on time, cause hardly anyone is online to see it anyway for a few hours at least. And so many people are making up their own hours this weekend. We won't change anything til we have a good plan for how anything new will work, and we'll keep the 24hr-straight option for the handful of folks who have actually been up for the past 24 hours and are still awake and reading. Even among the admins I am not sure how many of us actually made it through all 24hrs. (I did, by sheer stubbornness this time.)

[Cathy]

Jamie wrote: "the last 6 hours or so has so much less participation ..."

It‘s the middle of the night for most participants, right? 💤

[Dee]

honestly - i say keep it the same -there are many other readathons out there that do longer time frames - 24 in 48 etc - there has never been a requirement for ppl to read the entire 24 hours and having done this for one for several years now, i only know a handful who actually do it...

i would say if you wanted to adjust anything - instead of everyone starting at the same time - they pick their start time for the 24 hours - then ppl can still comment at the hour 1/2 etc...prepublish the reading sprint time blocks

[Vanessa]

Vicki Willis wrote: "I can't stay up for 24 hours anymore so 2 days would be better for me. Extend the fun!"

LOL . I never could , usually crash at 1 am .

[Rosalind]

Agree with Dee that there's no real reason to change. People will always need to sleep.

One idea though is to have it run local time so everyone starts at 8am wherever they are. I would prefer this as it feels more global and inclusive, plus simpler. This would also offer flexibility without making things too messy.

[Cathy]

Rosalind wrote: "One idea though is to have it run local time so everyone starts at 8am wherever they are. I would prefer th..."

I like that idea. It would mean though that everything happens staggered by timezone in terms of the activities. Interesting. Worth a try?

[Vanessa]

Have Readathon participants use local time to count their 24hours ?? Hmm . . .

[Lena]

I like the challenge & structure of the original 24 hour format. I know going in that I will likely sleep and not be able to do the entire 24 hours. However, I like the challenge of it. I have participated in 24 in 48 type of read-a-thons and I enjoy them as well, but I do like the original format.

[Ann A]

I like having the same 24-hour period for everyone (the original format). I feel more a sense of community, knowing my "Hour 15" is the same as someone in Europe or Australia. And we have the Reverse Readathon to mix up the starting time. For me personally, it's also easier to block out a 24-hour period, rather than 48 or 72 hours.

Having said that, I will participate (as best I can) no matter what the format!

[Susan]

I agree with both Lena & Ann - especially the sense of community when everyone around the world is reading at the same time!

[Susy]

Same: I like the same starting and finishing hour, makes it feel more like a community. As the official 24in48 hour readathon hasn’t been around for some years I would very much like this one to pick up that format. It makes reading for 24 hours doable for more people while still getting enough healthy sleep.
Yes, there are other readathons, in fact there are a LOT of readathons but Dewey’s is kind of special (like 24in48 used to be). It’s the only readathon where I let people know I won’t be available that weekend lol

[Daisey]

I prefer keeping the start time the same for everyone, but I don't have a strong opinion about a straight through 24 hours or over 48 hours. I do think this readathon is unique in the way it is specifically 24 hours at the same time for everyone, so I kind of hate to see it lose that. However, maybe extend a few activities into day two in the same way there are now pre-readathon activities. Granted, I don't tend to get involved in any of those, but I often take my reading into Sunday if I can make it work.

On a similar note to the time discussion, I've always wanted to try the reverse readathon to see that option would work with such a different time frame, but it's not a time of year when I have that flexibility.

[Susy]

Oh, and I’m addition; you wouldn’t need hourly discussions etc if it were spread over 48 hours. I think a check in once every 3 or 4 hours would be fine.

[Cynda]

Even though I start earlier or later and definitely sleep in the middle, I am only counting the official 24 hours of the readathon for my stats. I am a reader--I am always trying to read. I am an old lady who has to take care of self, so I will sleep when I need. And I do not want to add any more hours to the intensity and service of 24 hours. 24 hours is fairly perfect mix of fun and stress. Perfection will not happen.

What will add a touch more perfection is to add an additional Reverse Readathon. It will give us one more time a year to visit and to accommodate different sleep and life cycles.

Vote: Let's keep it 24 Hours. . . . .Let us add one more Reverse Readathon.

[Jamie]

Susy wrote: "Oh, and I’m addition; you wouldn’t need hourly discussions etc if it were spread over 48 hours. I think a check in once every 3 or 4 hours would be fine."

I am considering changing how the discussion question volunteer part of the readathon works for sure. For the past few years it has been hard to find folks willing to commit to posting questions from hours ~16-24, so instead of everyone covering one or two hours we have a couple people who each do 3 or more hours. Then of course so few people are active online during those hours, so hardly anyone is participating when those questions are posted. If we have the 24 questions and the sprints and photo challenge and bingo boards all up at the start of the event, readaer could decide whether to do them during the official hour for them, or shift them for their own reading schedule.
It still seems like the sprints need posts announcing them when they start, though. We've had the exact same sprint schedule for many years now(Hr 1,4,8,12,16,20 & 24), but we have a lot of new people and folks who never really remember when the sprints are from one event to the next. I've tried making sprint posts ahead of time and just unlocking them at each hour, and it kinda works but doesn't really save any time or energy. Some admin still has to be online for each one to unlock it.

[Jamie]

Cynda Reads Mighty Slow these days wrote: "Even though I start earlier or later and definitely sleep in the middle, I am only counting the official 24 hours of the readathon for my stats. I am a reader--I am always trying to read. I am an o..."

The other quadrant for a readathon where we don't have one yet is between October and April, maybe around New Years. Last time folks were wanting a 4th readathon there were VERY few admins willing to commit to running a whole 4th readathon during their holidays. I may try a very informal approach to having a reverse readathon or 24in48 reverse readathon during that part of the year, since we often have a sort of impromptu readathon pop up then anyway.

[Stephanie]

I like that Dewey's is unique in being 24 hrs. However, I am one of the people that will never be able to read for the full 24 hrs (it's rare that I can join for more than 12 hrs) and it makes me feel excluded and like I'm not really participating, but it's not something I can change because it could significantly compromise my health, so I do like the idea of changing to a 24in48 format to allow flexibility for everyone.

I also like the idea of using local time for the start time (my current start time is 5am), but that could cause a lot of problems for hourly discussions. Or maybe shift the start time by an hour or 2 since it's always a Saturday and people that work M-F would probably like to sleep in a little on Saturday.

I like Cynda's idea of adding another reverse readathon. The start time is dinner time, but I enjoy the reverse readathon a lot more because it's been more lowkey. I find the hourly discussions and chats for the regular readathon very distracting so I'm not reading as much as I could be...I need to remember to turn my GR and Discord alerts off next time lol.

[Angie ☯]

Dewey's was my first read-a-thon and is still one of my favorites. I too liked the 24in48 Read-a-thon. Maybe we could do a hybid and keep the 24 hour format and also have a 24 hours in 24 format as well.

I saw that someone suggested adding a 2nd Reverse RaT. Maybe we could have one Reverse and one regular be in the regular 24 hour format and one of each be in the 2 day format.

I'll continue to join, regardless! :-)

[Cynda]

Yes to sprints need annoucements. Until I helped a bit this time, I often did not know when the sprints were to be. Yes to announcement of sprints.

[Cynda]

I just saw the other part of your answer--that we have a impomptu readathon. I think I remember participating in one--yes I do.

For now that will work for me.

[Lynnette]

I like the idea of another reverse readathon. I say keep current format. Add second reverse and call it.

[Jamie]

I'm really leaning towards making a New Years weekend readathon, less formal than our April and October ones, and let it be a 24in48 length readathon that starts at 8pm Eastern Time Friday and runs through 8pm Sunday, a time-frame close to that of the Shadow Lounge Monthly Readathons, for folks familiar with those, and just about as casual. Folks who want to play it as a 24hr readathon just have to decide which 24 hours they wish to concentrate on and read during those hours. There is a LOT of resistance to changing the structure of any of our established readathons, as well as a LOT of participants who would like a 2-day readathon format. There are other readathons that do the 2-day option, including Shadow Lounge, which happens once a month. We don't want to lose the distinctness of our Dewey's events, which for many people includes the 24hr time block that everyone planet-wide shares. There is something cool about the thought that many of us worldwide are reading all at the same time.

[Susy]

Jamie wrote: "I'm really leaning towards making a New Years weekend readathon, less formal than our April and October ones, and let it be a 24in48 length readathon that starts at 8pm Eastern Time Friday and runs..."

Unfortunately Shadow Lounge is only on FB and because it’s every month I feel less inclined to participate (thinking there’s always next month). I feel the same with 24B4Monday.
I do like the idea of a New Years 24in48 Dewey’s as long as you can participate through the different social media like the original Dewey’s.

[Cynda]

I can help with a New Year's readathon. We have a big Christmas party, but everything is cleared away on or by the 27th every year.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

I would really love some 24 hours in 48 hours as it extends it and people can get sleep and have options. I also love the typical 24 - I am surprised I did so many hours this time but usually sleep intrudes for me more lol

[Jamie]

Cynda Reads Mighty Slow these days wrote: "I can help with a New Year's readathon. We have a big Christmas party, but everything is cleared away on or by the 27th every year."

I'll hold you to that. The biggest reason we have not done a 4th readathon is because they are a lot of work and a big time commitment to run. The lead admins before me were not willing to commit to setting aside a 4th whole weekend plus all the behind the scenes work required to do a 4th one. If I was not unemployed, childless, and in decent health I would probably not consider it either. I also always think about whether the changes we make to Dewey's make it more or less sustainable. Most readathons that started more than a decade ago have ended, and ours is unique for how long we've managed to keep going, but if the admin work required gets to be too much, we may no longer be sustainable enough to last another decade..

[Lynnette]

Does it have to be new year’s weekend? For the second reverse readathon. Couldn’t it be closer to the end of the month where there isn’t a lot going on. If you keep it to a 24 RAT instead of spreading it out then it’s just like the others. One day and done

[Susy]

Lynnette wrote: "Does it have to be new year’s weekend? For the second reverse readathon. Couldn’t it be closer to the end of the month where there isn’t a lot going on. If you keep it to a 24 RAT instead of spread..."

I think the idea is not to add a second reverse readathon but 1 24in48 as there are a lot of people interested in that…

[Elyse]

I enjoy 24-in-48 readathons.

[Cynda]

Hold me to it, Jaime. I have a similar life situation.

[Lynnette]

I understood that Suzy, but I was under the impression that it was a discussion still. I’m not a mod so if it’s a done deal then that’s cool

[Susy]

Ah sorry Lynnette, I misunderstood you. No, I don’t think it’s a done deal. I don’t think it’s even set if there will be a fourth readathon.

[Liander (The Towering Pile)]

I like it the way it is. This is the only read-a-thon I consistently do because ones that take place over longer time spans don't feel like a read-a-thon to me. They just feel like reading challenges, maybe. Reading for 24 hours in a row is what makes this event cool.

[Jamie]

I'm gonna close this thread now. We still have 2 regularly scheduled readathons left for this year, the reverse readathon in July (July 21-22, 8pm Eastern Time) and the October traditional 24hr readathon. If we did add a 4th readathon it would not happen until December or January, and if and how we design that 4th event will depend very much on how the majority of the admin team feels about it by then. We are almost halfway done with the cool-down week for our April event, and will have a couple months before we spin up our pre-readathon challenges and chat for the next event.

We will NOT be changing the structure of our April readathon, Reverse Readathon or October readathon.