I... suddenly realise I haven't answered this and meant to several days ago. Um, sorry. :(
However, in the case of small or medium-sized fandoms, one thing that I've found to be helpful (as a mod) is sending out reminder e-mails, say, a week before the due date, usually with reminders of the deadline/details of how stories are to be posted, and asking people to confirm either that they're dropping out or that they're still planning on posting. Would this feel like it was overly pressuring/pushy to you, or helpful?
Hmm, I think it could go either way. What I think would tip it over into being generally helpful would be a) some reassurance that if you are dropping out it is not the end of the world just please tell us now. I can understand that mods don't want people to think they can just sign up and then drop out and it's not a big issue, but I figure that a week before the deadline it's kind of unlikely many people will go "oh, I would have written the fic but since they say they don't mind drop outs I won't!", whereas someone with social anxiety and other such things will probably find it a lot easier to say "um, sorry, I can't finish" if it's made clear that they are not going to OMG bring down the whole ficathon or something by it. b) something like the form e-mail for drop-outs - saying that if you need to drop out, no explanation is needed and all you have to do is reply to the e-mail saying "Sorry, I need to drop out." Or something like that.
I really, really like the idea, btw, of a form letter for people who need to drop out of a challenge. It never would have occurred to me before, but it just seems so obvious that it would be *really* helpful. I think some mods might worry that it would encourage dropping out (sort of the "if we give teenagers condoms it'll encourage them to have sex" argument, I guess *G*) but if I were to run a challenge again, I would definitely do this.
I love this analogy so much XD and think it is quite accurate, too!
no subject
However, in the case of small or medium-sized fandoms, one thing that I've found to be helpful (as a mod) is sending out reminder e-mails, say, a week before the due date, usually with reminders of the deadline/details of how stories are to be posted, and asking people to confirm either that they're dropping out or that they're still planning on posting. Would this feel like it was overly pressuring/pushy to you, or helpful?
Hmm, I think it could go either way. What I think would tip it over into being generally helpful would be a) some reassurance that if you are dropping out it is not the end of the world just please tell us now. I can understand that mods don't want people to think they can just sign up and then drop out and it's not a big issue, but I figure that a week before the deadline it's kind of unlikely many people will go "oh, I would have written the fic but since they say they don't mind drop outs I won't!", whereas someone with social anxiety and other such things will probably find it a lot easier to say "um, sorry, I can't finish" if it's made clear that they are not going to OMG bring down the whole ficathon or something by it. b) something like the form e-mail for drop-outs - saying that if you need to drop out, no explanation is needed and all you have to do is reply to the e-mail saying "Sorry, I need to drop out." Or something like that.
I really, really like the idea, btw, of a form letter for people who need to drop out of a challenge. It never would have occurred to me before, but it just seems so obvious that it would be *really* helpful. I think some mods might worry that it would encourage dropping out (sort of the "if we give teenagers condoms it'll encourage them to have sex" argument, I guess *G*) but if I were to run a challenge again, I would definitely do this.
I love this analogy so much XD and think it is quite accurate, too!