IMPORTANT Oregon All State Write In Update: RSVP'S NOW FULL

Does anyone from Corvallis want to carpool to this?
I would love to go but I need a ride.

Assuming I can get admission cost, I'll be going. I've already RSVP'd. I'd be happy to car pool with you! : )

Dang it, I'll be in Tennessee doing the "family + holidays = hiding in the other room writing" thing. I guess there's always next year. Bummer. It sounds fun!

woohoo.. tennessee transplants in oregon unite. :P

Arg, I really, really want to go but my parents won't drive me. :(

Nano 05: Sisters
Nano 06: Wolfe
Nano 07: This Summer
Nano 08: The Dauntless

@Quetzal: As I have offered to carpool with JessicaVarin, I'd be happy to tote you along as well! : ) Where do you live? If you live in Corvallis or your family would be willing to bring you to Corvallis that could work out quite nicely.

Just so folks are aware: i simul-posted this thread in all the Oregon regions so updating the information would be fast and simple. This has the interesting side effect of causing all replies to show up in all regions at once, as well. Think of it as a "Master Thread" all of Oregon can see. :)

i apologize for any confusion this may cause in arranging car pools and the like, since the person asking for a ride may not be from your region. Please feel free to continue to use the "You're Invited!" thread in your regional lounge to organize and arrange rides; i still check in on those threads and they will remain individual to each region.

Again, sorry for the confusion. Carry on! :)

ML Contact form
Q: Where do MLs come from?
A: A spontaneous combustion of literary abandon.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm in Bend so it's still a long drive to Corvallis from there. =/

Nano 05: Sisters
Nano 06: Wolfe
Nano 07: This Summer
Nano 08: The Dauntless

I'm hoping you got my RSVP. Did ya???

gostiee

I sent you an email requesting an invite, and you should be getting one from my friend Jordan (bluerosebride) as well. Yeehoo!

i am a writer
writer of fictions
i am the heart that you call home
and i've written pages upon pages
trying to rid you from my bones...

Follow me on Twitter!: bombsfadeaway

yes i did - but you haven't confirmed the e-vite yet. :) I'm still assuming people on that list are coming (they did after all have to conciously send me their e-mails to RSVP) but it'd be handy if you confirm the e-vite from that original e-mail you got. I can send another one if the first got lost.

ML Contact form
Q: Where do MLs come from?
A: A spontaneous combustion of literary abandon.

Thank you and confirmed! See you guys there! =)

i am a writer
writer of fictions
i am the heart that you call home
and i've written pages upon pages
trying to rid you from my bones...

Follow me on Twitter!: bombsfadeaway

sad, I wanted to go but there's no way I could get a Sunday off of work especially since I'm taking four days off for a mini SoCal visit the week before. Maybe next year. Hope you guys have fun!

- Nicki

"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery." - Jane Austen

Wow!

I guess I didn't expect to find a write-in promoted that was a pay-to-play, restricted to certain people sort of thing. To me that's kinda in conflict with the principles of NaNo, but I honestly don't know of anything in the Official Rules that say so. And, it's an ML promoting it, so I assume the concept is considered kosher.

Sad to see NaNo coming to this. It should be about inclusion and effort, not just for a select few, and not with a fee required. It's one thing to have a write-in at a restaurant, where you just expect the owner would like (expect) you to buy something. That's a given. On the other hand, to go to a place to write, find you have to pay (more than the price of a decent meal) just for the privilege of sitting in a room...assuming you're one of the anointed, select few...seems...wrong!

Sorry, but that's the way I see it. If you wanted it to be that exclusive, why post it where everyone can see it? Just email the chosen and let them do their thing. Personally, I'll stick to joining write-ins that allow everybody to attend. At least I'll be with others more like me. If I had the time, I'd try to organize another "All Oregon" thing on the same night...for the rest of us.

GP
--------------
2006 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book I
2007 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book II
2008 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book III
2009 -

@GrandPoobah ... I may be wrong about this, but I don't believe this is the case at all. The Write-In is at the Aquarium so there is an admission fee that the Aquarium is charging. The RSVP is in place because, as I understand it, there is a capacity limit. In addition, they are trying to get as many reduced and/or free tickets for NaNo's so that they don't have to "pay to play". In fact, I couldn't afford to go if they hadn't been able to find me an admission ticket.

There's no "anointed" ones to go, just whoever wants to go and a "first come, first serve" for admission attendance and capacity.

I could be wrong, but that's the impression I got.

[edited for spelling error]

And you hit the nail on the head, Miriamele! I honestly didn't expect that we'd fill a 60 person room capacity - in the past the All-states have been smaller. But i guess i picked an awesome place to host it. :)

ML Contact form
Q: Where do MLs come from?
A: A spontaneous combustion of literary abandon.

I understand all of that, but I still disagree. Never in past Novembers have there been events where only just so many people could go. Why not everyone? Well, "because we picked a place that won't allow more." Bad choice! Pay to play? Okay, according to the post I read, there are 60 people allowed to go, and they have 15 free passes. So, who decides who gets in free and who has to pay. "Whoops, sorry buddy, but....you get to pay." Not a very acceptable situation.

What about people who don't know for certain if they can attend. They don't get to go! What about people who are scheduled to go, but then can't? Maybe they got sick. Does anyone else get to go? Nope, that place is taken!

In short, NaNo encouraged participation. It invites everyone, regardless of age, skill, knowledge, experience, or anything else. You can live anywhere on the globe and still participate. Heck, if you wanted you could be in orbit right now...and you're still welcome to write and join in the fun. NaNo has grown and been successful because it placed no limits on the participants beyond their own limitations. Winners were celebrated, but there were no losers. If it happened, EVERYONE could be a winner. Here, however, we have an event planned with limitations in mind, and a cost anticipated. It was planned knowing those things. It was "hoped" that enough free passes might be rounded up, but apparently (to date) only a quarter of the people get in free, and somebody gets to decide who the winners of those free passes are. The rest are just out of luck.

Nope, that doesn't describe the NaNo that I signed up for years ago, and I think it's severely disingenuous to suggest it is. If this were advertised as a "60 select people from Oregon" write-in, then at least the name would be honest. All Oregon isn't invited. Well, actually all Oregon was invited, and that might be the real problem.

GP
--------------
2006 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book I
2007 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book II
2008 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book III
2009 -

I admit that i underestimated the demand, and yes that was some poor planning on my part. In my defense, there really isn't any other place in town where i could even host this many people. Our local library would hold only 50 or so, and we'd have to pay for the room there so there'd be a cover charge as well. Restaurants are great, as you pointed out, but there are none in my town that could hold this many people either. Every public room has it's fire codes, and i can't negotiate them. Newport has planned to host this year's All State since the first one was planned two Nanos ago, and yes, unfortunately we're a small town. Apparently we're a popular one, too, to draw so much interest.

And i have to respectfully disagree about RSVP's. Even if we had a huge venue where every single Oregon wrimo could conceivably fit, i'd still require RSVP's. The larger the event, the more important it is to know how many people are going to be there. i need to know how many tables and chairs to set up, how many name tags to make ready, how many power strips to bring... People show up unannounced and suddenly people who RSVP'd are now without a space to sit or plug in as a result.

As for determining who gets the free tickets, i'm going to be polling participants ahead of time, asking everyone to (privately) let me know what their need is. Some people have already said they're happy to pay the admission. Others are aquarium members and get in free already. Knowing who needs a ticket is my guideline for minimum number of freebies to track down. I am not going to quit finding them until the day of. And no one is going to be turned away because they can't pay to get in. i will personally assure that.

There is a waiting list, and as soon as anyone lets me know that they're not able to come members of the waiting list will be contacted. Yes, if someone gets sick the night before that may make it impossible to fill that slot. But i will do the best i can.

Many ML's organize events that have a specific room capacity and even require a fee to reserve the room. Things fill up, and we sometimes don't anticipate the demand because all we have to base our estimates on is past year's attendance. No, we can't require that anyone pay anything. And i'm not either - i'm asking. As i said, i'm not turning anyone away because they can't pay. i'm just going to work that much harder to make sure they can get in.

Again, i am sorry for your disappointment with the way things worked out. I'm not sure where the All-State will be held next year but i will be letting that region's ML know of the issues that we encountered this year.

ML Contact form
Q: Where do MLs come from?
A: A spontaneous combustion of literary abandon.

GrandPoobah:

You're entitled to your opinion, and as a participant, I can understand both your disappointment and irritation at not being able to attend a statewide event. I do not agree with your feeling that it was intended to be "exclusive"   but I do accept that you FELT it was intended to exclude. 

 I'm very sorry and somewhat upset that you feel this demeans the entire NaNo concept.
Yes, this is a growing pains issue, and what you point out is are very real and important concepts we need to remember. NaNoWrimo is an inclusive, everyone-can-win effort.  

However, you do not have to attend a state write-in to win. Realistically, how many people from Pendleton do you think will come? Should we expect them to travel the passes in November?  

Our world is only as fair as realism allows. Trying to keep it fair is a noble and worthwhile goal. And all of us have been trying to do that, whether you agree or not.  Since you disagree, what do you suggest be done? And please read the rest of this before you reply to that question.

As an organizer, I would love to know where these  locations are where we can host 50-100 people for free.  There are no spaces available in this town where that many people could meet, all day, for *anything* less than $15 an HOUR. Fees shoot up abruptly from there. That includes our local library. 

 Brightshadowsky managed to find a location that waived the fee for what is normally an incredibly expensive room that would hold more than the number of people who showed up at the previous year's Write-in. The fact that they refused to waive the admission fee *in addition* to losing money on the room is regrettable, but it's not her fault.  MLs do not get any money to host anything. We do whatever we do out of our own pockets. I think it is beyond the pale to expect the region that hosts a state write-in to foot the room reservation bill. 

As for RSVPs, it is also incredibly frustrating to find a space that fits 50 people, which is far more than came the previous year, and then have 75 show up and people get upset because we didn't "plan better." Even though only 5 people bothered to send an email saying they were coming in anything like enough time  ***to get a room reserved.*** (Which in this town requires a minimum of a month''s advance notice).

You are not the only one frustrated here. Yes, it would be nice if places would volunteer the space they rely on for income for free and at the last minute.  But that's asking a lot! And we do have to function in the real world.

So. Suggestions for keeping events open and free and available to all are  *more* than welcome. Because some of us  ran into this wall a long time ago, and we'd appreciate some reality-based help. 

Remember -- no matter how many or how few words bleed from your fingertips, by Nov. 30 you'll have written more of a a novel than most people write in a lifetime. Keep writing! Because darn it, it's fun!

Even the Night of Writing Dangerously has limitations.

I hear that NaNo is free and open, and I will always argue for inclusiveness and access. But as an event planner in my other life, I think having an event in a space that is of limited size and has an admission fee (because the place has an admission fee) is fine. It doesn't mean you can't go. It means if you want to go, you need to plan ahead and ask for help if the admission fee is a barrier.

Should only events that can hold all of the NaNo folks in town be listed? Holy cats, if everyone in Eugene showed up at Papa's pizza tomorrow, it would be awful. I think it's great to be clear about the capacity of the space. Not everyone wants to write in a place large enough to hold everyone that might want to come. ANd it's a cool place to write. I wish the aquarium was free ALL the time, but until people stop whining about taxes, non-profits will have to do something to pay the rent.

And it doesn't mean you can't go to any write-ins. It just means that if I wanted to go to the aquarium and couldn't afford it, I'd need to ask for one of those free tickets and sign up for a space early. There are lots happening all over the county in other venues.

I think your desire to ensure that we all have access is important, so please don't stop advocating for inclusiveness. I also think it's OK to have events in small intimate places, and to have the lowest admission fees possible that cover costs, when free spaces aren't available.

linabella

Honestly, I don't see a lot of difference between this and any other write-in held in a coffee shop. I run an even on Wednesdays at SE Grind. While I may not post an RSVP limit of people or ask for a pre-set request of money, the coffee shop only has so much space for writers and those who show up first will use the chairs and tables. Also, it's not really any different from "pay to play," because the coffee shops would shut their doors to us if we didn't buy things from them like coffee and sandwiches. Sure, you get a latte out of the deal, but it's still paying the shop for the ability to use their space and internet. They also have to make a living somehow.

The only real way to get around something like this is to have write-ins in peoples' homes. Personally, my home isn't big enough to support something like that. I could maybe have 6-7 people there, tops, not 40-50.

Portland's Ninja ML (the undercover one)
Hostess of "The NaNo Project" - http://thenanoproject.blogspot.com/
Title: Magdalena Crane, Rogue Zombie Hunter

I also wanted to add, along with the other people saying this, that any place big enough to hold as many people as possible costs an incredible amount of money. Especially something like the Night of Writing Dangerously, and since this /is/ an open-to-the-public event, it's not like the OLL has a ton of funds to throw around. Even moreso for the MLs, who as far as I know don't even get budgets.

(When I was in my university's a cappella group, we really struggled finding places to hold our concerts. Even churches charge money for opening up their space to lots of people--and they have to, because of wear and tear and cleanup costs.)

Besides, only the basic NaNoWriMo event itself has ever been free. Having a T-shirt is a big part of the experience for me, but I have to buy it myself. I also love the book. I bought that, too.

AHH I wish I had joined this whole thing earlier. I have a year round pass for the aquarium and get in free! And it was my day off too *sigh* lol

My NaNo Blog