SDMB Poetry Sweatshop - April 2010 edition, Logistics Thread.

Cafe Society
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Hello, everyone, and welcome to the logistics thread for the April 2010 Poetry Sweatshop. These have been tremendous fun in the past, and have produced some top notch work from the participants.

As with the past Sweatshops, any interested poets will have one hour to write a poem - any style, form, length, rhyme scheme (or no rhyme.) - but the poem must incorporate three words chosen at random. The words will be in an auto-reply message that can be received by writing to sdmbpoetrysweatshop at gmail dot com . (Please remember to mention your SDMB username…) Send the poem in a reply to the auto-reply, and the time stamps will show whether the poem was completed within the hour or not.

At the end of the Sweatshop, an Anthology thread with a poll is started, in which readers are encouraged to vote for their favourite poem. At the close of the poll, the poet with the most votes is acclaimed Poet Laureate of the SDMB. Past Poets Laureate are tracy jo, Maserschmidt, The Hamster King, Pandoranoid and Maserschmidt. (That’s not a typo - ** Maserschmidt** is our first two-time winner.)

I would like to begin this month’s Poetry Sweatshop on Friday, April 23rd at 9 AM PDT, and close on Monday, April 26th at 7 PM PDT. I apologize for the short notice, but I only just got my computer back from the shop today.

One other logistical question to raise - it has been suggested that the poll be made multiple choice to see if that increases the number of people voting. Unless there are any strenuous objections, I’d like to try it this time around.

And, of course, if there are any other logistical considerations, this is the place to bring them up. I’m hoping lots of you can find a spare hour sometime this weekend.

Best wishes,
Le Ministre.

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Thanks for organizing it again. I am interested to see how the multiple option polls would turn out.

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I knew I’d forgotten something. Sorry, lurkers and non-posters - entry is restricted to those who are allowed to post here. Members, guests, charter members, moderators, administrators, people with unusual titles are all welcome. Those who haven’t actually signed up and are not allowed to post here may not participate.

However, if you want to sign up just for the privilege of submitting a poem, that’s the sort of behaviour I’d like to encourage.

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I’m in - looking forward to it! Thanks again for organizing these, Ministre.

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Will someone, if they think of it, yell at me on Friday so I don’t forget? My blonde roots have been bad lately . . .

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As always, I’m excited about it! I’m curious to see how the multiple choice voting works out. I think it’ll help with the selection!

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I’ll be out of town this weekend–mayhaps I can find some time Sunday night after I return. Otherwise, I look forward to reading everyone else’s work!

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Just a gentle bump - we start in just under eight hours. Wishing inspiration to one and all…

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Tried to send a message - guess the auto-reply isn’t up yet. I have a meeting at 10 AM - so if you get it set up - don’t send back to me! I’ll just try again next time I have a free hour.

Thanks!

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Hello, again. The words have been derived and can be obtained by sending an e-mail to sdmbpoetrysweatshop at gmail dot com. You will receive an out-of-office reply that says:

Send your completed poem in a reply to that auto-reply, and the time stamps will confirm that the poem was finished within the hour. I’ll post the words in the OP of the Anthology thread on Monday evening, and the Sweatshop will close on Monday at 7 PM PDT.

Best wishes to all of you!

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I just got it going now.

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Cuckoorex - would you like me to send you the words, or would you rather try the auto-reply when you have an hour? Please let me know.

Off to write for a bit…

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Done! Hope you like it - went a little dark for fun. . .

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melodyharmonius - got that. Great work!
(And I’m always relieved when the first poem arrives, as it reassures me that I haven’t messed up some minor but vital detail.)

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I’m relieved I got it done - I wrote it at work - and I was down to the last 2 lines on paper when a co-worker stopped by to “chat” - I was trying to listen calmly while watching the clock and going - dang - I gotta meeting at 2 and I gotta get this back to Le Min!

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I’ll try the auto-reply thing in a bit, thanks for asking.

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Just a bump to see if I can catch any of the Saturday poets with some time on their hands…

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Cuckoorex I got your poem - fantastic!

I’m sorry the auto-reply was giving you grief, but it looked like it all worked out in the end. Was it just really slow or did it have some odd gmail/iPhone argument en route? I’m curious…

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Nothing so mysterious…just me trying to send to a misspelled email address!:smack:

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Rats! Unfortunately I can’t make it this month…