%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| >> Static Item >> Other >> Other >> ID #1245713 |   |
| |||||||||||||
  Greetings, Dear Friends: ! As Rising Stars  marks its sixth month on W.Com, I've been giving some thought to our next steps. As always, your ideas and input are important to me and to our "Rising Stars" team. I've gathered a few ideas to run by you. Nothing is cast in stone at this point. We may find that you feel strongly we should undertake one, two, or none of these ideas. I'm very receptive to your feedback, suggestions and interest--if you can imagine getting involved.1) Monthly Newsletter: I wonder about shifting from an occasional "Rising Stars" update to a newsletter, put together by guest editor(s) and graphic artist(s) willing to work with our editors to supply graphics. This should not be a grueling activity, it should be fun, informative and inclusive. Rewards for the participants include achieving "Bright Star" status and 5,000 gift points per issue. 2) Naming our Newsletter: We'll be looking for a clever name for our e-paper. The winning title will receive a merit badge and 5,000 gift points. We will set up a forum to get your ideas once we determine if there is enough interest in developing a Rising Stars community-based newsletter.3) Book Club: I've had one request for a small "Rising Stars" reading club (forum), set up to informally to recommend one outstanding book per month or every other month, with a deadline for readers to provide feedback in the forum. We're talking about outstanding books, ones that will inspire us as writers. The idea is to set up the club for a test period--3 months (3 books). We'll do this if we receive sufficient encouragement for same. We'll recruit a Rising Star to facilitate this forum. 4) Fundraising: we're looking for a great fundraising idea/activity. If we adopt your clever idea, you'll achieve "Bright Star" status and receive 5,000 gift points. 5) If you have ideas as to how we can attract new sponsors, the same rewards will be given. Should we develop a "Rising Stars" day of some kind where we offer special incentives to new sponsors ? What do you think ? Thankyou !  This is a lot to think about. If you have ideas, recommendations or a willingness to get involved, send me your feedback. If we act on your idea(s), we're happy to give you an award of 5,000 gift points. Thank you for sharing your wisdom, good humor, and clever ideas. And, please feel free to take this opportunity to give us your input on any aspect of our program. Thank you for your very special friendship and support!    Warmest best, Gabriella _________________________________________________________________________________ THANK YOU FOR JUMPING IN WITH SUCH GREAT FEEDBACK! A beautiful encouraging note from a special member of our Rising Stars team: From: MDuci   The feedback for the inclusion of a Newsletter sounds wonderful. I feel that the over-whelming response from the many Rising Stars; sounds like a real get together. I think this can move into something even bigger for this group and the Rising Stars to come. I look forward to offering all the help that I can in helping you get this new project off the ground. My sincere best to all the Rising Stars, and to all the sponsors...keep the good moving.... ________________________________________________________________________________ From: AntiBarbie  Ohhhhhhh, a newsletter. I have the perfect name that just popped into my head. I hope there is a contest! _________________________________________________________________________________ From: shellswNaming our newsletter: For this was thinking, I know it is a play on words, but how about to catch a rising star? Book Club: I would love to help with a book club. My house is loaded with books, love to read Fundraising: Auctions are always nice. Maybe offer some reviews for auction in a package like some have been doing, along with graphics, cnotes that they can bid on? A Rising Star day for sponsors is a great idea. Kinda like a fundraising day of sorts. Could offer them a brief description on the forum of what that is and have them post if they would like to get involved. We could offer them some services instead of a day, we should try a week:) since everyone could be busy or the different time zones __________________________________________________________________________ From: sonnetwolfAll the ideas for the Rising Star sound great. I will give some deep thought. But I would like to offer my services to the editors as a graphics artist. I am a Certified WebPage Designer and for three years was involved in Stationary Groups where I learned Graphic Art and Animation. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: Jack Howarth I love your ideas for the Rising Stars group. The idea of a regular newsletter is great, first title that came to my mind was "Starshine" but hey, I'm rooted in the sixties. Also love the bookclub concept as it would encourage me personally to physically read more. I know you will be setting up a forum for all of this, just wanted to give you some feedback. Lastly, and for no other reason than it drifted into my empty head whilst I was reading your email, I 'wrote' this little ditty (with huge apologies to Jane Taylor): Twinkle, twinkle rising star Expert in the wordsmith’s art, Above all daily cares you fly Writing sonnets in the sky, Twinkle, twinkle rising star, Gifted soul, you’ve come so far !  _______________________________________________________________________ From: DragonBlue Monthly Newsletter: I would be more than happy to contribute in both editing and graphic art work donations. Graphically, I can come up with almost anything you can ask for. Would the editing include reviews of the rising star recipients? That would be interesting, or would it possibly have a theme? Just a couple of thoughts I was kicking around. Naming our Newsletter: I have already started on some ideas for the name of the newsletter, so you just let me know when you're ready to open your forum. Book Club: I think this would be a great idea! My first suggestion would be the book of Hamlet by William Shakespeare. I can't think of a more inspiring story or poetry to read about or write about! Fundraising:I would be willing to donate siggies and cNote gift certificates for auction with The Rising Star as the sole recipient of 1/2 of the gps raised. I will sponsor you as one of my charities to recieve gps from my siggy shoppe and auction sales. I think it is a great idea to have a Rising Stars day where there are lots of activities like a 'county fair' with relay races and raffles. Have everyone pay a fee to get in for free play all day long. Jigsaw Puzzles, Scrabble Tournaments, Trivia Tournaments, etc. (ps..I can create web pages here at WDC that actually contain arcade games, puzzles and entries to tournaments. We could set up bingo (whatever your heart desires). ______________________________________________________________________________ From: SonofDrogo  I will actively support any and all of the ideas listed for the rising stars. The newsletter sounds like a particularly good idea. I have no suggestions at the moment, but I will give them considerable thought and contact you when I have something to add. In the mean time, I put myself at your service. Should there be anything I can do to help, simply ask. Jerry ____________________________________________________________________ From: laurie_oNewsletter: I do think a monthly newsletter or bi-weekly would be nice. I think highlighting the work of some of our rising stars would be a good idea within it as well. As well as giving tips and suggestions for writing and what's marketable, so those looking to be published can check out places that might be online or magazines, publishing houses etc. Another idea for the newsletter would be to make up a standard questionnaire for a Circle of Sisters member to use to interview the winner each month or someone that was chosen as a Rising Star recipient, to tell how they became interested in writing, how long they've been writing, have they been published, etc. Naming the Newsletter: I gave a quick thought to the name as well and since we are talking about stars, how about 'The Constellation' as a newsletter name? Fundraisers: As far as fundraisers we could hold a sig auction, auctions with reviews and merit badges etc, as most do here on the site. We could take turns running a sig shoppe or agree to help so that if one person is too busy to take it on with summer coming up, then we could step in and make sure items were done and sent out. __________________________________________________________________________ From: Kate~Rune Writing & Reading  I like the idea of a Newsletter ~ perhaps featuring tips for publication, editing, query letters, contests our Rising Stars would enjoy to improve their skills or incite the Muse. I'd love to help out any way that you think I could be of use ~ I can't upload graphics easily, but would be willing to help in any other way. I'm lousy with titles, but try "Rising Stars Light The Way" Raising funds for the group ~ Raffles are always fun, split raffle for the group; a review challenge for the members? fun reading and a good tool for improved writing skills. Or perhaps invite members to write for a specific monthly contest and offer reviews and gps for completing the challenge? ____________________________________________________________________________ From: ratwoodYou have done a whole lot for this community and I am only one of many grateful members here. As for ideas lets see. I would like to see a rising stars merit badge awarded to deserving newbies...I know one of the most exciting things for me when i first joined was recieving merit badges and seeing the number by my name rise. After you cross over the 3 month mark your work is no longer listed on the read a newbie page. This period of time is when I feel this site has its greatest fall off point. Our truly great writers are no longer getting the attention they so desperatly deserve because they havent been here long enough to make tons of friends and have been here too long for the system to recognize them...just an idea I am not sure how that would work. I was thinking if Rising Stars could help stars continue to Rise perhaps checking back in on previously awarded writers...my humble thoughts. ______________________________________________________________________________ From: embe Thanks for keeping me posted. I do agree to your proposal for introducing a monthly newsletter. Although I concentrate on welcomiing and reviewing Newbies, I could try and assist with comments in this type of newsletter. You are an inspiration to all, for working so hard to keep Rising Stars going. _______________________________________________________________________________ From: Momo M. I'd love to work on graphics for the newsletter, but typically I'm always a bit swamped on time. Maybe there should be a way to contribute a graphic here and there for the group, like an image bank for various aspects such as the newsletter & member/reviewer siggies. Then some people who don't have enough time to be "chief designer" could give when they can and be involved. ____________________________________________________________________________ From: Flipsideofevil I have a few ideas and as more come up I will share them. First, I think a newsletter would be awesome! As for a name for the newsletter, my idea is Starz are Shining! As for fundraising, how about (now this is just a rough idea) some type of tag sig. One that would reflect the group, but could be used for all members and people would purchase one to tag someone, like a friend, newbie or even anon. The idea would be like this, say I purchase a tag sig and I send it to a member letting them know that they are tagged as a star and now it is their turn to tag someone and let them know that they are a star. Something along those lines. In other words, the purchase of the sig includes the purchase of the sig for the person being tagged and the next person. So, then that person would pay and it would cover the person they tag and the next. And so on... if that makes sense. In essence the price covers two sigs. lol I hope I haven't confused you! Like I said rough idea. As for sponsors, how about we let sponsors know that they will be promoted by a certain amount of shining stars in their bio blocks? I don't know if that is allowed. You could rotate members and they could do it for like a week or two and then rotate to the next members on the list. Something simple like, check out our sponsor.. I know I am not a preferred author, but if there is any thing I can do to help you out, please let me know. ______________________________________________________________________ From: fyn- You've got some great ideas here !!! The newsletter idea could be awesome, especially if it were to feature current and past rising stars as well as getting the word out there more to get more folks involved as sponsors!!! I, for one, would love to be involved with and help write the newsletter!!! Name wise, I've got several ideas...but something to do with A Galaxy of Rising Stars comes immediately to mind. Fundraising wise, might be fun to host an auction where sponsors and stars link together to offer reviews, etc, etc. that's pretty much my ideas for the moment, but as more percolate, I'll let you know... I think Rising Stars is one of the most awesome concepts on the site!!!!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: Fleckin' 64778 I think a newsletter is a great idea and a contest for naming it - what fun too! Too many creative people here for it not to be a great one! I also think the reading forum is an excellent idea. I know I'm always looking for good books to read, or want to share with others once I've read a story to compare the emotions provoked by the story or what I liked/disliked about how something was written and what I've implemented in my own writing style. Really - a lot of GREAT ideas. I don't know how much help I can really be because I tend to spread myself too thin on a regular basis but I'll be thinking about a name for a newsletter and I'd definitely read it. Thanks again for the update. So glad I found WDC! ______________________________________________________________________________ From: Black Willow - away Glad to hear from you! I love playing with images so I'll gladly be your "graphic artist" if you want! Also, I had a Friendship Auction running awhile back and it was a success, so if you want, I can run a "Rising Stars Auction" with all kind of images and packages to bid on... All the Sponsors can donate something to make it big... what do you think? About the book club- I'm definitely in because I love reading new books! Smile How to attract new sponsors- we can indeed open a "Sponsor a Star" day, open an In&Out or something with everything about RisingStars, and why should people sponsor. Maybe offer cookies to the participants Laugh. I think "Sponsor a Star" day should do us good! Gabriella, I love this group and think it's very special. I'd like to help as much as possible with it and be as active as possible. _______________________________________________________________________________ From: iKïyå§ama  The Monthly newsletter sounds like a great idea. Smile It would be nice to learn something new from different members (that is, different members are going to be contributing monthly...or did I read that wrong?) either way, it's a great way to get more people involved, so I vote for it! The book club sounds good....although I'm going to tell you right now that I'm going to be one of the slowest readers out there. Between real life issues and being distracted too easily, meeting the monthly quota might be tough...but then again, it's just me. You might get more responses in the positive and by all means go for it! ________________________________________________________________________________ From: jbjacksonI might be able to help with the newsletter, not sure yet. Book groups seem to peter out, though I suppose there's nothing to lose by trying it. For fundraising, I'd suggest doing a store, like the TUWG store. Sponsors could have an aisle for whatever they want to sell and a portion of the proceeds go to the group. I'd toss in my port raid package same as I'm offering on TUWG. As for recruiting sponsors, one thing you're already doing that's helpful to me is when you send emails asking if we have someone to sponsor. When I run across a great item from a black case, I always think to myself that that's the next one I want to sponsor. But then by the time my billboard is freed up, I've forgotten all about it until I get your email asking if I've got somebody in mind. I don't know how many of those sponsored are using the GPs for the thank you note. Most of mine have, though not all. Perhaps when they don't, it's discouraging to some sponsors, especially if some have been unlucky and rarely get the thank you from the people they've sponsored. But nothing motivates people like getting paid Smile If you offered those GPs straight to the sponsor, you'd probably be swamped with people wanting to do it. ______________________________________________________________________ From: SHERRI G ♥ WDC ♥  What about all of the Rising Stars sponsors making a donation for others to bid on to help with fundraising? You know, like sigs, reviews, badges, etc. I've participated in quite a few auctions, and they usually do well. _________________________________________________________________________ From: Ladyoz  I think these are wonderful ideas and I'd like to offer to help out any way I can with graphics. I used to be a web designer, so I've got Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro to play with. Will be more than happy to do anything I can in this area. I had one little idea for a newsletter name: "The Comet" (or variations thereon - WDC Comet, or Rising Star Comet, etc.) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: Tammy~Catchin Up~ I think the newsletter sounds great. I can't wait to see what names everyone comes up with. As far as getting more sponsors, we could also advertise more..I have a contest and c-note places that I could link the Rising Star information in...if others in the group had a place to link it then that it might help spread the word more ioo and maybe even get a few new sponsors that way.... ______________________________________________________________________ From: ♥ just jess ♥ That's a lovely image you have there...really unique! And it was a great email, too...you always put so much thought into everything...it's really wonderful! I love all your ideas...only time will tell if I have enough free time to help with them, but I'd love to! They all sound great! Best of luck and let me know if you need any help!!! Also, I'll be choosing my new Rising Star later this week! Have a great day! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: Evelyn - Writing on Fire I would be very interested in helping with the newsletter and the book club. I love the idea of the book club. I am involved in one on a group I am with. We are doing Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel. It is great. Let me know any way I can help. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: dizzyduckI think a monthly newsletter is a great idea, and I would be glad to receive one every month. I also think that I might like to contribute as a guest editor; if the newsletter has the type of setup where person contributes to just one section, I would be especially interested. Unfortunately, I don't really have any suggestions for a newsletter name, and while the "Book Club" sounds neat, I don't know if I'd have the time to participate in it. Although I would definitely try if certain books caught my fancy. I was most attracted to the idea of a newsletter and contributing to it, I hope you receive lots of suggestions from others; we've got some very creative people in our bunch of Rising Stars. _________________________________________________________________________ From: Lauriemariepea 1. newsletter: great idea! i especially like the idea of offering up recognition to rising stars in addition to the fabulous sponsorships...even beyond the initial two-week award period. 2. newsletter name: how about 'play among the stars', stolen from the songwriter bart howard? eh, it's a suggestion. 3. book club: another fun idea--whatever title is highlighted, it should be profiled, also. we should really feel & understand why this title is meaningful to its sponsor. whether the highlighted titles are 'great literature', that doesn't matter to me. i'd be more interested in how they affected the author, why they were inspired to write because of it. 4. fundraising idea: we could extend the sponsor concept...authors could purchase a mentor, for a specified period of time. whatever advice, questions, feedback--be it wdc-related or writing in general--the mentor would focus their attention on the winner of the auction. potential mentors could post a short bio, with their particular experience and areas of strength, and they could be bid upon by artistically compatible authors. (there may be something like this already on wdc...haven't checked.) 5. attracting new sponsors: i don't know how that works, currently...are the sponsors recruited from the ranks of current & past rising stars? if not, that might be a way to capitalize on folks already enthusiastic about the idea. and the rising stars, while they may be new to wdc (or not), they've proven themselves to be talented and willing to be involved. okay, well that's what i've got, so far. thank you again, gabriella, for your fabulous 'rising star' group! i've been reenergized, brain thinking up all sorts of stuff for new stories--all from the excitement of being noticed. yeah, well. i'll do anything for attention. _________________________________________________________________________ From: Carpageo Gabriella, I briefly read over your e-mail "notice"(?). And I simply wanted to share a thought for the possible title of your possible newsletter: "Rise and Shine." It came quickly to my mind as I tried to come up with something personal, although I wasn't sure if it was worthy of sharing. (But I thought, Why not?) It's just something my mother used to say to my sister and I when she'd wake us up to haul wood for the winter in our pickup: "Rise and shine, kids, it's wood-choppin' time!" Take care, Carlos ________________________________________________________________________ From: WilliamWriter  Hi, Gabriella ! Sorry I haven't responded earlier; I have been so busy these last couple of weeks. 1. I wonder about shifting from an occasional "Rising Stars" update to a newsletter, put together by guest editor(s) and graphic artist(s) willing to work with our editors to supply graphics. This should not be a grueling activity, it should be fun, informative and inclusive. Rewards for the participants include achieving "Bright Star" status and 5,000 gift points per issue. -I think this is a very good idea. Two thoughts: First, you might ask for volunteers first and save the gift points for other needs. I believe some of us would enjoy doing assigned parts of the newsletter as a challenge. Better yet, leave an option for the guest editor to put the gift points back into the Bright Star system. Second, I believe that one of the founding members of the group should be the "managing" editor and should "aim" the guest editors in the pieces to be published. I think this would keep the newsletter from becoming a hodgepodge unfocused rendering. Perhaps this could be set up in some sort of format. Y'know, start each paper off with something like a "Star Writers in the Spotlight" telling of the recent stellar accomplishments of that month's Star Writers' high achievers; followed by a column of "Upcoming Events"; then perhaps "Interesting Things" that could be tried within the site. Perhaps each month, different writers could be honored by asking the honored one(s) to supply one of their works that that author liked the best. You might even direct the readers to a randomly selected star writer portfolio to vote on the one piece they like the best and use the results to honor the selected star writer in the next edition. 2. I like the idea of having the members picking names to be considered for the Newsletter. This will help our members buy into the vision. 3. Concerning the "Book Club", I think this is a good idea for those who have the time to participate. I, myself, have a lot going on in my life and could not commit to a regular diet of this ambitious program. I would like to be able to do so, but I am trying to write to participate in the forums I belong to as well as write my novels and poems. I could be a part of this at times, but could not commit to a regimented routine. 4. Concerning Fundraising, I would recommend a "Writing Fair" for the members of Writing.com. We could make a booth for different genres and the winning piece in each booth could receive points. The judges would be the "Rising Star" members and the cost of entering putting an entry in a booth could be 200 points or so. Just enough to make it a serious venture. Each of our Rising Stars would be asked to sponsor a booth; first come, first served. Of course, an option can be made for co-sponsorship. Okay, here's an example of what it could be like. To all members of Writing.com: Hey, all! Come to the Rising Stars Writing Fair! Select a genre "Booth" and donate 200 points per entree you intend to place. The entree will remain yours, but the "Rising Stars" will read, review and judge your work. (We would specify, at this point, things like how many words and what ratings, and other standards). The winner of each booth will receive 5,000 points and a mention in newsletter (if possible). To the members of Rising Stars: Sponsor a genre booth. "Buy" a booth of your choosing for 5,000 Gift points (or the amount of the winner's purse for that booth). That way, we members could make our donations as well as bring in funds from others. Well, this might not bring in much, but perhaps this "strawman" could be be put on the board of ideas and torn apart. It might spark a workable fund raiser that could give writing.com members meaningful reviews and give our forum needed gift points. 5. Uhmmm, I don't know enough about sponsors yet to give any thoughts on this subject. As I learn more, I will tell you what I think. I hope this was the kind of input you are looking for. I have participated in this group more than any other place in Writing.com, so you know I really enjoy what is happening here. More than becoming a Star, I enjoy helping other writers find the joy and deep satisfaction that comes from writing. I am sending 10,000 gift points as a donation for our group at this time. Thanks again for being here for us. Yours, -William __________________________________________________________________________
© Copyright 2007 Gabriella (UN: gabriellar45 at Writing.Com).
All rights reserved.
Gabriella has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |
 Log In To Leave Feedback |
Static Items
Books
Forums
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
