Hello there!

If you aren't participating in the upcoming SWC session as a leader or co-leader, I ask that you leave this forum :) There's not much to gain from stalking it, so make the responsible choice and don't continue to do so!

Now then - welcome to the SWC March 2023 Leader Forum, and many, many congratulations! We're so happy to have you on the leadership team this session. Please read the ENTIRETY of this post and the following before going to pick co-leaders. I know it seems like a lot - and it is - but there's no race! Take your time and read thoughtfully <3

Choosing Co-Leaders

• You can choose two co-leaders. If you’re interested in choosing one co-leader, you must have led before or co-led at least thrice. We will not be allowing leaders to choose three co-leaders this session, due to a lower number of applications as well as participants.
  
• Don’t ask more than two cos at a time; you might have to reject someone, which would be unfair to them.
  
• Keep in mind that you ​​can’t take back a co offer after you’ve sent it.
  
• Go through all the apps you can and don’t just choose the people who remixed first/are your friends. Also remember to base your choice on answers over design - answer quality is far more important!
  
• Don’t rush – there are a lot of apps and all of them deserve equal recognition. There is no shortage of amazing people to choose as your co-leaders.
  
• If you are inexperienced, please choose experienced cos. Similarly, if you are experienced, it may be worth thinking about choosing one or more inexperienced cos. This means that you can learn from each other more effectively.
  
• The apps chosen for co don't need to be “extremely polished and mature” – similarly, co-leaders don't have to have that much experience. It would be great to open up opportunities for the “fresh faces” if a leader feels comfortable with that. You might find that someone who is new to leading can have a lot more to offer.
  
• Don’t choose two people together just because they ask to be together.
  
• Remember timezones! Similar timezones will be good for you if you want to do lots of planning (e.g. in-cabin activities/storyline) with your cos. Very different timezones will prevent word counts building up overnight and potentially keep your cabin more active overall. However, it’s up to you and your priorities - either is fine, but choose wisely ^^
  
• Cos advertising their apps to leaders is 100% banned; don’t choose them, and let one of the Hosts know immediately. There’s also a more ‘subtle’ way where people say ‘hi, congratulations on becoming leader!’ and then turn the conversation towards co-leader choices. We would advise against choosing based on that, but it’s more of a blurred line and quite hard to discourage.
  
• On asking your cos to join your cabin, remind them to wait until at least ten hours have passed after leaders are announced before accepting your invitation, in case they get other offers from leaders in different timezones. They should not treat offers any differently based on when they received them.
  
• If your co(s) have accepted your offer, send them the link to this leader forum (preferably in a private place) and ask them to delete the comment once they’ve seen it ^^

You have until January 31st to select your cos. Choose carefully!

Cabins and Leaders

We had quite a hard time choosing leaders this session - there were a lot of incredible apps, but ultimately we narrowed it down to the following!

Adventure: theleapingleopard
Bi-Fi: gooseful
Dystopian: MoonlitSeas
Fan-Fi: strange_skies
Fantasy: opheliio
Folklore: --tranquility
Hi-Fi: zparkly
Horror: Lesixiq-
Mystery: Willow_wonderful
Non-Fi: -NightGlow-
Poetry: Whirlygig
Real-fi (The Cabin That Will Not Win): Bellevue91
Sci-Fi: RLove10
Script: Luna-Lovegood-LOL -redredrobin- Stariqe
Thriller: Polarbear_17

Instructions

You are free to start setting up your cabin at any point. However, the basic setup should be there by February 1st, the date of camper signups.

On the topic of cabin themes: We'd like to encourage you to keep your cabin on the simpler side! As fun as complex plotlines and activities can be, remember that you can keep the cabin understandable and still have a great time, as well as make it less daunting for new campers :)

When you have decided on your cabin colors, post them in the memory book forum.

(Note: Cabin colors and themes are simply aesthetic choices and they won’t change anything about the actual cabin! They help in creating thumbnails, cabin-related graphics, and potentially your cabin’s pages in the SWC memory book.)

Here you can find a list of things to include in your cabin description!
https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/531202970/
Word updating systems are put into detail in this project. https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/564931660/ Please take a look at this and decide what system your cabin will be using with your co-leaders!
It would be greatly appreciated if you could include a link in your description to the suggestion forum at https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/discuss/topic/514261/ as well.

We also expect you to put this or a version of this in your cabin descriptions (as well as go by it yourself): “If you need to post writing in the forums, PLEASE LIMIT YOURSELF TO ONE WRITING THREAD AT THE VERY MOST! All stories/writing threads should go in the Things I’m Making and Creating forum; all Cabin Announcements, SWC ideas/suggestions, or anything generally explaining what SWC aids/does should go into Show and Tell; and all Leader forums/discussions should go in Show and Tell and/or Collaborations.”

There are now official SWC records that you can link in your credits section.

The megathread will be created closer to the session and we will let you know once it has been.

We will update points by the same system we used last session by adding activities in a project’s comments. More information will be provided closer to the session.

Note on cabin plans: Make sure that your unique plans/activities for your cabin don't go against the scratch guidelines ^^ Please enforce that unmoderated chat, or even unmoderated inputs, are not allowed – as easy as it would make cabin bonding </3

This session, we ask that you and your co-leaders write a 200 character or less (as short as you can make it!) blurb on your cabin atmosphere plan! Make sure that the blurb is concise and accurate - avoid contradictions such as “chill but competitive” and be specific. If you were asked for clarification on that question in your leader app, take that into account! These blurbs should be submitted to Birdi's profile by January 28th.

Cabin Wars

As we’ve seen in previous sessions, cabin relationships/plotlines are super cool, and friendly competition really encourages motivation and activity (+ makes it more fun for everyone involved). The way you treat your allies, neutrals, and enemies during cabin wars is entirely up to you (though there are new rules against strategizing, see them in the leader guide below), but make sure to always remain kind and remind your campers to do so as well.

Maximum amount of Allies: 5
Maximum amount of Neutrals: N/A
Maximum amount of Enemies: 5

Having allies and enemies is not mandatory, but keep in mind that it can serve to enhance the experience of being in a cabin. And of course, don’t pressure anyone into being an ally/enemy of your cabin.

Host Schedule

(Dates are in UTC)

Leader apps: Jan 1st - Robin
Choose leaders: Birdi & Robin, with input from everyone
Leader thread (and post rules list): Jan 21st - Robin
Veto: Birdi & Robin
Main cabin: Jan 24th - Robin (handle point-adding too)
Camper signups: Feb 1st - Birdi
Sort campers: Released around Feb 25th - Robin and QUAILS
Backup campers: Robin
Word wars: March 7th - Starr
Writing competition: March 15th (ends on the 22nd) - Luna
Results: April - Birdi

Activities

You can post in the leader forum with any daily or weekly ideas, or questions you might have about these activities - or put them in the suggestion forum at https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/discuss/topic/514261/ This session, we will provide a list of workshops closer to the session and you will be able to volunteer to write workshops on specific topics from the list.

Committees

The Memory Book Committee this session is being led by the wonderful Faer and Moonlit! If you’d like to get involved, details are at this link.

The Daily Team creates the dailies and weeklies for the session. We aren't completely decided on who's running it, but contact me on my profile if you're interested in joining - consider that this is a time commitment and very important! (If you’d like to provide ideas for dailies or weeklies, you’re always welcome to do so here or in the Suggestions forum and we will take them into consideration)

Although I had originally been hoping to bring the Postscript back this session, we've decided that it would be best to keep it in retirement so that we can dedicate activity to everything else! If you have any questions or ideas for improving it I'd still be happy to hear them - just bear in mind that we aren't particularly planning on starting the committee again :)

Drama

Birdi and I have the veto rights to this thread, meaning we have the power to stop any arguments (or at least the discussion of them). Please keep drama of all sorts out of this thread - it clogs up the forums and could be humiliating for people involved.

For an updated official SWC rules list and leader guide, please see the post directly below this one.
It details what to do in the case of suspicious word counts, drama, reserves, adding proof, and much more. Please refer to it as much as you can.

ALSO: please don’t ask for a summary of what has happened in the leader forum while you weren’t online. It clogs up the forum and leads to spam + people repeating themselves. If a huge amount of pages have appeared overnight or something and you really need a summary, contact someone who was online then directly ^^


Other Information

If you quote a long post, please remember to snip! (Especially when the camper sort comes out — leaving the full post when quoting will not end well.)

Keep the forum professional and on-topic! Only SWC-related conversations belong here. If you sense you’re starting to go off on a tangent or you want to have an unrelated conversation, do it somewhere else. Feel free to create a chat studio if you think one is necessary - just make sure the forum doesn't get clogged with irrelevant discussions.

If something unexpected comes up and you will be forced to engage in a long* period of inactivity, contact me or another (co)Host so we can sort things out.
*a week or more
If you have to step down or be inactive for a long period of time, make sure to transfer studio host to one of the other leaders in your cabin.

If you are a co-leader and your leader goes inactive, please contact a Host to sort that out. If they forgot to transfer studio host, you can create a new studio with updated word counts (as accurate as you can get them) and move the cabin to that studio.

We don't have writing competition judges yet! If you're interested, contact me on my profile :)

Special hanks to all the past, current, and honorary hosts for making SWC what it is now! <3

And that's it for the first post! Once again, a huge congratulations to all of you who were chosen <3 As usual, you'll find a leader guide post underneath this one. However, the hosts have been spending a while cutting it down to make it simpler to read - it's miles shorter than before, so please do read the whole thing :)

I'm extremely excited for this session - I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

- Robin

Thank you to past hosts that contributed to writing part of this description.

Leader Rules:
There are a series of missing letters throughout this guide that spell out a message. If you figure it out, message us privately and we will be very proud.
You are not expected to memorize these rules, but this is a resource tat you can consult if you are unsure about what to do. If you believe any of these rules shouldn't apply / should apply differently for a specific case (e.g. adding a daily when it says not to), take it to the hosts (not the leader forum please!). A summarized version for campers will be posted later.

Rules with a ⚡️ next to them are new this session! Please pay extra close attention to them.


Adding words
All words must be commented by midnight the third day after SWC ends.
Leaders must have their descriptions updated by the fifth day after SWC ends. You may request an extension, but otherwise we will use the word counts in the description for the final results.
Descriptions must stay as up to date as any other records leders are keeping of word counts.
No more than 10,000 words may be added at once.
Leaders must reply “added” or something of the like to comments where they have added words.

What counts
Roleplay - As a guideline, the person should be somewhat in caracter, and there should be description of actions in addition to dialogue.
Fictional writing
Non-fictional writing
Literary journal entries
Writing in another language - if you’re unsure on how many words to add because the language counts writing in a different way (e.g. character counts in Chinese), Google Translate it to English and use that word count.
Schoolwork - essays, assignments that include literary/analytical writing (such as worksheets requiring analysis of parts of a novel) but not note taking or non-literary writing such as writing out maths problems
Giving critique (but only the words they wrote! If they gave 1000 words of critique but 300 of those were quotes of the original writing, add 700 words)
Stream of consciousness writing
Vents/rambles
Formal emails that are longer than a paragraph
Explanatory SWC dailies that are longer than a paragraph
Words from comics
Parodies (so long as it's mostly the person's originl thought)

As a general rule, if it contains the person’s original ideas, it counts.

What doesn’t count
Notetaking
Texting, commenting, etc.
Copying another person’s writing
Translating
Writing thing out from memory / copying things out (e.g. copying out a textbook, lyric spam)
Coding

Needing proof
Ask for proof if someone adds an unrealistic aount of words. This is at your discretion for the most part, but if someone is adding 5k+ in a day (even if it’s reasonable amounts), you should ask for at least partial proof. Don't add their words until they've given proof/an outline. If they refuse or don’t give sufficient proof (at your discretion, you may check with the hosts if you wish), don’t add the words.

Campers need to outline what their writing is about before adding words - do not let them add unexplained words frequently or in large blocks! A sufficient outline could look like: “365 words were from an english worksheet, 1946 were from working on my novel, 568 from the daily”. Outlines based only on the timeframe it was written in are not sufficient.

If someone is uncomfortable sharing proof, that’s okay. Exceptions can be given on an individual basis, and it is more likely they’ll get one if they cooperate and give partial proof/detailed descriptions on their writing. Additionally, you could share proof in a discreet location (on scratch of course, i.e. an old forum post or in a comment in a project).

You can nitrotype race someone if they claim they have a WPM that would allow them to write a large amount (other websites are not permitted). However, this isn’t sufficient proof on its own.

Ask for proof asap rather than waiting until the end of camp. If you don’t feel you’ll be able to deal with the situation, ask one of your cos/your leader or the hosts in a discreet location (not the leder forum.)

Overall, nothing to do with suspicious counts should go in the forum.

Reserves
Only up to 10k words can be added at a time, whether or not they give proof or a description of their writing (reserves are still subject to proof rules)
If someone didn’t have access to scratch, their words don’t count as reserves even it has been more than a week.
All words automatically become reserves after camp is over in all timezones.

Activities

Campers and leaers are expected to give all required proof for dailies and weeklies.
Activities must be submitted before they end in UTC, even if the description hasn't been updated yet.
You may not earn points which require proof if the proof is not posted on Scratch.
However, photos of writing are fine for proof if it’s done on paper. You may upload the photos into a project or an image hosting site approved for scratch.

Dailies
If people have queries about a daily and no hosts or members of the daily team are online to clarify, use your discretion to come up with a solution.
Extensions for dailies are unavailable as there really isn’t any point in granting them given the low point value and short timeframe of dailies.

Weeklies
If a camper (or leader) is uncomfortable sharing proof for a weekly, they should contact the hosts as early as possible. Exceptions to giving proof can be provided on an individual basis and they will have btter luck getting one if they let us know early (as opposed to simply refusing to give proof when trying to add their weekly). However, exceptions are not granted for having writing inappropriate for Scratch. Other solutions to this can include giving a leader/host proof in a discreet location (on scratch of course - this could be editing an old forum post or putting it in a comment inside an old project).

Extensions for weeklies can be granted on an individual basis. Campers should let the hosts know as early as possible and they can discuss it with us from there.

Point adding edge cases (dailies & weeklies)
Submitted late but proof is complete and last edited before deadline: Yes
Submitted on time but didn't give proof until after the deadline: Yes, however bonus points for giving proof should not be added.
Submitted on time but didn’t give word count/cabin/other needed information until after deadline: Yes
Did a task wrong but fixed it after deadline: No, although exceptions can be made if they commented over 6 hours before the deadline and weren’t online between the time a leader pointed out their mistake and the deadline. Contact a host if this happens.
Added words for the task in their cabin but commented in main cabin after deadline: Yes
Finished the task on time but forgot / didn't know to comment in the main cabin until after the deadline: Make sure the camper knows this should not occur again! Points for the task(s) can be added provided there is proof it was completed on time, but if there is a large number of activities (>3 or so), contact hosts to confirm.
If you are still in doubt or think a different outcome should occur, talk to the hosts - we will deal with these on an individual basis. Please ask on one of our profiles, not in the leader forum.

Writing Competition, Word Wars, & Cabin Wars:
Information on these events is provided as time progresses during the session. However, if you have any questions beforehand, you’re more than welcome to reach out to a host with them!

Honoraries

An honorary is essentially a person who is not actually participating in an SWC cabin but is there to boost morale, provide support for campers in a cabin, and possibly participate in the storline of a cabin. Those are the only things they can do — they can't write words toward the cabin total, help with adding words, or anything else that would be classified as a leader or camper responsibility.

Leaders invite other people to be honoraries. People do not invite themselves — though it is completely fine to give some encouragement to other cabins at times.

Arguments and drama
If disputes between campers in your cabin occur, try to deescalate the situatin, but make sure to also contact a host. Please don’t bring this to the leader forum as we don’t want to spread drama!
Periodically campers leak the leader forum link. It’s not a great idea to mass-report their comments to delete them as this can lead to alerts from the ST, but if the comments can be considered spam then feel free to report them. There’s not much we can do about this. It’s not the end of the world if this happens, as most campers will honour our trst system and stay out of the forum.
If a camper posts in the leader forum, respond and ask them kindly to not follow or stalk the leader forum. If they’re spamming or posting irrelevant things, ignore them and report their posts.
If a random person posts in the leader forum (e.g. blockspam or something unelated to SWC), don’t respond! Simply report the post(s) and explain that the post was unrelated/spam/in the wrong place.
If campers in your cabin get in fights with campers from another cabin, go to the hosts and also notify the leaders of the other cabin. Of course, report any offensive material you see as part of such an argument.
If campers become defensive or accusatory when you’re talking to them (perhaps asking for proof or refusing to add words), do your best to be firm with them and stay calm! Go straight to the hosts in a discreet place as well.
If campers take the competition too far, remind the camprs involved that rivalries are pretend and only exist for fun. Ask them to be mindful of the intended playful nature of these rivalries and respectful of other campers and leaders’ feelings. You can also link this tone indicators project if you find it applicable.

TLDR
Please read the full “Adding Words” section. It’s the most important section here.
No more than 10,000 words may be added at a time, regardless of when they were written.
Descriptions must sty as up to date as any other records leaders are keeping of word counts.
All words become reserves once camp is over in all timezones.
It is the leaders’ responsibility to ask for proof if a camper is adding an unrealistic amount of words! Please ask for proof in a timely manner. As a general rule, if they are adding more than 5,000 words a day, you should ask for proof. Read the “Needing Proof” section for more detail or ask a host for help.
Required proof must be provided on Scratch in order to earn points. There are no exceptions for having writing inappropriate for Scratch. The only exception to this rule is if you have done your writing on paper and are taking photos and uploading them to an image hosting site.
Activities must be commented in the Main Cabin before they end in UTC, even if the description has not been updated.
Do not bring anything about suspicious word counts or rama to the leader forum. That includes questions about whether or not a word count is suspicious, what to do once you’ve proceeded with asking for proof, and asking for help handling an argument. That is classified as gossip and we do not want anyone to get in trouble with the Scratch Team. If you need help, you may contact a host privately (on an old project or low down in their profile comments).

FIRST??

HELLOOO :D friendly neighbourhood gHost that will proceed to never check this forum again here !!!!

whiteandblackcat wrote:

HELLOOO :D friendly neighbourhood gHost that will proceed to never check this forum again here !!!!

YOU'RE SO COOL <3
ANYWAYS HELLO YOUR FAVORITE LUNAR CRESCENT IS HEREEE

Hii everyone <33 super excited to be here aa

edit: I'm the first non-host to comment mwhahahahahahahaa

this is a major shock to me- hellooo

it's so awesome to be here, hi!

Hi guys! It’s amazing to be here

Hi everyone!!! IM SO HAPPY AAAH

Ahhh, hi everyone! I'm very thrilled to be here right now :D

I'm Alyssa, (she/her), and I'm leading the fantastic ✨Horror✨ this session! I can already tell that this session is going to be iconic, and I'm very excited to spend it here with all of you <33

CONGRATS EVERYONE OMG YOURE ALL SO COOL AND DESERVE TO BE HERE AND THIS SESSION IS GONNA BE SO EPIC!!!!!

I’m a little late to the party but hiiiiiii!

HELLO AND CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE <3 THIS IS SESSION IS GOING TO BE SO COOL

on a more formal note: im moonlit (she/her), and i'll be leading dystopian, as well as the memory book committee (alongside the incredible faer) this session! in the past, i've co-lead the thriller rift with birdi and kit, as well as lead the fantasy steampunk sanctuary with moss, elle, and ava. some of my favorite books include six of crows, caraval, and legend, and im very excited to work with and see what you all come up with!

Congratulations everyone on being selected, it’s wonderful seeing some new faces here <33

If you don’t know me, I’m Zaine and I’m leading OBSC 2.0 /j (aka Thriller) this session. I’m looking forward to working with you all and to many years of stanning Birdi!! *cheers*

Ooh, hi everyone! I'm Glow (she/her), and I'll be leading Non-Fi this session! I'm really excited to get to know you all <33

hi everyone! it's such an honour to be here – i'm goose, i use she/her pronouns, and i'm leading bi-fi this session! i've co-led in adventure with (lu)katie and aura before, as well as in hi-fi with sun and star! i love reading and i'm actually starting six of crows now, which i'm super excited for. apart from that, i like music and i'm learning guitar! i'm so excited for this session!

Formal intro
Hello everyone I'm Rea (she/her)! I've co-led once in july and been a camper three times before! I'm honored to be selected and super excited to be here! I really like music, basketball and writing! It's my first time as leader and I'm looking forward to getting to know you all! <3

morning! congrats to the leaders, you guys earned your positions a hundred percent — and when cos start filing in, same congratulations to you. now that it is not 3am and i am coherent-er, it’s a pleasure to meet you all! :D

i’m luna, and i use she/xyr pronouns! i’m leading script and co-hosting this session, both in the company of the epicest robin ;) this is my sixth round of swc, and my fifth time (co)leading. apart from creative writing, i’ve taken up interests in violin, piano, digital art, filmmaking, dance, tech theatre/improv, fangirling, astrology and personality quizzes (particularly ones involving mbtis and d&d alignments). some of my current favorite projects i’m working on are a semi-improvisation of sweater weather on the piano, writing the second draft of a novel from 2020 with my best friend, and trying to discover a new art style! i hope to get to know you all more this session — i’m excited to see what you all will bring to the table <3

hey! it's so good to be back and now as a leader – I'm Re (prononced as a short e like in rent) and I'm leading Sci-Fi <3 I use she/her pronouns. As many of you I love reading and I'm reading “the book thief” atm. I'm so happy and excited to work with all of you!