Hey there - welcome to the leader forum for SWC March 2025! We're so excited to have you here and I can't wait to watch this session chug along ;)

If you aren't a co/leader this session and haven't been given permission to participate here, we'd appreciate if you follow our honor system and close this forum <3 We hope to see you in the upcoming session! Camper signups are released on my profile on February 1st.

As a reminder: all selected leaders and co-leaders should read through the entirety of this post, regardless of your amount of experience leading in the past!

Important info that I (Robin) need from you!!

i usually do this in a later post but this is a lot more convenient! once your cabin's entire leading team has discussed these things, please let me know on my profile of your:
- cabin symbol (the one that shows up on camper signups and in the main cabin)
- cabin atmosphere (under 200 characters, for camper signups! see past signups for examples)
these are due january 26th.

additionally, i need each co/leader's personal word goal and memory book preferences (ask/always/never for quotes and screenshots) <3 those are due february 15th - please don't be too late on that, as it can delay sorting <3

Choosing Co-Leaders

• This session we are recommending that you choose two cos! If you are looking to have either one or three cos, please contact a host on their profile <3
  
• Don’t ask more than your approved number of 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, we'd strongly recommend choosing at least one experienced co. 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 - like the number of cos you decide to have, 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 February 1st to select your cos. Choose carefully!

Cabins and Leaders

Here's the full list of cabin leaders for this session! The apps were all of incredibly high quality and the hosts are so excited about the lineup we have here. You should all be very proud of yourselves <3

Action: @eeveedonut
Adventure: @hamilchaos
Bi-Fi: @iinspirqtion
Dystopian: @zyzeryko
Fan-Fi: @-nightglow-
Fantasy: @strawberry-lemon
Illu-Fi: @-bookdragon-
Journalism: @cb2jkl
Mystery: @chueythecat
Myth: @babyoda1546
Sci-Fi: @butterpopcorn8
Thriller: @essayist
Fairy Tales (TCTWNW): @thebibliophile7

Cabin Setup

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.

When you have decided on your cabin colors, please post them in the memory book contributions forum (MBC hosts should have more detail on this shortly).

Notes on setting up your cabin ^^

• Here you can find a list of things to include in your cabin description!
  
• Word updating systems are put into detail in this project. Please take a look at this and decide what system your cabin will be using with your co-leaders!
  
• We 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, you may either use the megathread or make ONE personal writing thread in the ‘Things I’m Making and Creating’ forum!”
  
• It would be greatly appreciated if you could include a link in your description to the megathread and the suggestion forum.
  
• You can link the official SWC records 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. Both leaders and cos who volunteer to add points will be to do so! We will be looking for volunteers closer to the start of 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

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 (there are rules against strategizing – which are provided around cabin wars), but make sure to always remain kind and remind your campers to do so as well.

Maximum amount of Allies: 4
Maximum amount of Neutrals: N/A
Maximum amount of Enemies: 4

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

to be added soon :D

Activities

The Memory Book Committee this session is being led by Reese (@TheBibliophile7), Alana (@-NightGlow-), and CJ (@cb2jkl). If you are interested in joining the committee, please leave a comment on CJ's profile.

The Polar Bears create the dailies and weeklies for the session. Alana (@-NightGlow-), Amethyst (@Amethyst-animations), Ris (@Eeveedonut), and CJ (@cb2jkl) are coordinating the team this session. All interested co/leaders are welcome to join – you can find more information at the Daily Team Hub. Additionally, if you’d like to suggest any dailies or weeklies for this session, please head on over to our Suggestions Studio!

Drama

Hosts 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 one of the hosts so that 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.

If you are interested in judging or paneling this session, please message Ave (@smalltoe) on her profile.
Again, congratulations to all of you! I'm really looking forward to getting to work with you all this session and seeing what you come up with <3

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

Rules Post

You are not expected to memorize these rules, but this is a resource that 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.

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. This includes during cabin wars.
  
• Descriptions must stay 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 drama 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).
  

Adding words

• All words must be commented by midnight UTC 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 leaders 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.

Leaders must also comment when they add their own words (as opposed to just updating their word count in the description).

What counts

• Roleplay - As a guideline, the person should be somewhat in character, 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 math 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 original 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 amount 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 leader 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 if it has been more than a week.
  
• All words automatically become reserves after camp is over in all timezones.
  Activities
  
• Campers and leaders 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 better luck getting one if they let us know early (as opposed to simply refusing to give proof when trying to add their weekly).
    
  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 the 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.
  
  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 storyline 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 occur, contact a host, notify the leaders of other cabins involved, and if you can, try to deescalate the situation. Please don’t bring this to the leader forum as we don’t want to spread drama! 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.
    
  • 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 trust 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 unrelated to SWC), don’t respond! Simply report the post(s) and explain that the post was unrelated/spam/in the wrong place.
    
  • If campers take the competition too far, remind the campers 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.

FIRST?!

CONGRATS EVERYONE!! (second?)

CONGRATS LEADERS <333

HIII CONGRATS EVERYONE <3

SCREAMS

YAYYYYY <3333

Hiiiii

CONGRATS!!! (I'm freaking out! <3)

hiii omg <33

SCREAMING HI OH MY GOODNESS

HELPP I CHOKED ON MY WATER WHEN I GOT THE NOTIF

ANYWAY CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE!! this is gonna be the best session ever!!

AAA HI EVERYBODY <3333

“the results will be out after 2:30pst” they said… and here i was spending time with my family when i could've been looking at leader results /jjjjj

Hey guys! So I made a list of co-leader apps + their cabin prefs to help with the process, but since discussion forums suck and filter bot hates me(and it took me an hour to put this together), I've put it inside this project instead <3 https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/1122358991/ That's all, have fun!!

ButterPopcorn8 wrote:

(#16)
Hey guys! So I made a list of co-leader apps + their cabin prefs to help with the process, but since discussion forums suck and filter bot hates me(and it took me an hour to put this together), I've put it inside this project instead <3 https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/1122358991/ That's all, have fun!!

THANK YOU OMD you have no idea how helpful this is

ButterPopcorn8 wrote:

Hey guys! So I made a list of co-leader apps + their cabin prefs to help with the process, but since discussion forums suck and filter bot hates me(and it took me an hour to put this together), I've put it inside this project instead <3 https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/1122358991/ That's all, have fun!!

THIS IS SO COOL TY LUKA <3333

HI EVERYONE!!

ButterPopcorn8 wrote:

Hey guys! So I made a list of co-leader apps + their cabin prefs to help with the process, but since discussion forums suck and filter bot hates me(and it took me an hour to put this together), I've put it inside this project instead <3 https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/1122358991/ That's all, have fun!!

OH MY GOODNESS!!! THANKS!!!! AHHHH!!! <333