Postcard Exchange : Round 9 - Details and Sign-up

Greetings all!

First off, in case you were wondering, my real name is Randy and I've taken over the Postcard Exchange from Nige, who did a hell of a job. I just wanted to post some of the details for Round 9 of the Exchange for those who are (or might be) interested in participating. For now, I would like to keep the general structure in place (since I'm just getting started) and then if anyone has any comments I encourage you to either post them here, or send them to me via PM or email if you would rather remain anonymous.

The schedule for Round 9 is as follows:

December: Sign up for Round 9
January: Print and Post
February: Breather

Then in March, I'll start the next round of sign-ups unless something changes in the mean time. What I would ask of everyone who is interested in this round is for you to PM or Email me with your real name and your mailing address so that I can build a list of participants. Once I have your info I'll keep it on file for future rounds. When you sign up, please let me know how many cards you would like to print at a maximum so that I can arrange it so that no one feels obligated to print more cards than they feel up to printing.

I'd also like to say a few (?) words about getting all your postcards printed and sent. I know that in the past, as with many of the exchanges, there have been a few people (perhaps more at times) that didn't meet their obligation(s) to an exchange. I can understand this to an extent - time is hard to come by for most of us, and when we do have some time to spare there is often a long list of things that we would like to do with it. And, while spending time in the darkroom is fun (for me anyway) I also understand that printing half a box of postcards can become an annoyance when there are new negatives to print. With these things in mind - and I do not want to discourage anyone from taking part in the Postcard Exchange -but I feel obligated to ask that you try to meet the obligation if you sign up. All I ask of anyone who want to be part of this is to just try.

I know that every coordinator has their own method for dealing with people who don't end up participating, and all I am going to say about this problem in the Postcard Exchange is that I will have to ask people who have not fulfilled their prior commitments to the exchange not to participate until they get caught up. I'm not going to PM you or email you, but I will keep a list of people who weren't able to send cards for future exchanges.

Please feel free to email or PM me with suggestions on better ways to handle this, or post them here if you prefer - I am open to any and all suggestions! My primary goal here is just to make sure that the most people get as much out of this exchange as they can.

Alright! Now that all that is out of the way, I would like to thank Nige again for all his hard work, thank everyone who has participated in the exchange since I've been in it, and thank in advance everyone who will be in for this round. This is a most rewarding exchange because there are so many different cards from all over the world, and I would encourage everyone who is interested to join up. I''l be sure to keep a list of participants listed in this thread so that everyone can see how many cards there will be.

Thanks again!

- Randy

I've sent out 29 postcards the last round and received 20. Is this the norm? I like the idea of keeping the ones that haven't sent their cards yet, out of this round. I think we have to set particpants' expectations that they will receive less cards than they send out.

Regardless, I'm in again. No max.

Regards, Art.

Hello Randy,

Count me in. I've pm'd you with my details.

Regards Daniel

I've wanted to participate in these exchanges, but the volume of printing, plus painting responsibilities (my darkroom is our bathroom, and I am limited to cibachrome or Beseler tubes) has kept me reluctant.

Is there still some possibility of limiting the obligation - e.g to 12 or 24?

Also, as a suggestion, it seems to me that it would be useful to have one thread setting this up, then lock that thread. Then, begin a new thread with a list of participants, which invites a series of "I just received a ..." posts.

Finally, a hopefully unused thread of "you've been bad - send your postcards now" posts.

Just a thought.

Matt

I'm in for this round. Maximum 30 postcards. If the total number ends up being close to that then I'll do what the total ends up being.

I will PM you Randy.

gr82bart said:

I've sent out 29 postcards the last round and received 20. Is this the norm?

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The same with me, I sent out 30 cards and received only 22. I think this is not too bad, some cards may have been sent, but then lost on their way, who will check that. I think it was worth it since I got many nice and interesting cards. Maybe with your card being the nicest and most interesting card for me.

So I am in again.

Regards
-- Ruediger

I wanna participate, too.
Up to now, I am a very silent member of APUG. I mainly read, but do not post really much. But "rst" has shown me the postcards from last round, and I love the idea and was impressed by the postcards seen.
So count me in...

Count me in too. Thanks to Randy for keeping this going!

I'm in as well

I'm in again.

regards

Birger A.

Count me in.


Brian

I'm in again

I enjoyed the last one and look forward to this one. Count me in for the maximum.

I'm interested in participate. My limit will be 100 postcards (I have one box of Ilford postcard paper waiting to be opened).
Randy, I'm going to e-mail you with my real name and address.

Matt,

We can limit the number of cards however you like, the 30-35 range seems popular, but I have no problem at all with it if you would like to print 12 or 24 - no worries here.

I agree about the threads, but at this time I have no ability to do any of that, but I think that it's a good idea. I'll at least start a new post listing the participants and asking everyone to post there once the round begins on the 1st of January.

Thanks for the suggestions, and again, if you want to print a dozen or so, it's fine by me. I know that round with 50 was a real bear to keep up with (for me anyway), but I think that this round will be more like that last with around 30-45 total. Just PM me with your mailing address and the max number of cards you would like to print and I'll handle it from there.

- Randy

I'm still trying to decide whether to stick with it or not. The number of people who fail to meet their commitment seems to be getting larger, and this makes it very disappointing. Despite that, I have received some excellent cards this time, even if it is only about 18 out of 29.

Kevin,

I know, and it bothers me too. That's why I put in the part about not being able to join again if you don't meet your obligation. I don't think that there is any way to completely knock out the drop outs, but I thought that this method might at least reduce the number to something more manageable. I think a lot of people mean to do it, but something comes up or they can't foot the postage or whatever and end up not doing it...

It's cool either way, and I don't want to pressure you in any way, but I did want to say that you're not the only one who is concerned about drop-outs.

- Randy

I'm in for 24. PM sent!

That incessant whirring sound you'll hear from the Pacific northwest will be my Beseler motor base processing tube, after tube, after tube....

Now to find an interesting negative that prints "straight".

Matt

I'm in for 30. I'll PM you with my details.

I really enjoy sending and getting the cards, but I do somehow feel cheated when I don't get what I've sent. I think your way of handling it is perfect: assume you'll fulfill your obligations....if you don't, you don't get to play again until you fulfill your original obligations. I really don't know how much else you could do.

Thanks for picking this up -- Mark

Kevin Caulfield said:

I'm still trying to decide whether to stick with it or not. The number of people who fail to meet their commitment seems to be getting larger, and this makes it very disappointing. Despite that, I have received some excellent cards this time, even if it is only about 18 out of 29.

Click to expand...

Hi Randy
My feeling is the same I don't know if my poscard offended so many people no to send there cards to me? I send 37 received less than 20.
Count me in for 35 cards this time.

Cheers Greg

I'm in again. Thanks to Nige for organizing a great exchange and to Randy for taking the helm.
James

Some will have found they had bitten off more than they could chew and some have simply not had the time/opportunity. Some cards will have disappeared in the world's postal systems. I find it hard to believe that more than a couple of people, if any, will have signed up with the deliberate intention of not sending any out.

It would help if people who could not make the deadline this time around, for whatever reason, said so and sent them out in the next few weeks. Calling people names is not going to encourage this: it just encourages them to keep their head down and keep quiet.

Having said all that, there were by far the highest number of defaults I have seen in the last round: I got about a 60% return rate and the trickle of late cards I normally get did not occur - no doubt doubly annoying to those who went to extra trouble this time around with their cards. Hopefully, disallowing defaulters from further participation will reduce the problem in future.

Cheers, Bob.

P.S. As always, if anyone didn't receive my card who should have, PM me and I will get a copy out to you (it's in the Gallery in case you couldn't read my scribbled signature on the card!).

I feel that Bob is correct here, and that perhaps I should clarify my views a bit, if I can. I think that it is important to remember that there is a certain commitment when you join an exchange to complete your part of the bargain, and sometimes people will get upset if you don't. My default position is to give people a break, but since people do contact me about people who did not send cards, I have to attempt to find a middle ground. My main goal here is to try to make sure that everyone feels welcome to participate in the Postcard Exchange, doesn't feel heavily pressured if they are running behind. I would ask two things: one, that if you are going to be late that you please let us know so that everyone understands the situation - most people are quite understanding as long as they are not left in the dark - and two, that you sign up for an amount that you think you can do without undue stress, so that you can enjoy the exchange and still be able to send your cards so that others may enjoy the exchange too.

I know I've missed the deadline a few times <cough> for other exchanges, both on and off APUG, at one time or another, so I understand what it's like to be in that spot. That's why I put in the initial post about not being able to participate again until you have mailed your cards. If you can get caught up, please do, but I will not pester you via email or PM about it - I will simply not include you in the next round until you get caught up.

I hope that by both allowing people to print fewer cards and limiting the exchange to people that have completed the previous round that we will get to a point where only the cards on 'postal vacations' will be unseen. Lastly, I would also encourage anyone who does not get a card from someone in particular to contact them about it, as cards *do* get lost in the mail from time to time - they can get torn or jammed in machinery and, while the postal services of the world try to do a good job, they do have the occasional problem with small, thin pieces of mail like a postcard.

Thanks for all who have joined, and to those who have sent cards in the past. And, please, feel free to contact me to voice your opinion, good or bad on anything I've posted here (especialy the bad, because there is often a lot to be learned from criticism...)

- Randy

Okay, I'm in for the Minimum amount. I can bang off a dozen or so of the same image.

I am often a day or three late myself on these sort of things, so I know how things can slip by one. None the less, that is an excuse that only works for a limited time and it is clearly not acceptable for people to let it drag on indefinitely.

I think the idea of not allowing anyone to participate until they have caught up is an entirely sound one and should reduce the problem of non-delivery in short order (Famous Last Words, Vol. 6)...

Cheers, Bob.

Count me in for 30-the darkroom will be finished soon........famouser last words LMSO

Count me in for 30. Round 8 was my first & I really enjoyed it. At last count, I think I had rec'd 22 or 23 vs. the 30 I sent out. I hope to post mine to the gallery soon (just need to borrow a little scanner time at work!).

It's a little disappointing to not get a full reply set, but stuff happens & I understand how the day job & everything else life throws at us gets in the way. While it's said the road to hell is paved with good intentions (& I've laid my share of asphalt down!) I'm not ready to condemn anyone for not meeting their obligation. As others have said, I think it's fair to ask folks to catch up before committing to do it again. One of the benefits of the matching method Nige introduced in the last round is that people can commit to a small number of cards and not put off printing & sending them out because it seems too daunting of a task to do 30 or more.

It's been a wonderful experience for me & my family to see the beautiful & interesting cards come in from all over the world. Thanks again to Nige and to Randy for organizing.

Brian