How does one start a 'group' on Get Crafty?

[anthrogirl]

Hi there. Some of us have been talking about the possibility of doing a community cook and craftbook, and donating the money it generates to charity. We don't want to step on any toes thoug, but since the idea was generated on Get Crafty, can we form a group or blog here to coordinate the idea? We want to make sure that we don't violate any copyrights, also, so would it be ok to say it was conceived by members of the Get Crafty website, or would that be a problem?

[Craft Forums]

[artgeek]

Anthrogirl, are you hoping to have a separate section/forum, akin to "freestyle" or "bookworms," for us to coordinate the book? If so, that should be relatively easy for Demetri et al to set up. A group blog would be more difficult and might be better for us to either

- create a new getcrafty username and have the book has its own blog

or

- use some other blog software (eg, LJ, blogger, vox)

WRT the name, I think the site editors had advised specifying this was a getcrafty.com book, to distant it enough from Jean's publications. I don't know if this was vetted by Jean and her publisher, though.

[anthrogirl]

I think a separate forum would be best because it would be the easiest way for people to participate. As for the name, I do think it's important to run things through Jean et al. but it would be nice if we can get started as soon as possible.

[Christy Petterson]

I think a seperate section on the forum is probably the way to go so that everyone can easily post to it and it is all contained in one area. I'll pass this along to Demetri. I think (*hope*) it would be easy to set up. And I'm glad you thought of this because apparently my head is in the clouds and I was thinking someone should set up an email address where everyone could send in their recipes/etc. but this is MUCH better because we can see exactly what we have (or don't have yet) and we can all access it.

Also as far as the name goes...Nancy & I have spoken with Demetri about this and basically we are getcrafty.com and not get crafty...as long as the .com is on there we are within our rights. We will keep them in the loop as to how/when we are using the name and run it past them just to make sure we're all on the same page but that is the basic rule or thumb.

Thanks for getting the ball rolling Anthrogirl!

[Dave]

Done and done. In Demetri's absence I guess it's my turn to post! :)

As for the name, I checked and it's apparently not a problem to use getcrafty.com...does that answer the question? Using just 'get crafty' is probably not a good idea, since someone else could have rights to that (we just own 'getcrafty.com')

[anthrogirl]

I think using 'getcrafty.com' would be perfect. We can say that the autors are the contributors to getcrafty.com; that will make it clear that it isn't written by Jean, and won't therefore interfere with her copyrights. If we want, we can also have a second credit- 'compiled by'. Or 'edited by'.

I actually meant a separate SECTION in the forum, not a separate forum- and yes, this way we can see exactly what we have and don't have. Also, that way it's all on the server- much better than having to worry if someone gets sick or drops out, and we can't get access to the email.

Most people seem to be pretty good at copy editing their own stuff (I am, when I'm not writing fast and ignoring the niceties). That won't be a big problem. The problem will bes will be making sure that the entries are not copyrighted somewhere else (or that we have permission to use copyrighted material), and making categories. I think the recies section should be divided up into easy categories such as desserts, main dishes, side dishes, snacks, appetizers, drinks and beverages, and condiments. We can then have 'helpful hints' dispersed throughout (but listed in the table of contents) and a a crafts section. Crafts might be divided up too- house and garden, accessories, toys, gifts, clothing. I also propose that people say approximately it costs to make a specific craft, if possible. We might also want to star food items that are vegetarian/vegan or kosher (pretty straightforward), and list our favorite places to get the items need for the menu/craft (that can be done in the bios). People should include URLs for companies as often as possible, since we'll be covering the US and around the world.
For the helpful hints, can the moderators/coordinators request certain ideas? Like, how to 'remove a stain' or 'how to keep kids busy before a holiday dinner', or 'how to pick a worthwhile yarn'? The one thing I know is a hard one for many people is, 'how to choose, prepare and cook a turkey for a holiday dinner'. We might need a small section on how to entertain- I notice a lot of people asking that question over and over, especially at holiday time.

We will need an email address, though, for people to send photos of themselves and their crafts, and for them to send their bios. I think. Could I have some input on this? We should get started as soon as possible if we want to get this done and edited by next October, when the holday shopping season starts. We also need to see (once we have a mockup) if we can get support from Habitat for Humanity and other groups- perhaps people can specify which of three or four charities they want to support with their donation/purchase. I suggest that they all be ones that help people who need homes- shelter programs, the Katrina funds, Habitat for Humanity, Housing Works here in NYC, places like that. We need to see if that can be done if we publish through lulu.com. Having them get the word out on this book would be enormous. And (why shouldn't we think big?) we should try to get the word out to small craft magazines and even eventually the media, when we are ready to sell- I'd love to see artgeek and belleepoque on 'Good Morning America'!
Depending on how much material we get (and I have a feeling it will be a lot) we may end up with a series, or have to do a calendar too (that would be nice- dates for all the small craft shows around the country, all kinds of quirky holidays like 'Talk like a Pirate Day' that can reflect the crafter's non-corporate mentality). But right now, is it possible to get this started ASAP?

Sorry to be so wordy, but I've helped on large scale projects before, and I know it takes a year to do it.

[for_esme]

Woah! Okay ladies, I've definitely been out of the loop lately, with finals and stuff but this is so totally exciting! I'm going to go look around the site and try to find more info... and then try to figure out what I'm going to submit! :)

[CraftinFool]

This is going to be great!

[artgeek]

The new forum is now available.

Yay!