Read-a-thon vs. Read-a-thing comparison

Seems that several people were doing some kind of combination of the Dewey-24hourreadathon and the LTonehourblocks-readathon on Saturday April 10th. So I'm starting this thread where we can compare and contrast.

I participated in the previous LTread-a-thon, signing up for a single hour. That didn't seem much different from my reading on an ordinary day, though I did enjoy seeing what everyone else was reading and feeling like I was part of a community of readers.

I made it through 15 hours of the Dewey-style read-a-thon on April 10th using the read-blog-nap-read-blog-nap... method. I appreciated when people commented on my blog and provided encouragement, but some of the other features (all the mini-challenges and some of the other online stuff) felt distracting to me. I really just wanted to read. I guess I was wanting a "do nothing but read day".

So, I guess this is my way of saying I'd like to find some happy medium between these two styles. I guess I could have signed up for multiple blocks at LT, but it would be difficult to predict in advance how to space them out through the day.

Any other thoughts about the comparison between the two types and/or alternative styles that would be more challenging than one hour, but not as involved as the Dewey-program?

Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.

P.S. I thought there was an earlier discussion somewhere of different models, but I can't find it now. So if this has been talked to death, please provide a link to that previous discussion. Thanks! (Okay, I finally found the previous discussion at: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79785 Site Talk: LibraryThing Readathon. I still think some refinements might be helpful and like many of the suggestions below . . .)

I did the Readathon for the challenges and the cheerleading and fun activities on Twitter/Facebook/Blogs, etc. There are prizes and reading for charity, etc.

I had no interest in the Readathing as it's no different than any other day of reading and posting to a "what I'm reading" thread. There's no point to it.

I have to say I'm the opposite of Morph - I actively avoid the Readathon because of all the activities which I don't find fun but I like Readthing because with a toddler and a full time job, I don't have time to read and post about it everyday and it's nice to have something that is just about the reading. That said, we hashed this out before and different people like different things so it's a complementary thing not a competitive thing. I like that there's both out there and that you can pick your poison, so to speak. I couldn't participate this time round because of family commitments but I'm looking forward to whatever we do next here.

This was my first readathon and I'm debating doing it again. On LT I also felt like it was just a normal day, but it felt a little good knowing that we all were teaming up to read for a straight 24 hrs. On Dewey I think that they had a couple too many challenges and for having you try to read for 24hrs they didn't offer enough support. I felt like I would hardly get to read anything and I'd have to turn around and check the site and blog. Of course I had my two boys helping distract me. I didn't know how to sign up to do it for charity or else I would of. I think that I'll give it another try but if I am feeling like I did this time I won't be pushing myself as hard to stay up for the 24 hrs.

There is a huge difference between the Readathon and just another day at LT (Readathing). Can't there be *some* point of Readathing? One or two activities? It doesn't have to be another Readathon, but something more than it is would encourage more participation.

Even something as simple as a way to mark off that a participant did read when they said they did so we can see that we actually did have 24 hour coverage, maybe with a map. A checkbox, SOMETHING.

Morphidae - like every lets say 4 hrs have an activity that would break up the day a lil and wake us up? I think it's a good idea to borrow a few dewey ideas but change them and adjust them to our needs/wants.

Exactly. Or what about a ReadaThing badge? And you get a count of how many hours you read (signed up for and checked the box.) A random drawing for a lifetime subscription from all readers or maybe a $10 gift cert for a book or getting put to the top of the list for ER for a guaranteed book. There has to be something to do to spice it up without going crazy like the Readathon.

That sounds just about perfect. That way we feel like we are doing this as a team but yet we are pushing ourselves individually. I agree that prizes would be cool and it doesn't need to be something big. During the dewey readathon I had my eye on 3 certain books or a lifetime membership here. Plus I think on LT we are more apt to be "teamlike". What I am trying to say on that last part is that it wasn't until an hour before the ending that someone even commented on my blog to cheer me on. I think LTer's are more likely to do it throughout and try to make sure no one slips through the cracks.

ReadAThing... most definitely.

I can't read "every day" or even as much as I would like to read.... and I got up earlier than usual to read my ReadAThing timeslot AND I read over a little bit.

For some people, an extra hour to read in a day is a big thing!! and that's not to take away from those who can take an entire day to read.... but we had someone drop out of their time to read because they had visitors & couldn't take an hour away!!

I don't need prizes or blogs or anything like that. I've got badges galore for contributions to LT. I'm happy with my hour plus reading with a virtual wave to the other readers.

This feels right for now... not too big. We had more readers this time than for the beta (I think) even with a shorter notice time.

If you want to contribute something to the "prize patrol" then choose a new book or journal & mail it to Sonya or someone coordinating RaT. If you want to certificates for readers, let someone know & we can design certificates & email them out!! There's a lot of creativity here on LT.

We can't expect LT to supply all the goodies. Sonya, tell me if I'm wrong, I think this is supposed to be a member-led endeavor... so if we want to add 'stuff' to the events, we need to provide them.

If there is to be change, then I think a variety of times is better than just one format... let this evolve to more what the group wants... and if a group wants a 24 marathon, then they can do it.... but if another group wants a shorter event, we can do that, too. I don't think we are wedded to one format, but we should think smaller to start with.

Member-led is what we're going for. I want to help keep this going, but I feel like it's the kind of program that works best by the members, for the members.

I like that there are all of these options for reading programs. There's a Do Nothing but Read Day, the 24 Hour Readathon and ReadaThing (and more out there in the internet ether), and they don't all have to do what the other is doing.

My personal opinion (which means I wish I could turn my L badge half-off) is to keep it simple, for now. Simple adjustments, simple changes.

Still on the personal opinion line, I like the idea of a themed readathing. Especially if we want to do these on a monthly basis, I'd like to have the challenge of reading sci fi, romance and non-fiction over the next three months.

How about this idea -- each month's readathing could be curated/led by a member -- either for the genre, or for a style of event that included games and mini-challenges. That way the program stays in the hands of members, but someone with the time and vision can take us down whatever path they like. We could use polling to vote.

I like the idea of a themed read too, I was about to suggest it and then I realised it was already 'in the pot'.

I think, also, it would be better if we could use this group in a more interactive way during the readathon. I'd really like to see people to set up threads for their own readathon reading, especially if you're lucky enough to drop in and out of this during the day. Then I could check in on what people have done. I don't mean that people *have* to do this, and there should still be the main thread but I think if people were encouraged to post here, the group would be more lively. I know it was suggested that we should 'keep it simple' on the group with one thread per readathon but I don't really think that works. It makes it hard to follow any one person or a thread of interaction. I still think we should have the check in and out thread, just like this time but it would be great to see the individual threads too. I know groups as large as The Green Dragon can be too voluminous for some to follow but groups that are fairly controlled and a bit dead are also not the greatest thing for this kind of thing. Just my two pennies.

>9 skittles:
Which I wasn't meaning have LT staff do this. We can do this. Heck I would love to find a way to do this for a charity (sorry about the spelling still kinda tired). I wasn't talking prizes like immediately I was meaning down the road a ways.

Sonya I love the idea of a themed readathing.

Took me too long to write my last comment. Klarusu I think I understand what your saying mainly because I was doing the Dewey's and LT's so I had a blog on LT. If when you check in on the "Group page" you could leave the link to your blog. Because that way you can do one on one questions. Lets say you participate and post about your hour. Well I know some people who wouldn't check the page again because their time is up even though someone could of left a message for them.

This was my first read-a-thon and I had a wonderful time and have decided to do my own personal day of reading once a month w/o the distractions of electronics. I read for a total of 14 hours (finished 4 books). I did leave my house to hit a couple of bookstores (one of which was a new store opening that day). We have had wonderful weather in NC so I spent several hours outside.

i like leaving it really open to whatever feels right. as Sonya said, whoever is "sponsoring/leading" that particular ReadaThing could steer it in a particular direction. i like the idea of themes and occasional forays into reading blocks that are more than an hr, but i don't really want to see this turn into a read-a-thon that leaves out those of us who can't read all day.

i run a farm, which is nearly a 24/7 job and there just isn't someone i can get to take my place when certain things go wrong (and they can go wrong at any time). setting aside certain hours is doable, but setting aside 14-24 is not. it's not always feasible to spend a bunch of extra time blogging about what i'm reading at that moment... it's usually the middle of the night before i get around to doing things like that.

I really like both ideas for different reasons:
the Read-a-thing was nice and relaxing and a great way to stay plugged in with a community of readers in "real-time" - it was my first experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I haven't tried a Read-a-thon yet but am tempted to try - it would have to have a goal. Canada Post has a charity to encourage literacy: it would be a great way to encourage donations and get myself motivated!

This was my first ReadaThing and I thought it was great! I enjoyed reading everyone's input on the thread throughout the day and knowing there was a chain of reading going on around the world. I would do it again if it stayed the same, but I'm also open to "simple adjustments" and "simple changes."

Personally I can't commit to a whole day of reading because the weekend is the only time I get to see my husband.