Daily Archives: 10 October 2010
2010 Read-A-Thon
The 24-Hour Read-A-Thon event has completed, my numbers have been posted (and reprinted below), and now I’m heading back to bed. There is a definite hangover that comes with this experience, whether you read for 24 hours or just 12. But it’s a delightful fatigue, and I can’t wait to do it all over again in April! Check out my first-experience stats then click over to phrenetical to read the play-by-play as it was posted throughout the event. Then consider joining up in the spring! It’s truly a wonderful (communal) experience.
3 Hours Sleep Acquired the Night Before
12 Hours Time Elapsed Before I Could Fully Participate
4.65 Hours Spent Napping During The Event
670 Minutes Spent Reading
210 Minutes Spent Blogging
308 Pages Read
1 Book Completed
2 Magazine Issues Completed
3 Books Attempted
5 Snacks/Meals Consumed
12 Coke Reward Points Acquired
88 Ounces Caffeine Consumed
21 Tweets Posted
14 Blog Posts Published
193 Blog Views During The Event
23 Comments Received On My Blog
9 Actual Cheers Posted To My Blog (so fun!)
5 Mini-Challenges Participated In
1 Prize Won in a Mini-Challenge
Favorite Mini-Challenge: Submit a photo of something in your house that represents a character in one of the books you are reading for the readathon. Seriously? How could I resist?
3 Hours Sleep Acquired the Night Before
12 Hours Time Elapsed Before I Could Fully Participate
4.65 Hours Spent Napping During The Event
670 Minutes Spent Reading
210 Minutes Spent Blogging
308 Pages Read
1 Book Completed
2 Magazine Issues Completed
3 Books Attempted
5 Snacks/Meals Consumed
12 Coke Reward Points Acquired
88 Ounces Caffeine Consumed
21 Tweets Posted
14 Blog Posts Published
193 Blog Views During The Event
23 Comments Received On My Blog
9 Actual Cheers Posted To My Blog (so fun!)
5 Mini-Challenges Participated In
1 Prize Won in a Mini-Challenge
Favorite Mini-Challenge: Submit a photo of something in your house that represents a character in one of the books you are reading for the readathon. Seriously? How could I resist?
2010 Read-A-Thon :: By The Numbers
3 Hours Sleep Acquired the Night Before
12 Hours Time Elapsed Before I Could Fully Participate
4.65 Hours Spent Napping During The Event
670 Minutes Spent Reading
210 Minutes Spent Blogging
308 Pages Read
1 Book Completed
2 Magazine Issues Completed
3 Books Attempted
5 Snacks/Meals Consumed
12 Coke Reward Points Acquired
88 Ounces Caffeine Consumed
21 Tweets Posted
14 Blog Posts Published
193 Blog Views During The Event
23 Comments Received On My Blog
9 Actual Cheers Posted To My Blog (so fun!)
5 Mini-Challenges Participated In
1 Prize Won in a Mini-Challenge
Favorite Mini-Challenge: Submit a photo of something in your house that represents a character in one of the books you are reading for the readathon. Seriously? How could I resist?
Read-A-Thon :: End of Event survey
I’m still working on my own wrap-up for the Read-A-Thon experience, but I wanted to take a moment to complete the official End-of-Event survey offered by the organizers. Watch for a final-final post later today.
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Since I began the day on only three hours sleep, I had to nap by Hour 7. Which meant I could continue through the night after waking and didn’t struggle again until the final hour. But those moments of fatigue came without warning and it was truly, truly difficult to find motivation to continue.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
This being my first year, I really have no idea! I would suggest shorter books, for sure, since I got bogged down with trying to complete a couple of books I was already reading and felt some frustration in not being able to say I’d completed anything.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
There seemed to be a lack of blog posts leading up the event, and that made it challenging for a first-timer to be comfortable with the structure. Perhaps a few general posts about the process or the prizes? Maybe a few posts during the week-of that stir excitement for the start of the event and generate new interest. Also, posting some pre-event tweets would remind past participants that the event is coming up. (I saw a few people on Twitter who were disappointed that they didn’t know about the event until day-of tweets had already begun.)
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I think the cheerleaders did a great job including a newbie (me)! It made me feel immediately connected to other readers in the event. The hourly posts on the website were also perfectly timed.
5. How many books did you read?
I was able to complete one book, and I read portions of two others, as well as a couple of magazines and a few blog posts.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci, Ford County by John Grisham, and Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Oh, The Yankee Years, naturally! I was able to read this “behind-the-scenes” accounting of the team while watching the team clinch the American League Division Series! Nothing cooler than that!
8. Which did you enjoy least?
Because I didn’t read for volume, I had no trouble with enjoyment of my choices.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn’t a cheerleader but as a recipient of those cheers I can say that I most valued the personal notes. Any time a cheerleader made reference to content in my blog posts or a tweet I made, it felt very much like a personal encouragement to me.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I’m absolutely going to participate again! This was so much fun, both personally and communally, and I will probably try to add cheering to my duties in the next event though I definitely will continue to read, as well.
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Since I began the day on only three hours sleep, I had to nap by Hour 7. Which meant I could continue through the night after waking and didn’t struggle again until the final hour. But those moments of fatigue came without warning and it was truly, truly difficult to find motivation to continue.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
This being my first year, I really have no idea! I would suggest shorter books, for sure, since I got bogged down with trying to complete a couple of books I was already reading and felt some frustration in not being able to say I’d completed anything.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
There seemed to be a lack of blog posts leading up the event, and that made it challenging for a first-timer to be comfortable with the structure. Perhaps a few general posts about the process or the prizes? Maybe a few posts during the week-of that stir excitement for the start of the event and generate new interest. Also, posting some pre-event tweets would remind past participants that the event is coming up. (I saw a few people on Twitter who were disappointed that they didn’t know about the event until day-of tweets had already begun.)
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I think the cheerleaders did a great job including a newbie (me)! It made me feel immediately connected to other readers in the event. The hourly posts on the website were also perfectly timed.
5. How many books did you read?
I was able to complete one book, and I read portions of two others, as well as a couple of magazines and a few blog posts.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci, Ford County by John Grisham, and Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Oh, The Yankee Years, naturally! I was able to read this “behind-the-scenes” accounting of the team while watching the team clinch the American League Division Series! Nothing cooler than that!
8. Which did you enjoy least?
Because I didn’t read for volume, I had no trouble with enjoyment of my choices.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn’t a cheerleader but as a recipient of those cheers I can say that I most valued the personal notes. Any time a cheerleader made reference to content in my blog posts or a tweet I made, it felt very much like a personal encouragement to me.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I’m absolutely going to participate again! This was so much fun, both personally and communally, and I will probably try to add cheering to my duties in the next event though I definitely will continue to read, as well.
PHRENETICAL.com 