Yuletide 2011

Introduction
Yuletide 2011 was hosted, for the third year in a row, as a Yuletide subcollection on Archive of Our Own.

Timeline

 * Nominations opened: November 12


 * Nominations closed: November 14


 * Sign-ups opened: November 16


 * Sign-ups closed: November 20


 * Assignments sent: November 21


 * Assignments due: December 22

Statistics

 * Paticipants: 1873


 * Total Number of Works:


 * Total Number of Fandoms:


 * Most requested fandom: Community (51 requests)


 * Most offered fandom: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms (135 offers)

Limitations on Fandom Nominations
Previously participants had been able to nominate six fandoms, which meant the lists of eligible fandoms was often large and unwieldy. Since participants were only allowed to request up to four fandoms, this also led to many fandoms on the list that were never requested. In an attempt to keep the list of eligible fandoms at a manageable level, in 2011 participants were only able to nominate three fandoms.

Shortened Nomination and Sign-up Period
The custom code being developed by ArchiveofOurOwn for Yuletide sign-ups took longer than expected. As a result, there was a shorter amount of time available for the Yuletide exchange process. Yuletide participants were allowed to vote on whether they wanted a shorter period to nominate and sign-up or a shorter period to write. Most people who took the survey voted for the former. There were concerns that the shortened nomination/sign-up period made it difficult for people who were busy with real life during that time frame to participate in Yuletide.

The Any/0 Characters Issue
Previously participants were able to request "any" as a character option in their requested fandom. This led to problems when a participant chose "any" but listed specific characters in their optional details, especially when matched with a writer who offered to write different characters. To prevent this from happening, participants in 2011 could not request "any" as a character option. Participants more interested in world-building had the option to select 0 characters; however, some participants selected 0 characters while listing, once again, specific characters in their optional details.