Who creates the Dropbox folder? Someone from each group, or does Ania create one for each group? Can you upload more than one item at a time, or do you have to take it in turns, like Person 1, then Person 2, then Person 3, then back to Person 1 again, and so on?
Last time, one of the people from our group created a Google Drive folder and we set up shared access. We tried to take it in turns, but sometimes it was tricky when people had family events and/or weren't feeling well. That said, we kept it to only one or two things at a time.
If I were setting up for the group this time, I'd suggest a Google hangout or Skype group chat rather than trying to do it all through email, or exchange cell numbers and drop texts, and I'd recommend sorting out the designer order based not on time zones, but on when each designer usually has time during their day to create new things. You might have someone on the east coast that does their best work around 2am, which means that if someone in Texas who designs after dinner is the next in rotation, there might only be two items added in 36 hours!
Holly, wouldn't time zones, phone calls & texts be very difficult, if not impossible, when so many of us here are from different countries? This is something that I really wanted to try, but I know from past experience that if I get stressed about details like where and when, that's when my depression/anxiety kicks in. I don't really know what you mean by a "Google hangout", and I don't know anything about Skype or "group chats". (Can you tell I'm getting stressed already?) I'm starting to think that it's all too hard, and that I'll have to pull out before it even starts...
Google hangouts and Skype groups are a form of instant messaging, Robyn. You just need an account with whichever service, and you add each person into the same group. It ends up being like a chat that everyone can check and people can simply look at it to see if it's their turn, and you can talk among the group and everyone can read the messages, kind of like the way we talk in the forums here but more like text messages where it's fast. And if you want, you can do a group voice call free through either of those services to figure out your theme once you get your palette--it's way faster than trying to figure it all out in emails. I have Skype groups I'm in that have members from Australia, England, Hawai'i, and Denmark, and we can all talk in voice if we're awake at the same time. They're available on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android, so they should be accessible to almost any designer if your groups are interested.
Holly and Robyn I agree communicating via messaging services it's much quicker than email. Holly, I know you have suggested google hangouts or skype. I know those services are not a popular among people and it may cause issues with setting up etc (I know it's not that hard I have both of those services) but anytime I suggest using one of them most people just do not feel comfortable with creating another account for a service they most likely will use only once. In this case, my suggestion would be to use Facebook messaging which gives you the same options as the 2 above. You can send a text message, you can call the group or individual member. In my experience most people have FB messages already but if not now you can get a Facebook messenger without the need of actually creating a Facebook account.
As you both mentioned creating an order based on location (time zone) it may be quite complicated for many people since some people design when they have a free time and it is not necessary at the same time. I could suggest if you are afraid that too much time passes between the elements created by each designer after you all decide on a theme to decide on a number of papers and elements you want to have at the end of the challenge and divide it between all the designers so everyone makes the same number of them as you go. But it is all up to your group how you decide to work. I'll pick a team leader for each group.
I prefer Instant Messenger - I think that is the same as Facebook Messenger. It's easy to set up the alert notification on your phone if you are away from your computer. (But, I will adhere to whatever medium the group agrees upon........) Looking forward to it.
I'm just tossing some organizational help out there for people who haven't done this before, based on what could have gone better with our group last year. We still created a nice kit by the end, but communication and waiting for other designers proved to be the biggest challenges, and knowing that going in could be helpful for those designers new to this challenge. It's a TON of fun, but can run in fits and starts if three of your designers are lined up and creating as soon as they get the nod and a couple of others have limited design time windows...or if it takes you a few days for everyone to agree on a theme. People who have experience with location-diverse team projects will probably do fine, but I know that experience is usually limited to people working for large multinational corporations or NGOs.
There's no reason it has to be Hangouts or Skype, Ania--any sort of relatively instantaneous messaging can cut down the communications lag, and if you can get everyone together in an IM group for a half-hour chat to settle on a theme rather than sending 40 emails, you can get started working on theme elements fairly quickly instead of spending two days making generic papers and elements while you discuss theme ideas. Facebook Messenger would be fine, as would Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, ICQ, Whatsapp, or any of the several dozen others. A Facebook group page or Twitter feeds could work if you wanted to use those. Some have screen-sharing options as well.
I know not EVERYONE has accounts where they interact with others beyond email and this forum, but a large majority of people have at least one account that could access some form of group messaging without having to create a new account. Anyone with an Android phone/tablet, Chromebook, or a Gmail address already has Hangouts access. Anyone with a Windows 10 computer or an Outlook, Windows Live, or Hotmail account can log into Skype with that. I encourage all of the teams to figure out what works for their members to limit the communications bottleneck. It's ultimately up to the group members as to how much they want to interact and in what forms.
Hello ladies. I have never done anything like this before, but I am Admin of several groups on Facebook. Is there anyway, we could create a Facebook private group and we could upload the items into albums?? Like I say, I am really ignorant to the pass the kits, or blog trains, and sort of nervous about my first time, but when I make things for the groups, I will make albums to put them in.
Tammy, I'm glad I'm not the only one who is a bit nervous - not about the designing - but about the "how" and "when", the actual 'nuts & bolts' of how this happens.
And, as this is a timed project - only lasting for 2 weeks - and if each group has to choose their theme AND figure out just how they're going to do the "passing" within those 2 weeks... it might not leave too much time to actually do the designing for those people who've never been a part of this type of challenge before?
I quite like Ania's suggestion of deciding how many items each designer is to make beforehand, but I suppose that really defeats the purpose of a "PASS" the kit project.
You know, I really annoy myself at times! Why do I always have to look so far ahead that I have to think of all the possible problems that might happen; AND then have to figure out solutions BEFORE I even start???
Tammy that is a great idea about the groups on facebook, if each person is on facebook It is easy to navigate and seeing the albums was perfect for CT use and blog trains. I appreciate that people are asking questions and giving suggestions. A lot of what I was wondering is being answered
Now that I see a little more about how it works thru the previous posts I am more comfortable with joining. I chose beginner since I have never done this type of thing before but I do know how to make kits so I think it will be a great experience!
Facebook private groups have my vote, too. Loading previews up in the albums section is a nice idea.
I was wondering about the beginner group - wouldn't it be helpful to have a " group leader" that is more of the intermediate or expert level, to assist those of us in the beginner group with our questions or issues? Or do you, Ania, act in that role of helper?
Just wanting the Beginner Group to be successful and grow in our abilities to design.
That's a great idea about a more experienced group leader for the beginners, Sunny! She (whoever she turns out to be) would be able to keep us on track!
I am very good at setting up FB groups and knowledge of how everything works, if anyone needs help. I know I will need someone to guide me through this Pass The Kit process. Ha Ha!!
Ladies, YAY! I see all of you having so many ideas how to make this amazing challenge as effective and proficient as possible before hand.
My suggestion at this point is that when I announce the groups I'll give you options for ways of communications so the group can decide before we start the challenge (you will have 2 days) to make the decision.
Also, in those two days before the challenge starts each member can prepare a color scheme and theme so you already have some choices. You don't have to wait till the challenge starts.
Note about the FB groups and albums. You will still have to make a google or dropbox folder. The albums will work as a preview of elements and papers only.
And about team leaders. The team leader will be chosen from the group. I will do my best to decide who that person is based on my knowledge about that person. But I'll be always around to help put if there is an issue or you need help with anything. Depending which route you will go in the communication aspect you can add me so I can follow along and answer any questions you may have.
Ok great. So.. I want to make sure I understand this correctly?? I go look for a color scheme, and decide on a theme for myself?? Or do we all as a group vote on the theme after we all give our ideas?? Will we get a personal email about which group we are in, or will it be posted in this thread?
@ Tammy, I think we are just gathering ideas, and once we are in our assigned groups, we can then agree on a theme and a palette........I'm new at this, too!
Last year, group assignments were posted in (I think) this thread's equivalent, and then each group was assigned a palette, but we had to decide on a theme that fit the palette, which took a day or two of discussion by the time we got a couple of rounds of emails through everyone in our various time zones. It sounds like this year we'll all bring palette/theme ideas to the table and choose one from the group members' ideas, which should go faster.
This looks fun and I would love to participate! Not having done this before, I'm not sure what group would be best. I have participated in one other kit designer challenge half a year ago in a different shop, so that is all the "designer" experience I have. I know my way around Photoshop fairly well (but there is always loads more to learn!). I would think either intermediate or advanced. And I'm sure it is difficult for anyone to know where I should go without seeing any of my work. Lol. Maybe put me where a group needs more people?
Would love to join! Haven't been active in a while
intermediate please
Who creates the Dropbox folder? Someone from each group, or does Ania create one for each group? Can you upload more than one item at a time, or do you have to take it in turns, like Person 1, then Person 2, then Person 3, then back to Person 1 again, and so on?
Last time, one of the people from our group created a Google Drive folder and we set up shared access. We tried to take it in turns, but sometimes it was tricky when people had family events and/or weren't feeling well. That said, we kept it to only one or two things at a time.
If I were setting up for the group this time, I'd suggest a Google hangout or Skype group chat rather than trying to do it all through email, or exchange cell numbers and drop texts, and I'd recommend sorting out the designer order based not on time zones, but on when each designer usually has time during their day to create new things. You might have someone on the east coast that does their best work around 2am, which means that if someone in Texas who designs after dinner is the next in rotation, there might only be two items added in 36 hours!
Holly, wouldn't time zones, phone calls & texts be very difficult, if not impossible, when so many of us here are from different countries? This is something that I really wanted to try, but I know from past experience that if I get stressed about details like where and when, that's when my depression/anxiety kicks in. I don't really know what you mean by a "Google hangout", and I don't know anything about Skype or "group chats". (Can you tell I'm getting stressed already?) I'm starting to think that it's all too hard, and that I'll have to pull out before it even starts...
Google hangouts and Skype groups are a form of instant messaging, Robyn. You just need an account with whichever service, and you add each person into the same group. It ends up being like a chat that everyone can check and people can simply look at it to see if it's their turn, and you can talk among the group and everyone can read the messages, kind of like the way we talk in the forums here but more like text messages where it's fast. And if you want, you can do a group voice call free through either of those services to figure out your theme once you get your palette--it's way faster than trying to figure it all out in emails. I have Skype groups I'm in that have members from Australia, England, Hawai'i, and Denmark, and we can all talk in voice if we're awake at the same time. They're available on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android, so they should be accessible to almost any designer if your groups are interested.
I'd love to try it out! I'm a beginner.
Holly and Robyn I agree communicating via messaging services it's much quicker than email. Holly, I know you have suggested google hangouts or skype. I know those services are not a popular among people and it may cause issues with setting up etc (I know it's not that hard I have both of those services) but anytime I suggest using one of them most people just do not feel comfortable with creating another account for a service they most likely will use only once. In this case, my suggestion would be to use Facebook messaging which gives you the same options as the 2 above. You can send a text message, you can call the group or individual member. In my experience most people have FB messages already but if not now you can get a Facebook messenger without the need of actually creating a Facebook account.
As you both mentioned creating an order based on location (time zone) it may be quite complicated for many people since some people design when they have a free time and it is not necessary at the same time. I could suggest if you are afraid that too much time passes between the elements created by each designer after you all decide on a theme to decide on a number of papers and elements you want to have at the end of the challenge and divide it between all the designers so everyone makes the same number of them as you go. But it is all up to your group how you decide to work. I'll pick a team leader for each group.
I hope this helps a little bit.
I prefer Instant Messenger - I think that is the same as Facebook Messenger. It's easy to set up the alert notification on your phone if you are away from your computer. (But, I will adhere to whatever medium the group agrees upon........) Looking forward to it.
Intermediate please
I'm just tossing some organizational help out there for people who haven't done this before, based on what could have gone better with our group last year. We still created a nice kit by the end, but communication and waiting for other designers proved to be the biggest challenges, and knowing that going in could be helpful for those designers new to this challenge. It's a TON of fun, but can run in fits and starts if three of your designers are lined up and creating as soon as they get the nod and a couple of others have limited design time windows...or if it takes you a few days for everyone to agree on a theme. People who have experience with location-diverse team projects will probably do fine, but I know that experience is usually limited to people working for large multinational corporations or NGOs.
There's no reason it has to be Hangouts or Skype, Ania--any sort of relatively instantaneous messaging can cut down the communications lag, and if you can get everyone together in an IM group for a half-hour chat to settle on a theme rather than sending 40 emails, you can get started working on theme elements fairly quickly instead of spending two days making generic papers and elements while you discuss theme ideas. Facebook Messenger would be fine, as would Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, ICQ, Whatsapp, or any of the several dozen others. A Facebook group page or Twitter feeds could work if you wanted to use those. Some have screen-sharing options as well.
I know not EVERYONE has accounts where they interact with others beyond email and this forum, but a large majority of people have at least one account that could access some form of group messaging without having to create a new account. Anyone with an Android phone/tablet, Chromebook, or a Gmail address already has Hangouts access. Anyone with a Windows 10 computer or an Outlook, Windows Live, or Hotmail account can log into Skype with that. I encourage all of the teams to figure out what works for their members to limit the communications bottleneck. It's ultimately up to the group members as to how much they want to interact and in what forms.
Hello ladies. I have never done anything like this before, but I am Admin of several groups on Facebook. Is there anyway, we could create a Facebook private group and we could upload the items into albums?? Like I say, I am really ignorant to the pass the kits, or blog trains, and sort of nervous about my first time, but when I make things for the groups, I will make albums to put them in.
Tammy, I'm glad I'm not the only one who is a bit nervous - not about the designing - but about the "how" and "when", the actual 'nuts & bolts' of how this happens.
And, as this is a timed project - only lasting for 2 weeks - and if each group has to choose their theme AND figure out just how they're going to do the "passing" within those 2 weeks... it might not leave too much time to actually do the designing for those people who've never been a part of this type of challenge before?
I quite like Ania's suggestion of deciding how many items each designer is to make beforehand, but I suppose that really defeats the purpose of a "PASS" the kit project.
You know, I really annoy myself at times! Why do I always have to look so far ahead that I have to think of all the possible problems that might happen; AND then have to figure out solutions BEFORE I even start???
I am a mystery to myself!
Tammy that is a great idea about the groups on facebook, if each person is on facebook
It is easy to navigate and seeing the albums was perfect for CT use and blog trains. I appreciate that people are asking questions and giving suggestions. A lot of what I was wondering is being answered 
Now that I see a little more about how it works thru the previous posts I am more comfortable with joining. I chose beginner since I have never done this type of thing before but I do know how to make kits so I think it will be a great experience!
Facebook private groups have my vote, too. Loading previews up in the albums section is a nice idea.
I was wondering about the beginner group - wouldn't it be helpful to have a " group leader" that is more of the intermediate or expert level, to assist those of us in the beginner group with our questions or issues? Or do you, Ania, act in that role of helper?
Just wanting the Beginner Group to be successful and grow in our abilities to design.
That's a great idea about a more experienced group leader for the beginners, Sunny! She (whoever she turns out to be) would be able to keep us on track!
Just did a search for facebook groups, and came across THIS. This really might be the answer!
Facebook groups would be the easiest. Especially for uploading previews.
Facebook Messenger would be the best I'd think, for ease of communication. Dropbox is my go to for sharing and downloading.
I am very good at setting up FB groups and knowledge of how everything works, if anyone needs help. I know I will need someone to guide me through this Pass The Kit process. Ha Ha!!
I have a few groups on Facebook that I started, but like you Tammy, I need help with the Pass the Kit process.
Ladies, YAY! I see all of you having so many ideas how to make this amazing challenge as effective and proficient as possible before hand.
My suggestion at this point is that when I announce the groups I'll give you options for ways of communications so the group can decide before we start the challenge (you will have 2 days) to make the decision.
Also, in those two days before the challenge starts each member can prepare a color scheme and theme so you already have some choices. You don't have to wait till the challenge starts.
Note about the FB groups and albums. You will still have to make a google or dropbox folder. The albums will work as a preview of elements and papers only.
And about team leaders. The team leader will be chosen from the group. I will do my best to decide who that person is based on my knowledge about that person. But I'll be always around to help put if there is an issue or you need help with anything. Depending which route you will go in the communication aspect you can add me so I can follow along and answer any questions you may have.
Sounds good Ania. I'm ready!!
I am off to look for color schemes now lol
We're not doing assigned palettes this time, Ania?
I think this would be fun ... I would put me at an intermediate level
Ok great. So.. I want to make sure I understand this correctly?? I go look for a color scheme, and decide on a theme for myself?? Or do we all as a group vote on the theme after we all give our ideas?? Will we get a personal email about which group we are in, or will it be posted in this thread?
@ Tammy, I think we are just gathering ideas, and once we are in our assigned groups, we can then agree on a theme and a palette........I'm new at this, too!
Ok, thank you so much Sunny.
Last year, group assignments were posted in (I think) this thread's equivalent, and then each group was assigned a palette, but we had to decide on a theme that fit the palette, which took a day or two of discussion by the time we got a couple of rounds of emails through everyone in our various time zones. It sounds like this year we'll all bring palette/theme ideas to the table and choose one from the group members' ideas, which should go faster.
This looks fun and I would love to participate! Not having done this before, I'm not sure what group would be best. I have participated in one other kit designer challenge half a year ago in a different shop, so that is all the "designer" experience I have. I know my way around Photoshop fairly well (but there is always loads more to learn!). I would think either intermediate or advanced. And I'm sure it is difficult for anyone to know where I should go without seeing any of my work. Lol. Maybe put me where a group needs more people?
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