The Complete History of Sketch Fest
(ie: where do your donations go?)

Our first event was hosted at livejournal, on March 26th, 2010. 20 people left prompts, between 1 and about dozen apiece, 19 artists participated with sketches. It ran for 12 hours, and about 75 sketches were posted. I say 'about' because it was spread out over 239 comments, and very chaotic, indeed.

The next fest was cancelled, because I went in for abdominal surgery on the day it was scheduled. (I considered that a decent excuse...)

We made up for it with the next one (May 2010)! Before the event, I asked for donations to build an uploading form, and received them from Selina Fenech, Hope Bryant and Jeffrey! It was very bare-bones, nothing fancy, just a way to upload pictures to my server so they could be posted in the comments at the livejournal post. (I also put together a post with recommendations for artists looking to sell their Sketch Fest artwork, exploring several different crowdfunding-style methods.)

For Sketch Fest #3 (June 2010), I got enough donations to put together a basic database that generated a 'wall' of thumbnails of all the sketches we made. See the original Sketch Fest / Sketch Fest #3 at the new site (note that this is the current site with the sketches produced for Sketch Fest #3... this is not at ALL how the site looked at the time!)

For Sketch Fest #4 (July 2010), we had an actual site. It was still pretty ugly (no background, no style), and pretty simple, but it let people leave prompts in the database and post work attached to those prompts, as well as let artists 'claim' prompts (so artists could see what other artists were working on), and comment on artwork. The countdown feature was particularly appreciated. I also added a feature that let artists donate the original of their sketch to support more features for the site. At that point (and for many subsequent Sketch Fests), it was an everything or nothing donation - artists got no portion of work that they made available. Sketch Fest #4

For Sketch Fest #5 (August 2010), we had enough donations to add email alerts - folks who left prompts could (optionally) get notification when someone claimed their prompt, and again when the artist uploaded the sketch. Registration was made possible, and very basic artist pages were built. Sketch Fest #5

Sketch Fest #6 (September 2010) got us improvements to the system that prevented file overwrites, a navigation header (because the browsing to that point had been pretty wretched!), artists pages showed which prompts they'd claimed, next and previous thumbnails on the artwork, and an enlarged comment box. Sketch Fest #6

For Sketch Fest #7 (October 2010), I made several shiny improvements that I do not seem to have specific notes for. Sketch Fest #7

There was no Sketch Fest in November, because so many of us were doing NaNoWriMo. (We made up for it with two in January!)

For Sketch Fest #8 (December 2010), we got counting tools that showed how many folks participated each time, and added random to the way you could sort prompts, and better uploading tools, plus artists could edit their work and upload pieces that they'd finished from sketches they started at a fest. Sketch Fest #8

For Sketch Fest #9 (January 2011), April Vansickle put some CSS together to take the site from its still-ugly no-style state to the sleek, lovely look it has now. Registered users could now edit their accounts, and artist pages showed webpage links and short bios. I gave folks a way to log out, and a link to their own page. You could also comment on a prompt with or without claiming it. And the email notifications became more useful and less vague. Sketch Fest #9

For Sketch Fest #10 (January 2011), I tackled the slow-loading prompts page problem - we were getting so many prompts that the page took a ridiculous amount of time to download. I failed to solve the problem before that Sketch Fest, but wrestled it into shape soon after. At the close of this fest, I opened up nominations for prizes in a few categories - winners in a few specific categories got a free pack of blank ACEO cards. Sketch Fest #10

Prizes continued through Sketch Fest #11 (February 2011), which was greatly improved by the new prompts page (better query functions made it load MUCH faster). Additionally, I rewarded supporters by adding a star by their name (so artists knew which prompts came from folks who made Sketch Fest possible!) and allowing them 15 prompts, as opposed to just 5. I also added the ability to claim work from older Sketch Fests (which enabled artists to edit them and add finished work for them), and turned the prompt into a link so you could easily browse to see the other pieces created for a prompt. The prizes for this Sketch Fest included 'best prompt', and a 'Rock Star of Year One,' which went to Jenny Heidewald, who had participated in every single one, created a whooping 38 pieces for one fest, and donated nearly all of her pieces every month to fund the site, as well as commenting enthusiastically and helping me find bugs in the updates. Sketch Fest #11

For Sketch Fest #12 (March 2011 - our one year event!), the biggest improvements were in the backend, improving the buying process (so pieces couldn't accidentally be bought more than once, as was starting to happen...). 'Buy instantly' became an option with EMG credits, so interested parties didn't have to go through the shopping cart and miss pieces that became available during that time. Artists got a link directly to their claims, as well as some minor browsing improvements and a new landing page with random artwork and an actively updated list of sponsors. Most impressive of all, the buying process was changed to allow partial donations. Previously, it was all or nothing - now, artists could choose a portion to donate to EMG (minimum 10%) and set their own cut for their sketches. Sketch Fest #12

Before Sketch Fest #13 (April 2011), I made tools for uploading work from the first several Sketch Fests - not everyone has gotten their older work for them up, so they are not entirely accurate pictures of those fests! Additionally, sketches were automatically put on a one-hour 'hold' for the prompter who left them. Sketch Fest #13

For Sketch Fest #14 (May 2011), that hold became variable - something you could set to any integer of hours. It defaults to 1, still, and you can also set it at 0 (no hold!). Last, but not least, I added an 'inspired by' wall - logged in users could see all the work created to their prompts, and really get a sense of the artwork they made happen. Visual improvements included showing red borders around artwork currently available for public sale, dashed red borders for work on hold, and even gold stars on work being held specifically for you. Hovering over a thumbnail would show you when a hold would expire. Sketch Fest #14

For Sketch Fest #15 (June 2011), I refined the ability to sort prompters, so that you could see at a glance if a prompter had at least one sketch or person working on their ideas. (Alas, a bug in the code excluded those prompters who weren't registered! Doh!) Replies to comments were added, complete with email alerts to the person who left the comment being replied to. These, too, were a little buggy, particularly in regards to the emails they were sending (Doh! Again!). Sketch Fest #15

For Sketch Fest #16 (July 2011), I fixed both of the above buggy features, and built a sales administration page for artists, so they can immediately see which pieces have sold, and to whom. I also did some serious refinements to the artist pages, so that they were broken into each Sketch Fest (it was a seriously block of thumbnails otherwise, especially for some artists!). This involved coding in a new database to track the dates of the various Sketch Fests - something that will be useful in the refinement of other pages throughout the site! Sketch Fest #16

For Sketch Fest #17 (August 2011), major progress was made on automating some of the timing functions of Sketch Fest - which means I spend less time updating pages and more improving them in the future! It also simplified the coding in a lot of places. I also added a link for artists to see their Sketch Fest sales, fixed a bug on the artists pages, and made a few other minor fixes throughout. Sketch Fest #17

For Sketch Fest #18 (September 2011), the registration and account editing process were extensively updated; users can now specify a nickname to show instead of their real name, and include their addresses, which only become available to artists who are mailing them sketches. I've added security to keep spammers at bay. Additionally, I gave artists the tools to delete their own work, and also to upload multiple finished pieces for each sketch. Not content with stopping there, I coded in a check to make sure that artists offering their work for sale were alotting the required 10% to EMG. (I saw a few pieces go up the previous Sketch Fest that would have actually lost me money, if they'd sold!) I disabled hot-linking to images hosted at Sketch Fest. I put a tag on purchases made by credit card, so that I could see at a glance which sales needed to be verified (because they hadn't been instantly bought using credits), and last, but certainly not least, I programmed the instant buying feature to also instantly transfer credits to the artists AND update their patron status! (I worked ahead of the hours earned from donations this month, because I know there will be a few months early next year after I've had my first child when I won't be able to get any work in, and I have some free time available now!) Sketch Fest #18

For Sketch Fest #19 - (October 2011) A LOT of fixes to the nickname switchover. Sketch Fest #19

For Sketch Fest #20 - (November 2011) More nickname improvements, comment improvements. Fiddly, detail-oriented stuff that won't show up much to anyone. Sketch Fest #20

For Sketch Fest #21 - (December 2011) erm... Sketch Fest #21

For Sketch Fest #22 - (January 2012) This fest was an experimental 48 hours long... and a whopping success. Artist feedback for the longer period varied from pleased to thrilled. Sketch Fest #22

For Sketch Fest #23 - (January 2012, take 2!) Artist sales administration improvements (for credit card purchases, particularly), plus a fix on the history page that was showing real names instead of (optional) nicknames. Ordered the prompters page by latest updated (though it still groups by registered/unregistered!), and offered more sorting options on that page, including the tool to show thumbnail... this page is more efficient than the original page, and will replace it - the 48 hour window led to more prompts than before, and the old page was starting to lag. MUCH more automation has been put in place - the updates I have to do to launch each Sketch Fest have decreased exponentially. I suspect I will find a few more places when I start the next one, but I've got all the framework in place to make them easy changes to make. I hope. The registration page had a bug fix (the footer file was not calling correctly) and I also expanded the message that people see when registration is closed and made a page for preparing for Sketch Fest! I also updated the random pictures on the history and index page to keep up with the new commenting scripts. A couple of folks mentioned that they wish they could add more prompts, given the longer prompting period, so I made a new support level - all sponsors who have donated more than $100 are now able to add 25 prompts! (This only adds up the portion of a sale that goes to funding the site, not 100% of every art sale... and both artists and buyers earn this sponsorship credit when art is sold!) But wait! There's more! Now, artists will have the option to 'tag' or 'claim' artwork with one click - and those pieces will show up with gold stars on the list of prompts, as well as be listed on their artists page. I also fixed a teeny bug that was sometimes causing only one or two random pieces to show up on the index and this page, instead of the full 6.

For Sketch Fest #24 - (February 2012) Finishing touches to the artist sales admin page. It now sends notification to the artist when a CC purchase is approved. I also added a spammer-catcher to the un-registered comments, to prevent the ugg boot and Ambien spam that snuck in on one picture. Nipped that right in the bud! I also fixed a niggly little image class problem, and added icons to the prompts page so that it's easier to see at a glance which prompts have been claimed or sketched. Tags and claims got little pushpin icons, too! The tagging function itself got a little bit of a re-work - it no longer sends notifications to the prompter when you tag something, and tags don't show up on the prompt page. Tags will still show up on the artist's page, and you will see the pushpin icon by a tagged prompt in the master list if you are logged in. This makes the function more private, though not entirely 'secret,' as per user request.

A few months of no improvements (Dec, Jan) ate up my previous buffer, but the subsequent fixes caught me up again - I'm about four 1/2 hours over what has been earned for the site at this point and will continue to work ahead as I can. :)

What features would you most like to see? I make Sketch Fest better in direct response to user input, with funds from user donations. Results are usually available by the very next Sketch Fest! Make this project better and stronger and see your ideas shape it! Contact me using this form!

Random Sketches and Comments

Mary Strauchman says: Same as Ellen: AHAHAHAHAHHHAH!