A note from Amy: Changes are afoot!
For this round, you can either sign up together with a partner or sign up to work alone. The random partnering option—in which I assign you a partner—is off the table, at least for now.
If you want to work with a partner, here’s my recommendation:
First, join the Spark forum.
Post a note under the “Spark 12 – Seeking Partners” discussion I’ve created. Here, you can post your form (artist, writer, or musician) and the type of partner you seek (artist, writer, or musician). Do not include your email address, however, because the discussion is viewable by anyone with an Internet connection. Once you’ve joined the forum, you will be able to contact one another privately and can share email information at that point.
And don’t forget to register, noting your partner’s name on your form.
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A bit of background on this decision for those who are interested… During past rounds, a number of people have dropped out, essentially abandoning their partners—sometimes without even alerting their partner or me. Many people have also experienced difficulty sending emails to their assigned partners, usually because of spam filters. Some people never receive my emails, also thanks to spam filters.
Participants whose partners ditch them or are unable to connect with their assigned partner must either drop out themselves, or contact me to find them another person to work with—usually after the project has already started.
This is unfair to the person left behind, and it stresses me out tremendously. There’s extra work involved in my having to find additional partners, but more than that, I can’t abide the fact that someone might have a bad experience. Imagine how lousy it would feel if your partner dropped out without telling you. Or if you tried repeatedly to reach your partner via email, only to hear nothing in response.
I want Spark to inspire all of you and to be an enjoyable creative experience for us all. So for this round at least, random partnering is not an option.
I understand that a lot of us enjoy having someone respond to our work, and I’m working on a way for that to happen next time. Stay tuned for that new process in Spark 13.