Monday, November 1, 2010

What it is and how it works

I say it every year, but who doesn't like getting presents? Books, comics, audio productions, games, models – over the years we've had plenty to share with you! The event is evidence that there is something in the human condition that likes to give presents as well, because every year we have people coming forward to offer their work for free to others!

The event is a major collaborative project between a wide variety of Star Trek fan groups to celebrate the season of goodwill and giving. It’s primarily a fun activity by Star Trek fans, for Star Trek fans however there can be no doubt that it not only generates a lot of publicity for the participants but creates and maintains good relations between the groups. It certainly has for me! I have made some great friends and struck up some valuable acquaintances with this event.

Looking back now over the last three years of the Twelve Trek Days of Christmas is uplifting in that there were some real achievements amongst them. Browsing through the list on your right, you'll see some flamin' good work, some of it individual efforts by people who have used the TTDoC as an event to launch their 'fan careers' but most of them group efforts.

Participation in the project is not competitive in that anyone can submit a "present", however one of the lessons learned is that I will not be giving advance notice of content so that failure to launch for anyone will not entail embarrassment. Everyone - from the individual fan to the largest fan production group - is invited to participate.

Credit will be prominently displayed for your work, in truth one of the reasons I do this is to bring the work of fan producers to the notice of Trek fandom and, hopefully, the wider media. Whilst I act as executive producer for the event and we provide a cohesive delivery and publicity network, the individual works are usually on your website, where we link to them, so that not only do the fans see the feature but can sample your other work as well.

Although some professional and licensed productions will be linked out of respect for the copyright owners, the majority of the work will be fan productions and labeled at our end as such with a warning that "any attempt to sell, rent or otherwise make a profit from any of these projects will be reported to the copyright owners or their licensees for their action." All original work remains the property of it’s producer who reserves the moral right to be identified as its creator.

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