CZ:Geography Workgroup/Gazetteer/Geogra-thon

What's a Geogra-Thon?

It's when a bunch of people getting together on a wiki at a particular time to do a bunch of writing. It's like an online party! It's also like theMonthly Write-a-Thon except for one crusial thing. Well two things actually. First it's not a complete free for all - this day is focused on geography. In particular the Gazetteer articles for countries, towns, cities and regions. Secondly, it's on a different day.

When?

Write-a-Thons happen the Last Tuesday of every month. The next Write-a-Thon is Tuesday, November 27. November 27 is a long day since we have writers all around the world. It starts on November 26 at 1200 GMT, in New Zealand, and ends on November 28 at 1000 GMT, in Hawaii. Save The Date! Put it on your calendar! Set yourself a reminder!

Any new article you create, and any edit you make to somebody else's Write-a-Thon article, when it's that day in your part of the world, will count.

Our first monthly Write-a-Thon took place Wednesday, August 1, 2007 and was considered a roaring good time—so lets make sure the Geogra-thon does just as well.

What are the rules?

Rules? This is a party! There are no rules!

Well, OK, maybe there are a couple rules:

• We'll have a Write-a-Thon the last Tuesday of every month.
• To participate, you only have to do two things:
  1. Start a new article within the geography (even just a stub will qualify just try to write a ballanced and well writen stub) please remember to include the CZ:The Article Checklist! and
  2. make a substantive edit (not just a copyedit) to an existing geography article. Then you can list your name here as a partier. Until then, you're just a porch-sitter, party-crasher, or total party poop.

I don't know what to write! Help?

Write about what you know. Start with the biggest geographical region, such as your country of residence. Then do the State or Province you live in. Next try the nearest big city to your home and so on down. Once you have exhaused your current location. Do the same for your place of birth. What about places you visited on holliday. You must remember something about them. You see, you had plenty to contribute after all.

Holliday snaps

It's all fine writing articles but we also need illistrations. Dig out your old photo album, scan in the best of your snaps and put them onto the relevent article. Pop down town and take a pic of the local landmark and put it own your town/cities article.

Create an article, already!

Check it out: Start an article!

Now (this time anyway) easier than ever! Stubs are not only permitted they are encouraged!

The Partiers

• Aleta stumbled to her desk and realised it was the 27th in Sydney, New South Wales and probably in Uganda. Let's go team!

• Derek Harkness Thought I'd keep Aleta company before heading to work (was supposed to be my day off but one teacher is on a training course so I have to cover classes. Sigh...) Kicked off with a stub about Hong Kong.

• Supten thought of trying out his hand at a core article on Antarctica - but could not gather much of resources, so tried to visit Sydney, then decided to ponder upon the CZ:Editorial_Council_Resolution_0007/Member_position_statements and [1] and finally left the party!

See also

• Larry Sanger, Why the Write-a-Thon worked, Citizendium Blog, August 9, 2007
• Weekly Wiki
• Article of the Week
• New Article of the Week
• Monthly Write-a-Thon