Suggestions on Hosting an Event Online & a Manga Moveable Feast Archive

Posted in Manga News on January 22, 2011 by Johanna

While discussing plans for this year’s Manga Moveable Feasts — online events where a particular manga series or author is discussed during the same week at a variety of blogs and websites — we talked about what was involved in hosting. The Manga Moveable Feast host, in my opinion, should be responsible for the following:

  1. Remind everyone of the upcoming MMF and getting them excited to participate. Give people enough warning that they can get the books! Some may use Inter-Library Loan, which needs a month or more of forethought.
  2. Write an introduction post that explains why you wanted to host. Include the basics about the series or author you’re promoting — why are they important to cover? what books are included, and what is the premise of the series? why do you love it (or alternately, think it should be talked about even though you don’t)?
  3. Set up a reference page (with a permanent URL) that others can link to as a one-stop reference about your MMF event. Ideally, this should be (yoursite).com/mmf.
  4. Post daily with links from participants and additional commentary. Reward those who participate with attention and feedback.
  5. Encourage others to participate — write to bloggers directly, or suggest topics for people to cover. Remind people that they don’t have to love the book in order to write about it, and alternate perspectives are welcome.
  6. Keep attention and enthusiasm going for the full length of the event if possible. :) This is a commitment on your part, and it takes more than just putting up links, so please consider that in planning timing. The more you contribute, the more successful the event will be.
  7. Bonus points for special features, like a guest panel or podcast or interview or contest or something new you came up with.

Note that this can also apply to anyone who wants to set up a cross-blog online event: enlist participants, explain what’s going on, make it easy for others to read about what you’re doing, and keep the energy up so people are excited to be part of it.

Here are all the Manga Moveable Feasts that have been held so far:

Sexy Voice and Robo – Hosted by David Welsh (Manga Curmudgeon) – February 2010

Emma – Hosted by Matt Blind (Rocket Bomber) – March 2010

Mushishi – Hosted by Ed Sizemore (Manga Worth Reading) – April 2010 – That’s us!

To Terra – Hosted by Katherine Dacey (Manga Critic) – May 2010

Color of… Trilogy – Hosted by Melinda Beasi (Manga Bookshelf) – June 2010

Paradise Kiss – Hosted by Michelle Smith (Soliloquy in Blue) – July 2010

Yotsuba&! – Hosted by Robin Brenner (Good Comics for Kids) – August 2010

Afterschool Nightmare – Hosted by Sean Gaffney (A Case Suitable for Treatment) – September 2010

One Piece – Hosted by David Welsh (Manga Curmudgeon) – November/December 2010

Karakuri Odette – Hosted by Anna/Tangognat (Manga Report) – January 2011

Barefoot Gen – Hosted by Sam Kusek (A Life in Panels) – February 2011

Aria – Hosted by Linda (animemiz scribblings) – March 2011

Rumiko Takahashi – Hosted by Rob McMonigal (Panel Patter) – April 2011

Cross Game – Hosted by Derik Badman (The Panelists – site no longer available) – May 2011

Wild Adapter – Hosted by Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith (Manga Bookshelf) – June 2011

Fruits Basket – Hosted by David Welsh (Manga Curmudgeon) – July 2011

Fumi Yoshinaga – Hosted by Kristin (Comic Attack) – August 2011

Love Hina – Hosted by Jason Green (PLAYBACK:stl) – September 2011 (delayed to October due to product availability)

Similar Posts: June Manga Moveable Feast Launches for Wild Adapter § Manga Moveable Feast for July 2012 Covers CLAMP § This Week’s Manga Moveable Feast: Fruits Basket § Manga Out Loud Podcast Tackles Peepo Choo § Plan Now for the One Piece Manga Moveable Feast

11 Comments

  1. This is a great set of recommendations. I would only add one thing, and it’s more of an expansion on your existing suggestions: use Twitter to update people on the Feast before and during the event. I’ve discovered a lot of great bloggers through Twitter, and using it is a nice way of maintaining interest and alerting a slightly different portion of the potential audience to what’s coming up and going on.

    So, retweet when someone mentions their own contribution, use the #MMF or #MangaMoveableFeast hashtag so people can search easily, and remind people of your own updates as host.

    Thanks again!

  2. Excellent addition. That’s how I get a lot of my news on the MMF, you’re right.

  3. Chika Shiomi might be a nice choice, I like her dedication to blending the supernatural and shoujo.

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