Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Everything you need to know about Saturday's rallies

<3 <3 <3

In this case, we really do mean "less than three" ... as in, that's how many days are left until the big rallies! Everyone's excited. The New York Times even based an entire crossword puzzle on it (spoiler).

You're coming, right? Here's everything you need to know. (It's a very long post, but there's a TLDR Checklist near the end.)


Trophies

As previously mentioned, we made a special trophy for anyone who shows up at a rally wearing reddit gear. There were some logistics to be worked out (namely, how do we verify all those recipients?) but thanks to inspiration from bumped, I think we've got a solution: we're going to crowdsource the problem and turn it into a real-life social networking game. In order to win trophies, you need to introduce yourself to other redditors. In the flesh. At the rally.

Protip: If you represent reddit by wearing a teeny tiny button, this will be hard to do. To compensate, you'll have to be eagle-eyed and gregarious, introducing yourself to everyone in sight and asking if they know what a "qgyh2" is. On the other hand, meeting redditors will be a piece of cake if you're holding a giant alien banner and are dressed as your favorite voting arrow — the redditors will be coming up to you.


Here's how the scoring will work:
  • One point for every redditor you meet
  • Five points for finding the reddit admins (25 if you give them a printout of your DonorsChoose receipt)
  • Lots of points for group photos
Regarding that last one: Every person in a photo who is visibly displaying reddit iconography gets one point for every other such person. So if there are five people in the same photo, all wearing reddit shirts, each of the five gets five points. And yes, that means that even totally antisocial redditors can still get a point just by taking a solo picture.

We haven't yet decided how many points it will take to win a trophy, but we'll give special ones for exceptional work (meeting a ridiculous number of people, taking a huge group photo, making a really nice homemade reddit shirt, traveling to the rally across a great distance, etc.)


The fine print

To get credit for meeting another redditor at the rally, you'll need to exchange usernames and two-digit "rally codes". You can find out your own rally code at reddit.com/rally. After the event, when you're back on the Internet, you just type in the names and codes of the people you met and collect all your points. (If you have a cameraphone and / or printer, it's even easier; see below.) Important: Both redditors will need to verify each other's rally codes in order to get the points.

All photos must be taken at a rally or one of the related events (afterparties, etc). Satellite rallies are okay too, within reason; "The Official Florida State Freshman Dorm Fifth-Floor Lounge Reddit Rally of 2010, population: 2" probably isn't going to make the cut.

Photoshops will be disqualified (or, if really clever, pardoned) at the sole discretion of the admins, whose judgment is final. We'll also get really mad at anyone who posts their rally code online.

We don't yet know where we want you to submit your photos. Just hang onto them for now and we'll get back to you on that.

We admins will be making a post the morning of the rally with details of where we're standing (including GPS coordinates) and what we're wearing (including photos). So log on to reddit before things start, or get the information from one of the many redditors you meet.


Hey reddit, let's be good citizens

If it's too crowded to reach us during the rally, know that we'll be sticking around afterward to help clean up. If you bring a garbage bag and help pick up trash, you're awesome and we love you.


TLDR Checklist
  • Pack your reddit shirt (or make one if you don't yet have one)
  • Pack a trash bag, so you can help us clean up after the rally.
  • Print out your rally code and bring a pen.
  • If you have an iPhone, install quiQR or something similar so you can scan other redditors' rally codes instead of having to write them down and type them in.
  • If you have an Android phone, install Barcode Scanner or something similar.
  • If you have some other kind of camera phone, ask around in the reddit comments to see if anyone can help you. :)
  • Finally, get plenty of rest; there will be an official reddit afterparty.

Operation Truthy Classroom

Your support for DonorsChoose.org has been amazing, heartwarming, and incredible. Nearly $470,000 has been raised to help make a difference in the lives of schoolchildren. With one last push, we can reach our final goal, unlock the "Stephen Colbert AMA" acheivement, get a mention in dozens of newspapers this weekend about how the Internet raised half a million dollars for charity, and get VIP rally passes for fifteen lucky redditors.

Not to mention, of course, helping hundreds more classrooms. If everyone going to the rally gives just $5 (or convinces a relative to give $5) we'll blow right past the finish line. Did you know that you get a personal message from the teacher you help? And sometimes, the kids will even draw you pictures. Aw jeez, I'm getting choked up now. C'mon, get outta here...
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