Update: Significant Objects v2

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We’re having fun geeking out over the quantitative aspects of Significant Object’s experimental phase, and this coming week we’ll offer more tables and charts and graphs. We’ll also kick off the qualitative analysis (i.e., analyzing the stories’ style, mood, voice, and so forth) soon.

At the same time, we’re assigning and editing stories for Significant Objects v2: the charitable fund-raising project. We’ve assigned nearly 20 objects so far, and we’ve got lots of terrific stories — from previous contributors, and new ones, too — in the pipeline.

Also, we’ve settled on a writing-oriented recipient for SO v2’s proceeds! It’s 826 National, a group of seven nonprofit organizations (in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Ann Arbor, and Boston) dedicated to helping students, ages 6-18, with expository and creative writing. Many thanks, in advance, to our contributing writers for their generosity in supporting this good cause. And we encourage bidders to throw caution to the winds, this time around (and from now on).

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To be determined: We’re not sure how many significant objects we’ll auction off during the course of SO v2, but we’re tentatively thinking 50. NB: We’ll redirect a small percentage of the eBay auction sales to cover our costs, including a (very) part-time assistant who will help us out with some of the “back end” aspects of Significant Objects v2. Significant Objects’ co-curators, Rob Walker and Josh Glenn, won’t be paid for their work. Once v2 is over, we’ll make a full report.

More fun with SO v1’s data is on the way, this week, and Significant Objects v2 will get going soon. Stay tuned!

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"Significant Objects combines one of the oldest of all media — the near-improvised short story — with the reinvigorated writer-reader relationship afforded by Web 2.0." — The Independent's Couch Surfer. Follow us on Twitter; join us on Facebook.

4 thoughts on “Update: Significant Objects v2

  1. Welcome back–or, um, you never left? Anyway, very pleased. Do you plan to include another story contest in v2? Hope so…

  2. We plan to do more fun stuff, for sure — whether or not we actually do a contest is still an open question.

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