Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange

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Challenge
Name: #ITPE or #InformalTwitterPodficExchange
Date(s): 2011-present
Moderator(s): cantarina (2011-2019, 2021-current), knight_tracer (2018-current), blackglass (2020-current), verity (2020-current), bessyboo (2011-2020)
Founder: bessyboo, cantarina
Type: gift exchange
Fandom: podfic/multifandom
URL: ITPE_mod twitter account
AO3 collection
ITPE.fandomlibrarian.org
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Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange is an annual podfic gift exchange run on Twitter. The exchange has grown from 21 participants in 2011 to 79 in 2019.[1][2] Number of files posted peaked in 2017 at just under 1000.

Rules

"what the fuck you guys," tweeted the impressed ITPE_mod in 2016, who had a lot of uploading to do.
as of 2019

Participants tweet the mods with the fandoms they wish to receive and fandoms they are willing to give, with a link to a "Dear Podficcer" letter posted somewhere describing their preferences in detail. Gift podfics can be any length.

Assignments and gift distribution all take place via Twitter DM from early-mid October to December 25. Participants submit each podfic individually via a google form.

The complete list of all gifts is later revealed on the Amplificathon community. All podfics need to be uploaded by the mods before the masterlist is posted, so the reveal can be delayed if participants make a lot of extra podfics or large files (which they usually do).[3]

Origins

#ITPE came about in 2011 after the announcement that podbang would not run that year. The Twitter podfic community, just starting to galvanize at the time, was discussing their disappointement and initially looked to paraka to run something in its place.

After both cantarina and bessyboo approached her about co-modding it, paraka put them in touch. The exchange was initially run from bessyboo and cantarina's personal Twitter accounts using the #InformalTwitterPodficExchange, then later, #ITPE hashtag.[4]

The exchange was conceived of around four main concepts: a holiday exchange, an exchange run entirely on Twitter, an exchange with no minimums (in response of podbang's sometimes prohibitively-long requirements), and an exchange that would be easy to moderate.[4]

Challenge History

The challenge has grown every year except for 2018. Number of participants each year:

  • 2011: 21
  • 2012: 44
  • 2013: 53
  • 2014: 57
  • 2015: 67
  • 2016: 69
  • 2017: 84
  • 2018: 72[1]
  • 2019: 79[2]
  • 2020: ?
  • 2021: 84[5]
  • 2022: 71[6]

Total runtime of all podfics produced was 168 hours (seven days) in 2016[7], 260:05:16 (ten days) in 2017[8], 203:52:59 (8 days) in 2018[9], 217:53:03 (nine days) in 2019[10], and 176:52:07 (seven days) in 2021[5]. (No stats available for 2020.)

Starting in 2012, "Dear Podficcer" letters were recommended, and participants could also submit treats for someone other than their recipient.[11]

A separate ITPE_mod twitter account was created in 2013. alexwlchan created a python script to generate the masterlist.[12] The script is available on github.

Originally, all submissions were made via twitter DMs. A new submission form was added for 2015.[13] In 2015, more than 450 files were archived to the Audiofic Archive as a result of the exchange.[14]

In 2016, a specific form was added for participants who had a mod as their recipient.[15] Previously, the recommendation was to submit directly to the other mod.[16]

In 2017, a rule was added requiring participants to list at least three fandoms, due to a participant signing up with a hard-to-match fandom multiple years in a row.[17] "Dear Podficcer" letters, previously optional, were also made mandatory. The mods also added a rule that treats could not be submitted before main gifts and that if anyone submitted a treat first, their assignment would be sent out for a pinch hit if they couldn't submit the main gift within 48 hours.[18][19]

Audiofic Archive was the original home of all ITPE submissions and mod-created podbooks. However, due to the site's ongoing issues, exmanhater provided a new host for all ITPE files starting with the 2017 challenge.[20]

In 2018, knight_tracer was added as a mod. 2018 was also the first year that the challenge shrank in participant numbers and output.

In 2019, the submission deadline was changed from December 18 to December 17.[21] The deadline for submitting treats was extended at the last minute to December 24.[22] The masterlist wasn't posted until late January, leading to anonymous grumbling.[23][24]

In 2020, cantarina stepped down, and verity and blackglass joined the mod team.[25]

In 2021, bessyboo was removed as a mod and cantarina returned.[26] AO3's challenge matching functionality was used for the first time, gifts were distributed on December 24 instead of December 25, and the masterlist was posted in record time as a google spreadsheet.

Impact

In a Tumblr discussion about how certain fandoms became popular podfic fandoms, Bessyboo commented that the ITPE mods' practice of matching people on at least one main fandom and one secondary fandom resulted in more podfic for secondary fandoms like Leverage. And also,

The other thing about #ITPE matching is a little bit of Slytherin-ing that I normally wouldn’t publicly admit to, but it’s...relevant here, so. When I talk about how we hand-match in #ITPE, that isn’t just because we want to assess like, trope/squick matches. We, in fact, very deliberately match in a way that favors smaller fandoms, rarepairs and ships involving women and characters of color, etc. But the mods are also human, with our own biases and agendas, and sometimes you’re just fed up with the lack of DCU podfic and structure an entire #ITPE gifting loop around producing more Tim Drake podfic, and it’s accidentally FAR more successful than you ever intended and now five years later it’s one of the top 10 most podficced fandoms and the ship & character breakdown of what gets podficced is NOT at all representative of the larger fic fandom and is WILDLY skewed towards your personal character & ship tastes. Whoops? Sorry? (I’m not sorry.)[27]

Masterlists

On the AO3 (AO3 posting is optional and these lists should not be considered complete):

Example Works

2011:

2012:

References

  1. ^ a b 31 December 2018 tweet by ITPE_mod, Archived version
  2. ^ a b 25 December 2019 tweet by ITPE_mod, Archived version
  3. ^ Hear Bessyboo's description of her ITPE process in the podcast Auralphonic 002: Showcase of #ITPE 2014, posted January 14, 2015. "I am so impressed with the sheer volume of podfics that people have submitted."
  4. ^ a b Modding Podcast 16 November 2014. (Accessed 28 December 2014.)
  5. ^ a b #ITPE 2021 Masterlist, Archived version, posted by blackglass in amplificathon, 27 December 2021.
  6. ^ ITPE2022 collection profile, Archived version
  7. ^ bessyboo. #ITPE: Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange 2016 (Main Gifts), posted to amplificathon 1 January 2017.
  8. ^ bessyboo. #ITPE: Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange 2017 (Main Gifts), posted to amplificathon 3 January 2018.
  9. ^ bessyboo. #ITPE: Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange 2018 (Main Gifts), posted to amplificathon, 31 December 2018.
  10. ^ bessyboo. #ITPE: Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange 2019 (Main Gifts), Archived version posted to amplificathon 21 January 2020
  11. ^ bessyboo. #ITPE: Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange 2012, posted to amplificathon 23 December 2012.
  12. ^ bessboo. #ITPE: Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange 2013, posted to amplificathon 27 December 2013.
  13. ^ "we're trying something a little bit different this year, so please fill out the form once for EACH podfic you are submitting #ITPERules", Archived version, 16 November 2015.
  14. ^ I just want y'all to appreciate the amount of work that you actually produce. It's kind of breathtaking + graph, by @ITPE_mod, 28 Dec 2015.
  15. ^ "IF YOU ARE SUBMITTING A GIFT FOR @bessyboo, please use this form instead: https://t.co/wBgiMnbIj4 #ITPErules", Archived version, 5 November 2016.
  16. ^ we’d appreciate it if you submitted them directly to whichever mod the gift ISN’T for (@bessyboo/@vworpvworp) via DM or email… #ITPERules, Archived version, 3 December 2015.
  17. ^ Personal communication with user:aethel, the participant in question.
  18. ^ 5 October 2017 tweet by ITPE_mod, Archived version
  19. ^ 25 November 2017 tweet by ITPE_mod, Archived version
  20. ^ #ITPE: Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange 2017 (Main Gifts), posted to amplificathon, 3 January 2018.
  21. ^ 10 December 2019 tweet by ITPE_mod, Archived version
  22. ^ 12 December 2019 tweet by ITPE_mod, Archived version
  23. ^ Re: Bangs Fests Exchanges - Venting//Bratting, Archived version, 2020-01-01.
  24. ^ Re: Bangs, Fests, Exchanges - brattiness, Archived version, 2020-01-12.
  25. ^ Oct 5, 2020 tweet, Archived version, ITPE_mod (accessed 5 May 2021)
  26. ^ May 5, 2021 tweet, Archived version, ITPE_mod (accessed 5 May 2021)
  27. ^ The Podfic-est Fandoms (on ao3), Archived version, reblog by bessyboo, 22 February 2020.
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