Organization for Transformative Works News

OTW Website and Donation Form Are Down

2023-07-11T18:57:24Z

Posted by: otw_staff

As of now, 18:50 UTC on July 11, 2023, AO3 is back up. However, in the past hours the OTW website and the donation platform have become inaccessible. We believe it is part of the same attack first made on the Archive. We will be providing updates via the OTW Tumblr account https://transformativeworks.tumblr.com so please check there for further information.

We also want to alert fans that on Twitter someone is using the name AO3_Status_ (note the second underscore). If you are on Twitter, please block and report this account.

This fake account is impersonating our service status account and attempting to scam AO3 users out of money. Fans on all platforms should be wary of anyone soliciting money on behalf of the OTW or its projects at this time. (The real donation form is currently down due to a DDoS.)

Open Doors and Legal Advocacy pages are also not available at this time. Our Fanlore project is being worked on and should be back today. Our Transformative Works and Cultures site has not been affected. Thank you for being patient while we restore services!

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This Account is Now Inactive

2023-07-10T15:39:41Z

Posted by: otw_staff

This account has been set to inactive status and commenting is closed. Anyone looking for OTW News on Dreamwidth can subscribe here. You can also read news directly on our website.

The OTW can be contacted at our site if readers have questions or want to report issues with the feed linked above.

We also have a Pinboard account which provides links to all news the OTW and its projects have released.

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2023 Candidate Chats and Q&A Roundup

2023-07-09T15:22:23Z

Posted by: otw_staff

OTW Board candidates are answering your questions and chats with them will be coming up soon. Read more to find out when and where https://otw.news/b25e12

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June 2023 Newsletter, Volume 179

2023-07-07T14:27:25Z

Posted by: otw_staff

In our June newsletter, election season arrives, Legal starts work on a video exemption renewal, Fanlore celebrates Bingo in June and Fandom in Color in July, and AO3 tackles spam issues. Read more at https://otw.news/61f69e

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The OTW is Recruiting for Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers

2023-07-05T15:10:03Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Are you great at admin and enjoy the satisfaction of completing short tasks and ticking them off to-do lists? Or do you have experience in HR, volunteer management, data privacy and other related areas? OTW is recruiting volunteers! Help us signal boost or read more at https://otw.news/1a3858

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OTW Signal, July 2023

2023-07-03T16:52:55Z

Posted by: otw_staff

OTW Signal spotlights meeting with OTW volunteers and a podcast does a whole series on fandom + if you've ever wondered how Open Doors imports work, check this out at https://otw.news/90ffa1

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OTW Guest Post: Gem Asteria

2023-06-29T15:18:03Z

Posted by: otw_staff

This month's OTW guest, Gem Asteria, talks about her history with anime and manga and her journey to making a podfic podcast. Read more at https://otw.news/5312db

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Further Explanation on the Switch from Community to Feed

2023-06-27T14:25:29Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Communications volunteers have read your responses to our decision and wanted to make an additional post addressing your feedback. We want to state at the outset though that this will not be changing the decision that has been made, but hope it will show how much we value your feedback and have put thought into this decision. ( Read more... )

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Withdrawal of Candidate Emyn a.

2023-06-26T15:00:24Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Effective June 23, Emyn a. has withdrawn their candidacy for the 2023 Board election.

The Elections Committee wishes Emyn all the best.

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Comment Period Closure and Results

2023-06-25T18:20:31Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Hello OTW News readers!

As we mentioned in our post on June 10, the OTW Communications Committee has been reviewing usage of this community and getting responses from subscribers about potentially following OTW News via a feed account instead.

We have now compiled the responses we received to both the original message and the follow-up message, and we have decided to turn this account inactive and to direct users to follow the feed accounts instead.

Several factors went into this decision.

Amount of Response

Although there was a quick response to our initial post, and some additional comments to our follow-up, overall only 55 people replied to one or both posts out of 1206 subscribers. (An additional 16 accounts have added the community since then, but these users were either not following OTW News before, or were doing so elsewhere.)

Although it wasn't expected that the majority of people would respond, this amounts to less than 5% of subscribers. ( Read more... )

What Happens Next?

If you have not already done so, click on this link for the otw_rss_feed (and, if you want AO3 News as well, the AO3 News blog) and click on the Subscribe link. You will begin receiving the news post links in your reading list as each one goes out.

In order to allow time for people to switch over without losing news, we will continue posting here for the next few weeks. Then, this community's profile page will be changed and a pinned post will be made which will offer directions to any visitors on how to keep viewing news, see all past news, and how to contact us.

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Become a Member of the OTW and Vote for the 2023 Elections

2023-06-24T00:16:10Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Interested in voting in OTW's 2023 election for new members of its board? You must be an OTW member to do so. Find out more about what you need to do and by which deadline by going to https://otw.news/7f1333

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OTW is Recruiting for Communications and Tag Wranglers

2023-06-21T16:14:42Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Do you have experience in public relations or social media? Do you have experience with personnel management and project management? Would you like to wrangle AO3 tags? Can you read and translate from Chinese to English?

The Organization for Transformative Works is recruiting volunteers! Help us signal boost or read more at https://otw.news/426441

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2023 OTW Elections Candidates Announcement

2023-06-19T00:23:58Z

Posted by: otw_staff

OTW's Elections Committee announces the 7 candidates for the 2023 board of directors election. Read their bios and platforms by visiting https://otw.news/b219c4

Also the OTW Board has scheduled its next public meeting on July 2 at 20:00 UTC (See https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=OTW+Board+Meeting&iso=20230702T20&p1=1440 for your local time).

The meetings are held in the OTW Board's Discord server: https://discord.com/invite/VXPf7kB7bD

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Comment Period Update

2023-06-17T22:28:05Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Hello OTW News readers!

As we mentioned in the post here of June 10, the OTW Communications Committee has been reviewing its current news distribution sites to determine how best to allocate volunteer resources and how to reach the maximum number of fans interested in knowing more about our organization and projects.

We have compiled the responses we received and want to continue the comment period ending June 24 before any decision is made. There were a number of concerns raised which might or might not have appealing solutions, and there were also some misunderstandings we'd like to clear up.

Why is engagement important?

The short answer is that it's not. We don't expect anyone reading to feel the need to comment, and as some people have pointed out, they prefer to do so at the OTW website instead once they've read the entire post. ( Read more... )

What's next?

As we stated up top, we'd like to continue hearing from readers now that we've provided more information in response to your comments. After June 24 we'll discuss how we'll proceed, which might involve turning this account inactive, or continuing to post here manually for at least the next year, or should another alternative be put in place in the near future, doing another comment period to see how many people might be served by that option.

Thank you for your responses, and we hope to hear from you again.

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The OTW's Commitment to Safety: Responding to Recent Concerns About AO3

2023-06-16T16:48:21Z

Posted by: otw_staff

OTW's Legal Committee responds to concerns regarding cybersecurity and our Policy & Abuse team in connection with the 2022 attack on our organization: https://otw.news/ba88b7

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May 2023 Newsletter, Volume 178

2023-06-15T17:34:34Z

Posted by: otw_staff

In this month's newsletter, OTW's Board offers updates on AI, Terms of Service discussions and the work of their Diversity Consultant Research Officer; Fanlore's bingo challenge is underway; our volunteers were at Eurocon & TWC is looking for submissions. Read more at https://otw.news/67f128

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An Update from the OTW Board and Chairs

2023-06-12T15:33:33Z

Posted by: otw_staff

In 2020, OTW made a commitment that we would work towards making our organization & our projects more welcoming and inclusive to fans of color. We'd like to provide an update on what steps we have taken so far to accomplish those goals. Read more at https://otw.news/0f5300

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OTW News Reader Comment Period

2023-06-10T17:48:48Z

Posted by: otw_staff

The OTW Communications Committee periodically reviews its news distribution process to best balance volunteer workload and the maximum reach possible for readership. This review has shown that for some years now there has been little to no engagement here on Dreamwidth.

However readers on Dreamwidth are capable of utilizing RSS feed accounts. On Dreamwidth, OTW news can be found via the otw_rss_feed and there is a separate account for the AO3 News blog.

The Communications Committee is proposing to stop manually adding blurbs and links to this account, and instead redirecting readers to subscribe to the feeds. This account will not be deleted, so its archive will remain open. It simply will not be updated.

Today begins a 2 week feedback period from readers regarding this change, letting us know how many people are still reading, and what reasons those readers might have as to why the feeds would not serve the same function.

If you do comment, please let us know how long you have been reading this account and how often you click through to the website to read the full news posts. On June 24, we will post again with a decision.

Thank you for your interest in OTW news!

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Smoochies is Moving to the AO3

2023-06-08T17:21:22Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Smoochies, a multi-fandom fanfiction and fanart archive, is being imported to AO3. Read more at https://otw.news/3ccf70

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Five Things Marion McGowan Said

2023-06-05T16:14:28Z

Posted by: otw_staff

In Five Things, Marion McGowan discusses addressing unexpected hiccoughs during the Board of Directors election season and not letting initial rejection get her down before she became an Elections volunteer! Read more at https://otw.news/182aa5

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OTW Signal, June 2023

2023-06-01T17:07:18Z

Posted by: otw_staff

OTW Legal explains the fair use implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Warhol v Goldsmith in this month’s OTW Signal. Read more at https://otw.news/3f968b

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OTW Guest Post: popliar and tullycat

2023-05-29T16:30:02Z

Posted by: otw_staff

This month's OTW guests popliar and tullycat discuss fandom infrastructure, the importance of different spaces and how that influenced their kpop community’s name. Read more at https://otw.news/6aca94

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Stayka’s Saint Seiya Archive is Moving to the AO3

2023-05-26T17:16:22Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Stayka’s Saint Seiya Archive, a collection of fanworks inspired by the manga Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac), is being imported to AO3. Read more at https://otw.news/cd6d2d

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Five Things Gloria L Said

2023-05-23T17:14:06Z

Posted by: otw_staff

In Five Things, Gloria L discusses wrangling the wranglers and honing their communication skills as a Tag Wrangling supervisor. Read more at https://otw.news/cb3d7b

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Resignation of OTW Director

2023-05-21T17:20:41Z

Posted by: otw_staff

Per this announcement, Board Director Heather McGuire has just stepped down from her role. The OTW wishes her good luck in her future endeavors. Read more at https://otw.news/63f09e

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