How to Make a Bingo Event
I am relatively new to running Bingos (my Spideypool Bingo is technically on it’s third cycle, but it’s really only the second cycle extended because COVID), but I’ve had enough people independently asking me how I do it that I thought it might be helpful to make a guide. If you’ve been thinking ‘I wish there was a bingo for ____,’ here’s how you can make it happen.
PSA about Responsibility: Before I go into the how, I want to say a quick thing about the should. Running a bingo is relatively easy, but if you’ve going to run an event of any kind, you need to be prepared to be responsible for it. Once you send out cards, you (and anyone who chooses to mod with you) are responsible for maintaining the event at least until the agreed-upon end. If you suddenly can’t do it, you need to let participants know. I’ve participated in multiple events that ended up just... not happening because the mod got too busy and never bothered to tell the participants, and that’s Not Cool. Be prepared to answer questions. More questions than you expect, and likely about things you wouldn’t expect. A lot of times, things that seem very obvious to you. Make sure you have the patience for it. Not everyone comes to participating in events from the same place you do or for the same reasons, and they’ll have questions. If you want to do this right, be prepared to answer them with patience and an open mind. If you want the power of being a mod, do the Spidey thing and take the responsibility for it, too.
The Basics:
Create a prompt list. Make them up yourself. Borrow from other sources. Look up prompt lists and take from them what works for your event. However you want to do it, create a prompt list. If you borrow from other events, it’s important to both ask and give them credit. Most people are fine with sharing their stuff, but it’s polite to check that they’re okay with it and give them credit if you do.
Not necessary, but incredibly helpful later on, put the prompts somewhere that can be viewed by participants once sign-ups start. A Google spreadsheet. A blog post. A page on your website. Wherever. Just make it somewhere that can be made viewable during sign-ups. It will help immensely when it comes time to make people’s cards (and eventually re-make them, because a lot more people will ask for square changes than you expect). It’s a lot easier for people to tell you what they definitely don’t want if they can see the list of options ahead of time.
Create rules. If you don’t know where to start, look at what other bingo events are doing, even if they aren’t in your genre. Most events have basically the same rule set, with slight variations on doubling up, whether or not chaptered/wip submissions are allowed, and what types of entries they accept as fills. You can’t tell someone they can’t do something for your event if you don’t have the rules set up ahead of time, so it’s important to have boundaries set. As with the prompts, if you borrow from someone else, please ask and give them credit.
Create a card template (or more than one, if you intend to let your participants sign up for different types). If you want to include NSFW prompts and general audience prompts, you might want to have options for both (Not everyone is comfortable with NSFW. Not everyone is interested in general prompts. It’s helpful to have options for a wide variety of interests if you have prompts for them). You’ll want to include the name of the event, and then a space to plonk in the bingo squares. Here’s an example of what my template has looked like before, but there are a zillion others on the internet, too:
Create your bingo squares. There are a lot of bingo card generators out there, but if you really want flexibility and have access to a version of Excel that allows for macros, I recommend this generator. You can add as many prompts as you want and format the cards to have as many squares as you want. It takes some fiddling, but once you figure out how it functions, it is so useful. It’s super helpful to have a set of pre-generated cards ready for when you open sign-ups.
Create a sign-up form. Usually includes things like email address, prompt preferences (A Nope List is helpful for cutting down on replacement squares once the event gets started.), etc. It doesn’t haven’t to be complicated; just figure out what information you’ll need to get people cards that will work for both them and you.
Create a schedule that works with your schedule. If you want rolling sign-ups, be prepared to check the sign-up form at least every few days indefinitely. If that sounds daunting, I recommend keeping them open for a period of time (a month or 6 weeks is the usual), and then closing them for a period of time (Most bingos I’ve participated in that went in cycles were 6 months to a year, where the month before the start of a cycle was relegated to sign-ups, and then the following 6-11 months was set for creating). My bingo runs on a 6-month cycle (or at least it does when there isn’t a global crisis happening), so I only have to worry about creating new cards for two months out of the year: in June and December. A year might work better for your purposes. You just want to keep in mind that the length of time you hold a cycle should relate to how long your fandom’s attention span is. Sending out monthly reminders helps, but a shorter cycle allows for new people to come in and previous participants to bow out if they lose interest. If the cycle is too short, people won’t be able to get enough done. If it’s too long, they’ll forget about it. Find the balance that works for your particular niche.
Helpful:
Have a home base. You can’t promote an event or the things made for said event without one. Tumblr is the best option at the moment since it’s one of the only blog-style platforms that is still relatively active fandom-wise and is open to all users. Pillowfort is also an option, though it is still in beta at the writing of this post and behind a paywall unless you were already signed up, as is New Tumblr (though I haven’t see many active users there other than porn blogs). Twitter works for links and art, but there are limits if your focus is fiction. Dreamwidth and Livejournal exist, but aren’t as active as they used to be. Discord could work... sort of? It’s built for discussion more than posting content, but it’s an option. Hopefully there will be better options in the future.
Create an AO3 Collection. If you think there’s a possibility you might have multiple mods or you might pass the event off to another mod in the future, I strongly suggest creating an AO3 account specifically for the event where you can host the Collections without them being linked to your personal account. It’s the easiest way to keep things all in once place for readers/participants to find the things made for your event. If you plan to use Wattpad, I suppose do the same? Although I’ll be honest, my own experience of Wattpad has been so negative that I have zero knowledge of how it functions and no intention of learning #notsorry
Restrict card changes to once per round. Otherwise you will forever be changing cards and burn out before you’ve really started.
Advertise as widely as possible. If your fandom has an events blog, submit promotional posts. Use relevant hashtags. If you Discord, plonk a promo post into every multifandom room you’re allowed. Anywhere you can yell about your event, do so.
Create an event hashtag and follow it so you don’t have to worry about missing creations to promote on the event blog. If you use tumblr, allow for submissions.
I hope this is helpful and covers all the relevant information. If you have any further questions or need help, feel free to contact me. I’m available through dms, here and on Discord under MsCaptainWinchester#3164, or via email at [email protected].
