hey :) i'm reeelatively new here in terms of interacting outside of just reading fic and i was just wondering if you could shed some light on the hockey trumps hate process? i've read various fics before that have referenced this but i've never actually seen it in action, & i'm still a bit lost on how it actually works! so sorry if this is a stupid question, i just thought it doesn't do any harm to ask :)
Oh hi! Not a stupid question at all!!
For a bit of context, Hockey Trumps Hate is based on Fandom Trumps Hate, which was started in (I believe) 2017 as a reaction to Trump's first election. The idea is to auction off fanwork to raise money for progressive nonprofits. We aren't affiliated with FTH, but they very generously offer their auction guidebook to others looking to carry out fandom auctions, so how we function is very similar.
For HTH, we are currently in the creator signups phase of the auction. This is where content creators (loosely defined) can sign up to be "auctioned off" to the highest bidder (in the bidding phase; see below). Creators aren't just writers and visual artists: they can also be beta readers, podficcers, video editors, culture pickers...or maybe something we haven't even thought of! As long as the work is HRPF-related and can be delivered digitally, it's fair game to offer.
Creators sign up and specify what category of work they're willing to do and a few details about what kinds of prompts/requests they are and aren't up for fulfilling. Basically what is being auctioned off is a prompting opportunity -- if you win a creator's auction, you get to decide what kind of work they complete for you within the next year. That one story you've been dying to see written? That one artist you just really wish would draw a picture of your favorite player? That one story of yours you want someone to beta? That's what you enter the auction for, so that someone will do that particular work that you specify. And if you sign up as a creator, you're offering to do whatever work your highest bidder requests, within the scope you've defined in your signup.
A few days after signups close on May 14, we'll generate a post on Dreamwidth for each individual auction offering. Once those are all cleaned up and spiffy-looking, we'll spread the word that previews are starting. If you're interested in bidding, you'll be able to browse our Dreamwidth site to see what different creators are offering and start thinking about who you might want to bid on.
Starting June 1 we'll enter the bidding phase of the auction. Each auction post will have a link to a bidding spreadsheet, where you can see what bids have been entered so far, and a bidding form, where you can enter your own bid. The default lowest bid is $5, though creators can specify a higher one when they sign up, and they can also decide if how much work they do is dependent on how much the person paid. The auction works like a standard auction: if you decide you're willing to pay more than the current high bid, you'll enter a bid of your own. Someone else might bid higher than you or they may not (you'll have to proactively check to see if they do). If they do, you can decide whether it's worth it to you to go higher. The highest bid when the bidding forms close on 6/8 is the bid that wins.
After the close of bidding, we'll contact the highest bidders to let them know they've won. They'll have three days to donate the amount of their bid to one of the nonprofits we're supporting. Winners will donate directly to the charity and send HTH proof of their donation (a receipt or confirmation with certain info blacked out). Once the proof of donation is received, we'll give the creator the go-ahead, and they'll reach out to the auction winner to start figuring out what kind of fanwork they want.
That's the basic outline. I hope that helps; please let me know if there's anything else I can clarify!
