Archive of Our Own

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Elin, who volunteers as a Communications Event Coordinator and Translation Volunteer Manager.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?
I currently hold two different positions at the OTW.

For one, I'm part of the Communication committee's Events Coordination team. As an example for what we do, whenever you see a post on the AO3 homepage celebrating a milestone, or on the OTW website commemorating one of our anniversaries, I might have had a hand in it! We also organize special activities to go with some events, such as a a themed bingo we did recently, the special anniversary skin we released for AO3's 15th anniversary, or even our annual International Fanworks Day (IFD).

As for my second role, I'm also a volunteer manager in our Translation committee. It's a very varied position, as volunteer managers pull the strings behind the scenes necessary to keep a 200+ people strong committee running smoothly. That encompasses a lot of different day-to-day tasks. Some of those tasks include: preparing documents for translation, and assigning them to translators, helping translate news posts and posts concerning larger events, such as the OTW's Membership Drive, and are generally being the first point of contact for any problems a translator might run into. And that's just a small part of our work!

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

Honestly it varies a lot! Like most OTW volunteers, I have a day job that takes up a lot of my time and energy during the week, so I'll typically do small, quick tasks on weeknights, if possible. Those tasks that require a sustained amount of focus and effort I try to save for the weekend. It also varies by time of year how much work I do for each of my roles! For example, when IFD rolls around in February (and during the months leading up to it), my workload during the week might increase for a time.

What made you decide to volunteer?

Story old as time, I suppose, but I've been reading fanfic on AO3 for a long time (since I was 14 or 15, I believe) without getting into fan communities much. I really wanted to return something to fandom space at large, and AO3 in particular. When I saw that the OTW was recruiting for German translators, I applied, and was accepted!

During my time as an active translator (volunteer managers usually mostly step back from that) my work included translating all these amazing news posts other volunteers had written. I wanted to try my hand at coming up with posts myself, which was one of my motivations to apply as an Event Coordinator. And then I realized that as a volunteer manager I'd have even more varied tasks I could tackle, so I switched roles inside the Translation committee last year!

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?

Probably figuring out how to balance my day job/hobbies/relationships with OTW volunteering! For me personally it's very easy to head straight into burnout, as I'm very enthusiastic about any new tasks I've taken on. However, there are always more things to do, and I've had to learn to occasionally take a step back and take a break, the better to sustain my enjoyment of the work I do!

What fannish things do you like to do?

Reading fanfic, primarily! In a variety of fandoms, for a variety of ships (or platonic relationships). More recently, I've also started taking more of an interest in other online fan spaces, though I tend to lurk more than actively involve myself. Otherwise, I like creating my own AO3 site skins – ⁠I find it quite meditative – ⁠and I swear one of these days I'll actually commit to finishing a story myself and posting it.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out previous Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, OTW Legal Advocacy, and Transformative Works and Cultures. We are a fan-run, donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Ellipsis, who volunteers as a Tag Wrangler and also a Technical Assistant for the Communications Committee.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?
I currently hold two roles with the OTW.

I wrangle tags on AO3 for a couple of smallish fandoms with lots of characters. So I’m frequently digging through wiki pages and scrubbing through episodes to figure out if the character someone tagged is from canon or an OC. It's always very satisfying to provide new canonical character tags.

I am also the "Technical Assistant" for Communications. My primary responsibility there is managing the "OTW News By Email" automations. I set up all the automations and keep an eye out for and troubleshoot any issues; this occasionally involves reaching out to Systems or the newsletter service’s support team. I also help out if any subscribers reach out for help with their subscriptions. Beyond the "News By Email" stuff, I also help with investigating or suggesting other tech solutions for the Communications committee and occasionally help to write/research some of the more technical news posts.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?
I do most of my focused volunteer work on the weekends, since I’ve got a full-time job during the week (and by the time I’m done work for the day and figure out food and whatnot I don’t have much time or energy left).

Every Saturday evening I work on Comms tasks. Exactly what I’m doing depends on what I’ve got on my plate. One thing I frequently work on is writing documentation about how the News By Email automation works. (Right now I manage everything myself but it's important to make sure there is good documentation in case someone else has to hop in and do something.) I also researched and drafted a news post recently, which involved a lot of rounds of feedback from different committees since it was inspired by a request from Support and relates to AD&T. Other common tasks include helping answer support queries about the email subscription, adding new functionality (the ability to subscribe just to recruitment posts went live recently), and cleaning up unsubscribed users.

If something breaks or otherwise goes weird I’ll jump in outside of my standard hours, but most of the time things can wait.

Every other weekend I tend to do wrangling work sometime during the day on Saturday or Sunday. Often I’ll host or attend a "wrangling party" (set times when lots of folks wrangle and cheer each other on). During that time I’ll check through whatever new tags have come in for my fandoms and sort them accordingly. I’ve got a few fandoms with lots of characters, so there are almost always some new characters or relationships to make canonicals for. I’ll also occasionally dig through the additional tags to check if anything has gained enough usages to get a canonical.

What made you decide to volunteer?
I initially joined as a tag wrangler. As an avid reader of fic, a programmer, and someone who finds categorization interesting, I find the tag system on AO3 really awesome. So when I found out how it worked and that you could volunteer to wrangle tags, I started eagerly watching for recruitment posts. It took a couple rounds before there was a post that was recruiting for wranglers for a fandom I had experience with.

A couple of years ago (once I’d been a wrangler for a while), Communications was looking into sending out news posts by email. They asked for volunteers who were willing to be test subjects and report back on receiving emails. However, the services they were testing weren’t a good fit and they were running into a lot of issues. I got curious and fell down a research rabbit hole and suggested another service. The service was one that required a bit more technical knowhow, though, and the volunteers running the test weren’t comfortable setting it up, so I offered to test it out and report back. They ended up going with the service I suggested and asked me to help set it up for real. Then eventually Communications asked me if I was interested in officially joining the committee as a "Technical Assistant."

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?
Executive functioning. I’ve got ADHD (and Autism) so I struggle with intrinsic motivation and easily lose track of time, especially when I’ve got a full-time job eating all my spoons (energy). When I first started volunteering, I had been laid off and was unemployed so I had a lot of spare time and energy. So finding the balance once I was back to working full time was tricky.

In the last year or so I’ve started being firmer on scheduling specific times to do my volunteer work to help avoid losing track completely. For Comms work, I have a scheduled time set up each week that I work. And at that time another Comms volunteer will poke me on the volunteer messaging service to check in and ask about what I’m doing that evening; having that sort of external check in is massively helpful for me. Signing up to host wrangling parties serves a similar purpose in giving me external accountability about being present at a specific time to wrangle.

What fannish things do you like to do?
Mostly reading so much fic. I started reading fanfiction when I was a kid, probably around 8 or 9 years old. One of my real-life friends introduced me to it and in their words they "created a monster." (I don’t know exactly when I started reading because I no longer have the email I used at that time and my autistic kid brain was hung up on "you aren't supposed to have an account if you aren’t 13" so I read for quite a while before getting my FFN account). I occasionally count up how many words I’m reading per week and I’m frequently somewhere around 200k words per week. (It varies a bit depending on the density of the fic and how much else I’ve got going on. When I’m unemployed, it goes way up.)

I try to leave lots of comments as my way of giving back to all the authors who provide all the wonderful fics I get to read for free. (I’ve recently started using the sticky note app on my phone to compose comments with blockquotes while I’m reading so I can call out favorite bits or “live react” a bit.)

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out previous Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, OTW Legal Advocacy, and Transformative Works and Cultures. We are a fan-run, donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Last November we asked the community to submit questions to our OTW volunteers in celebration of International Volunteer Day. In this series of posts we will spotlight some of our committees' responses.

The Communications committee (Comms) disseminates information to the general public, media, and fans. We draft and beta news posts and social media posts, and are often the first point of contact for anyone interested in the OTW.

We asked Comms for replies to your questions, and received a lot of feedback! Below you can find a selection of their answers:

Communications Committee Specific Questions

Question: We're so thankful for how fast you guys always respond when the ao3 website goes down. I was wondering what's the circus like behind the scenes when it happens? xD Do you usually first notice when we start panicking, or does someone keep an eye on it 24/7, do emails start flying from social team to it, is it usually scary or is it very organised and calm since you're so experienced, who makes the decision to pull the plug for a few hours if it's really bad and looks hopeless, stuff like this. Thank you!
Committee answer:
Accessibility, Design, & Technology (AD&T) and Systems (our two main technical committees) have already given their own replies to this, but from Comms’ end, we often are the ones that handle posting and disseminating information for downtimes! We work hand in hand with AD&T and Systems to ensure that we're distributing the most accurate and concise information to the public, and coordinate with our fellow volunteers to make sure that it’s sent out in time. We do our best to handle the public logistics so that our coders can focus on their own work!

General Questions

How many hours a week do you spend on your OTW volunteer work?

• It truly depends on the week! Typically I would say ~4 hours, for just keeping on top of things and my weekly tasks. It can be upwards of 10 if there's things outside of the norm or that require a bit of research. (Caitlynne)
• For me, it depends on the time of year most of all! As an Event Coordinator, half of the year I'd say it's ~2-6 hours a week. The bulk of our anniversaries and holidays converge into fall and winter, during that time it's more ~6-8 hours. (Elin)

How do you manage your volunteer time, and do you do the same thing every day like with a day job?

• I hop on my computer pretty frequently throughout the week, so I tailor my OTW time to when I'm on my PC. If there's a day I'm busy and away from my PC, I know I'll have to "catch up" the next day when I have time, so to speak. (Tiana)
• I try to check our chat tool/the Comms email when I can throughout the day and give a dedicated half hour or so on my laptop in the evenings. It doesn't always work out, but that's the goal! (callmeri)

What's your favorite part about volunteering at the OTW?

• I like that tending the little OTW!Tumblr corner of the landscape helps the whole fandom ecosystem. (Remi)
• The best part of volunteering at the OTW is the people, for sure! The social aspect is easily what motivates me the most to stay. I have made lots of friends and the Communications committee has been a really supportive environment! (stork)

What's the aspect of volunteer work with the OTW that you most wish more people knew about?

• We are fans just like you! There are so many different cultures and fandoms coming together every day to make the organisation run. (Tal)
• We are really big on emojis! The custom emoji feature on our chat tool is definitely getting a lot of mileage with us XD. Also, you can put OTW work on your resume if you want to. (stork)

What does a typical day as an OTW volunteer looks like for you?

• Check the Tumblr notes and ask box in the morning, before scrolling through my personal dash and then the tags the organisation follows looking for Things To Queue. Mosey through the #ao3 tag on occasion to reply or leave little notes to folks. Every day is similar, but none are The Same. (Remi)
• I often start by checking and responding to messages from other volunteers, and then make a list of current tasks to work on. Sometimes that means brainstorming activities for a special milestone, other times it's writing posts, or preparing for an event. (Elin)

What is your favorite animal? Alternatively, do you have a favorite breed of cat/dog?

• I love bats and think they're super cute, but identify with possums on an emotional level. (Caitlynne)
• My favorite animal is a saiga antelope. Fave dog breed: Irish wolfhound. (Communications volunteer)

Do you enjoy reading fanfic? If so, what's your favorite work on AO3?

• For a dyslexic person I seem to read A LOT of fanfic... I actually tend to read more on AO3 than actual books?? Anyway, my favourite of all time would have to be unholyverse. I don't think anything can beat that… (Gray)
• I love reading fic so much it's kind of concerning how many tabs I have open all the time. My favourite fic is locked but another fave is between the sheets by DasWarSchonKaputt. og. goat. mother. (choux)

Do you write any fanfic yourself? What do you enjoy about it?

• I do write. I enjoy the creativity and the ability to explore characters. (Communications volunteer)
• I do! It's my favorite hobby and one I neglected a bit last year. I hope to get back into the swing of it in 2026. (Tiana)

What fandoms are you (currently) in?

• I’m very active in the Dan and Phil fandom :3 (Gray)
• Mostly MDZS and IWTV for the past few years, but Heated Rivalry took over my brain so it looks like I'm getting on that ride. (callmeri)

Do you feel glad or proud to see fanfiction in your mother tongue?

• I'm also a tag wrangler, so I get to participate in tag translation (every tag wrangled needs to have a documented english translation). There aren't as many German works, but we have loads of German volunteers – this means there's often several of us running to translate whenever there's a German tag. it's really cool to see very specific cultural references in works! (Tal)
• I read a TON of socmed AUs in Filipino along with the Filipino fics in general! I'm super happy to see fanwork in Filipino and when a creator is Filipino as well! especially when I see actual locations or cultural tidbits getting referenced. (choux)

Thanks so much to every volunteer who took the time to answer!

(For more answers, check out this work on AO3, where we collect additional replies to each question!)

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, OTW Legal Advocacy, and Transformative Works and Cultures. We are a fan-run, donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

As we're about to enter into a new year, here's a reminder of where you can find the OTW online.

We are aware there may be barriers to accessing our sites, whether it’s a social media account or our sites themselves. This is one of the many reasons we maintain official accounts in multiple locations. Maintaining accounts across multiple platforms allows people to connect with us in whatever place is easiest for them!

This year, we added two new social media platforms to our posting rota: Bluesky and TikTok, to better connect with fans in 2024 (and beyond). This increases the number of social media platforms Communications manually posts on to eight, also including:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Tumblr
• Twitter/X
• Weibo

For a full list of official social media accounts maintained across the OTW, including by projects such as AO3 or committees such as Elections, please refer to Where to Find Us on the OTW website.

Unofficial Accounts

Occasionally, fans will set up unofficial social media accounts, either on the same platforms we use or in spaces where we have no accounts. Unofficial accounts sometimes make that status clear and sometimes they don’t. Similarly, fans on various platforms have set up RSS feeds of our news posts. These feeds are automated accounts and there is no one running them. The information may also only be available temporarily, and while they include official news, they are not controlled by the OTW and you won't be able to reach us there.

The best way to check whether a social media account is official is to refer to Where to Find Us on the OTW website. If you're subscribed to anything not on this list, it's an unofficial account.

Contacting Us

While we receive and try to respond to comments and questions on all our platforms, these accounts are not always moderated and the platforms themselves may restrict our responses in different ways. If you want to make sure you get an answer, you'll have better luck reaching us via our contact form.

If you have an AO3 related question and aren’t sure who to ask, check out the Contacting the Staff FAQ on AO3. If you're still not sure, contact Communications; if we don’t have the answer, we'll pass your message on to the relevant OTW team.

Spread the Word!

It is tremendously helpful to us when fans spread information about our organization, projects, or particular news releases. So, please help us boost relevant news and reduce misinformation by pointing people to our official accounts.

You can also let other fans know about the OTW website: what kind of information can be found on it and how it has contact forms you can reach us at! If you come across unofficial accounts which don't label themselves as such, please let us know.

Thanks for your help!

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with LianneW, who volunteers as a Fanhackers volunteer on the Communications committee.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

Fanhackers is a group that aims to make scholarly work on fandom accessible to a general audience. We write blog posts on fan studies topics, promote studies looking for fan input, manage a community bibliography, and more in the same vein!

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

Fanhackers volunteers typically write one blog post per two weeks. So far, I’ve posted summaries of scholarly articles on fandom (especially on queer topics) and info on various fannish projects like oral history and archiving projects. I’m also organizing an exciting publication project with Fanhackers! We’re soliciting written and visual submissions for a zine that combines scholarly, artistic, and generally thoughtful work on the theme of “fandom friendship.” If you’re interested, check our blog on July 26 for more details!

What made you decide to volunteer?

Fandom is one of my life’s biggest joys, and I wanted to give back to fandom in a different way. I also specifically was interested in Fanhackers as a way to continue my scholarly thinking after graduating from university.

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?

I can’t really say that there have been any challenges, since I started volunteering with OTW somewhat recently! It’s been a lot of fun.

What fannish things do you like to do?

I used to write fanfiction and organize fandom events a lot more, but now I’m mostly a consumer! I still enjoy fanfiction and fanart and have my favorite fan merch on my bedroom wall. My fandom nowadays is mostly my friends.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

With approximately 7 million registered users on AO3 and thousands of OTW members, news posts get more engagement than ever. We love when users express their thoughts or concerns regarding the news we publish! However, the comment sections on some of our previous news posts have not been a welcoming or safe space for engagement.

In recent months, we have developed a News Post Moderation policy and recruited a team of volunteers who you may see commenting on posts in the future. We would like to announce the key points of the policies our News Post Moderators will be following when monitoring the comment sections of our News Posts.

Comments on news posts may be frozen or hidden by a News Post Moderator if they contain:

• Spam or unsolicited advertising
• Content about topics outside of fans, fandom, and Internet policy, and which would not fall under the purview of the OTW
• Misinformation (particularly about the OTW) with the potential to harm or mislead others
• Explicit/graphic sexual or violent language
• Attempts to draw negative attention to a specific individual or fanwork
• Insults and personal attacks towards other users
• Inflammatory or speculative language that may result in harassment
• Violations of the site's Terms of Service

Please note that the above is not an exhaustive list of all comments that may be actioned.

In addition, any comments on AO3 News Posts that violate the Terms of Service may be reported to the Policy & Abuse committee.

OTW volunteers will respond to comments using an Official OTW committee account to clarify points of confusion or engage with user feedback. Comments from Official accounts will be clearly marked on AO3 with a bolded (Official) after the username, and on the OTW website with a signature identifying the relevant OTW committee or team. For example, comments from News Post Moderators will use the "OTW_News_Post_Moderation (Official)" account on AO3. On the OTW website, they'll be signed with their name followed by "OTW News Post Moderator".

If an OTW volunteer comments on a news post using a personal account, that volunteer is not acting in an official capacity. Such comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW, nor do they constitute OTW policy.

We hope that our users will welcome this policy announcement and find that it improves their experience on the AO3 and OTW websites.

UPDATE: Due to a high number of off topic comments, comment moderation has been turned on. All comments now must be approved by a moderator before becoming visible. If you have any questions about this policy, please contact the News Post Moderation team directly using our contact form on the OTW website.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Claudia Rebaza, who volunteers as a Communications chair.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

I am currently one of the Communications Committee (Comms) chairs. The committee handles a lot of different tasks, some of which other committees also do and some of which are unique to us. We either respond to or redirect incoming queries made to the OTW website's contact form. We maintain the OTW News posting schedule and send out most of the organization's news posts on our own sites, as well as linking to them from our social media accounts. We also recruit mods for those social media accounts, and we hold events such as the International Fanworks Day celebrations (IFD) and mark various OTW milestones publicly.

We respond to media and academic interview requests, and we are responsible for creating 4 news series posts each month (including this one!). We are also responsible for creating and sending out the OTW's Annual Report and for updating information on the OTW website.

Internally we also serve as the umbrella committee for the Fanhackers project, and we work on policies and reports such as the surveys the OTW ran this past year.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

One thing about Comms is that while there are a lot of recurring tasks, weeks can be atypical since much of what we do is in response to something that comes into our Inbox from the outside or is a request or discussion from another part of the OTW. But chairs are responsible for recruitment, and often training, for the new recruits. As Comms has had to reconstitute itself this past year, a lot of my time has been spent on that.

There may be meetings of some kind, so either a committee meeting, a meeting among the chairs, or check-ins with committee volunteers. There are also conversations with members of other committees regarding things Comms is involved in such as news posts, organizing information, or policy and documentation development. There may also be ongoing work on new projects, such as our recently launched OTW News by Email service.

What made you decide to volunteer?

I was not involved when the OTW was formed but I was aware of it from those early days. Early on I used the Open Doors project to get some physical fanworks donated to its partnering library and I provided some feedback about work on AO3. I thought it was a really valuable effort to launch the organization and I wanted it and its mission to succeed. So when I was able to give more of my time I volunteered.

The recruitment and training processes in 2011 were very different to what they are now. The OTW was going through growing pains as it transitioned from a fan project start up to a more formal organization. I felt that was a really good time to start with OTW because there was a general re-assessment of "Is this how we should do things?" that was going on. That led to the creation of more structure and procedures, which helped me develop the Communications committee. Then, as now, if anyone was willing to step into a leadership role and get things done it was usually an open path, because there's always been a shortage of people with the time or interest in doing it.

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?

I think that the previous question about what makes people decide to volunteer is not nearly as critical an issue as what keeps them volunteering. There are people in OTW who have been here as long as I have (or longer) but the bulk of volunteers have a very limited time here and that causes a lot of issues. It means the organization as a whole is constantly in a state of turnover. Even if my own committee kept a lot of volunteers for years at a time (which has rarely happened) it would still affect us because people we worked with in other committees (or the Board) would be turning over as well.

That turnover means projects may end before they ever get developed because the key people doing so are gone. It also means that chairs spend too much time getting and training new people, or having to take over tasks themselves because there's no one else to do them. So any new undertaking can take a very long time to happen because even if key people have not left, they may have their time diverted because of someone else who has. It's too much bailing water and not enough time or energy to row.

Lately it's also been frustrating just getting tech to work without having to replace it, do workarounds, or having to have our heroic Volunteers & Recruitment committee members help troubleshoot. That's not an OTW thing – I'm pretty sure anyone using tech for any kind of work or activity has one headache after another with things not working, not giving them access, or constantly changing with updates. But the OTW's a workplace, so it has all the usual issues of one, and there's no shortage of new problems appearing.

What fannish things do you like to do?

My fannish time has been pretty limited in recent years, as both OTW work and other things have been cutting into it. So some OTW activities have filled in for my time in other fannish spaces. As part of my Comms work I monitor references to OTW and its projects in the news, so I end up reading a good bit about fandom in news outlets. That sort of coverage has increased and become better over the years. I also enjoy reading the responses that people in our Guest Post series offer. There's such a lot of great activity going on in so many different areas. It's the age of fandom and there's so much to learn about.

There's also so much the OTW projects offer, whether it's academic research in Transformative Works and Cultures or the way you can spiral into link after link on Fanlore. This is my last month in the OTW so I will eventually be getting involved in other places again. But I will remain a user of OTW projects and services and hope they'll be with us for a long time.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Although OTW News can be accessed through various social media platforms, today we'd like to announce an additional option. You can now subscribe to get OTW News delivered to your Inbox. This service is being offered both for reader convenience as well as a workaround for issues fans experience, such as the inability to add links to Instagram posts, missing news posts due to algorithm shenanigans or busy days, or not using the social media sites we post to (or any social media at all).

The OTW News by Email service is free and available in multiple languages. There is further information at the link, but please also review the following:

1. Not all OTW News gets translated, and even when posts are translated, they may not be available in every language. If you want to receive a copy of all news posts each month, please choose English in addition to your preferred language(s).
2. Including English, there are 16 languages currently available and it is possible more will be added in the future. We will announce this in the OTW Newsletter should this happen.
3. There are three types of delivery options. By default everyone will be signed up for emergency messages (although you can uncheck that option before subscribing).
4. On average, English language OTW News posts go out 3 times each week. If you would prefer fewer emails in your inbox, choose the Digest option which will email you once at the end of each month with blurbs and links to all that month's posts.
5. If you are subscribed to Individual News Posts, you should receive posts for each language you chose within a few hours of the post going public. Timing for each language post may vary depending on the order in which they were posted.

Should you have problems with the subscription process, please check the following:

1. After you chose your subscription options and clicked on subscribe, did you receive an email to verify your address? (Note: you will be redirected to a webpage once you subscribe, but the button there will not confirm your subscription.) To start getting messages you must click on the link in the email sent to you.
2. Did you receive a confirmation email after you verified your address? If not you may want to try subscribing again.
3. If it's been several hours since a post went out and, despite being subscribed to Individual News Posts you have not received a copy, check your spam folder. Or, if you use Gmail, your Social folder. Make sure to mark our emails as Not Spam.
4. Have you been receiving messages in your Inbox but now they're ending up in spam? Be sure to open an email regularly, even if you don't read it. Many email services respond to your behavior and will assume a sender is spamming you if you receive emails from a certain address often but never open them.

If you have made the above checks and are still having an issue, you can contact the Communications Committee for help in troubleshooting your news delivery.

If you like the OTW News by Email service, please let other fans know it's an option for them to keep up with OTW activities and topics!

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Remi, who volunteers as a Tumblr moderator on our Communications committee.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

I run the OTW Tumblr account! The OTW was born of a love of fandom, and Tumblr is a place where a lot of fandom things happen. Still. No matter what the other news sites say about Tumblr. There are writers and artists, gifmakers and fancrafters, people whose whole blogs are finding fandom things and promoting their brilliant creators.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

A couple of times a day I check the askbox and notes in the activity feed. A few times a week I trawl the tags for more posts to put into the queue. Some days the work is just being another point of contact for people trying to find information on the OTW, but sometimes it is about being a fandom sounding board—and those parts are my favorite. I try to balance queuing posts and reblogging polls, since those are usually time-constrained.

Sometimes I will get an ask that prompts me to start a conversation with another OTW team, and then I get to post something about how the OTW works that I didn’t know before someone asked. It might be tag wrangling on AO3, how things get imported to Open Doors—OTW heading to cons, even!

What made you decide to volunteer?

The call for volunteers went out, and I came across the Tumblr post mentioning that one of the openings was for a Tumblr mod. I have been a longtime supporter of the OTW and their mission, and I have been in and around various fandoms on Tumblr for a long time. This seemed like a way I could contribute to the OTW on an ongoing basis.

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?

There was that one time that the Tumblr blog was the only available communications platform due to a DDOS attack that took down all the OTW servers, right at the same time as Twitter was only viewable to logged-in Twitter users. That was definitely a challenge. If y’all are on Tumblr you will know that other than one-liner news updates via the Supernatural meme, it is not the best place for breaking news that requires continuous updates.

At least once a day I worry that I am not finding enough fandom variety in the queue. Finding fandom content for a fandom you aren’t in? Surprisingly stressful.

What fannish things do you like to do?

I have been an avid fic reader in a variety of fandoms for most of my adult life. I will read all sorts of things—I have a weakness for crossovers (although not usually fusions), crack-treated-seriously, and when someone fleshes out a canon’s worldbuilding. My friends will often laugh at me because I am almost always more excited to read about sidekicks than the protagonists.

I sort fic by word count and start with the longest! I will rarely find anything under 10,000 words without someone sending it to me. I started reading fanfiction because I always wanted to know what happened next, or what happened when we weren’t there in canon—so longfics are my go-to.

I beta read for a handful of writers. I really love being excited and screaming my excitement at a writer as they are writing. Beta reading was my first non-commenting contribution to fanworks, and my enjoyment of that led to me joining some fandom events.

I am not really an author, and the only art I make is fiber art. Luckily I found some events that were extremely supportive of the inclusion of fibercraft! I started to crochet fandom amigurumi for the artist-entry, and on occasion I have even sent them to the authors who inspired them! I also add fandom-related colorwork to my knitwear.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

As some readers know, 2023 had some unexpected events and the OTW needed to keep fans in the loop as to what was happening with our site stability and what steps we were taking to come back online. When this occurred, many fans did not realize that there were social media accounts they could follow to get more information.

During that time, some bad actors decided to take advantage of fans by pretending to represent us while soliciting donations during the time when our actual donation form was not accessible.

The best way to check whether a social media account is official is to visit the ‘Where to Find Us’ page at the OTW website. This lists our live accounts across all platforms. If you're subscribed to an account purporting to be us that does not appear on this page, you are not following an official account.

Official vs. Unofficial Accounts

Many people choose to subscribe to OTW news either through their social media accounts or through feed readers. It is important to check, however, if those accounts are actually ours.

On occasion, fans will set up unofficial social media accounts, either on the same platforms we use or in spaces where we have no accounts. Unofficial accounts sometimes make that status clear and sometimes they don't.

Similarly, fans on various platforms have set up RSS feeds of our news posts. These feeds are automated accounts and there is no one running them. The information may also only be available temporarily, and while they include official news, you can't reach us there.

Contacting Us

Official accounts are run by the Communications Committee. While we receive comments and questions on those platforms, these accounts are not always moderated and the platforms themselves may restrict our responses in different ways. To ensure that we receive your question or comment, it is therefore always best to get in touch with us through our contact form. Questions or comments regarding the Archive of Our Own should be sent to the Support team.

If you're not sure who to direct your question to, try Communications, and if we don't have the answer we will forward your message to the OTW team who can help you.

The OTW can be contacted in 46 languages, something which is also facilitated by using our contact forms.

Coming Soon

The Communications Committee is currently doing internal testing for a free service where you can receive our news posts directly in your email inbox. We hope to make an announcement early next year, offering details about how the service will work.

Spread the Word!

It is tremendously helpful to the OTW when fans help us to share information, either about our organization and projects or particular news releases. So please, help us reduce misinformation and boost relevant content by pointing people to our official accounts.

You can also let other fans know what sorts of information they can find at our website, and that they can reach us through our contact forms. And if you come across unofficial accounts which are not listed as such, do let us know.

Thanks for your help!

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

The Organization for Transformative Works turns 16 today! We are very happy to be able to celebrate another year with you all.

The OTW was born to serve fans and protect fan history and culture in all its forms; it’s our mission in troubling times. Since its foundation, OTW has helped rescue hundreds of fanworks from at-risk archives and platforms, old and new, making them accessible to millions of users; it has advocated for fans in an ever-changing legal environment; it has preserved fan culture through a wiki that you can contribute to; it has published 39 issues of an international, peer-reviewed fan-studies journal; and of course, it provides access to over 11 million fanworks.

But we want to hear from you! In order to better understand how to reach fans where they are, we'd like to find out what online spaces you are using to interact and exchange news. So, we've prepared a survey!

The survey asks between 16 to 35 ticky box and multiple choice questions (depending on what answers are given) and does not ask for any identifying information. All users will be anonymous. We ask that only those 18 or over take the survey.

TAKE THE SURVEY

In honor of our anniversary, the survey will be open for 16 days (closing on September 21 at 23:59 UTC). We will be sharing the results of the survey in a public report in October.

We're asking for your help – not only in taking the survey, but in helping us to spread the news that it is available! Please share the link to this post and use the #OTW16thSurvey tag in your fandom spaces!

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

As many readers know, Twitter has been undergoing changes which are destabilizing the platform, and there have been reports of frustrating user experiences as services are reduced. This is leading some individuals and organizations to explore other social media options.

The OTW has various accounts at Twitter for our individual projects as well as the OTW as a whole. We will be evaluating how Twitter fits into our news distribution efforts as the site changes continue.

During this time of possible transitions, we are taking the opportunity to remind readers and followers both where else you can find us, as well as to caution fans about new unofficial accounts that may start popping up.

Official vs. Unofficial Accounts

Many people choose to subscribe to OTW news either through their social media accounts or through feed readers. It is important to check, however, if those accounts are actually ours.

On occasion, fans will set up unofficial social media accounts, either on the same platforms we use or in spaces where we have no accounts. Unofficial accounts sometimes make that status clear and sometimes they don't. Similarly, fans on various platforms have set up RSS feeds of our news posts. These feeds are automated accounts and there is no one running them. The information may also only be available temporarily, and while they include official news, they are not controlled by the OTW and you can't reach us there.

The best way to check whether a social media account is official is to visit the ‘Where to Find Us’ page at the OTW website. This lists our live accounts across all platforms. If you're not subscribed to one of those, you are not following an official account.

Contacting Us

Official accounts are individually posted to by the Communications Committee. While we receive comments and questions on those platforms, these accounts are not always moderated and the platforms themselves may restrict our responses in different ways. To ensure that we receive your question or comment, it is therefore always best to get in touch with us through our contact form. Questions or comments regarding the Archive of Our Own should be sent to the Support team

If you're not sure who to direct your question to, try Communications, and if we don't have the answer we will send your message on to the OTW team who can help you.

The OTW can be contacted in 46 languages, something which is also facilitated by using our contact forms.

Access to Our Accounts

We are aware that people may have barriers to accessing our sites, whether it's a social media account or the OTW website itself. This is one of the reasons why we maintain official accounts in multiple locations.

While for many these restrictions may be due to local blocks from a school or business, there are also different nations which either temporarily or permanently block particular internet addresses.

If you are unable to follow us at one platform, hopefully another one of our sites will be available to you. We are always examining additional locations for official accounts in order to best reach fans, and you are welcome to send us suggestions. Although current staffing or workloads may prevent us from expanding in the near future, we will keep requests in mind as part of long-term planning.

Spread the Word!

It is tremendously helpful to the OTW when fans help us to share information either about our organization and projects or particular news releases. So please, help us reduce misinformation and boost relevant content by pointing people to our official accounts. You can also let other fans know what sorts of information they can find at our website, and that they can reach us through our contact forms. And if you come across unofficial accounts which are not listed as such, do let us know.

Thanks for your help!

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

[Edited on November 30, 2022, 13:07 UTC: Due to off-topic replies, comments on this post have been disabled.]

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with one of our Fanhackers staffers on our Communications Committee.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

Our organisation’s mission is to preserve and provide access to fanwork and fan culture, and part of that work is describing this culture. By now, fandom studies as a discipline is well established with its own conference and journals, such as our very own Transformative Works and Cultures. It is not a question anymore whether this culture is distinct or valuable enough to have academic discourse about it.

This recognition from academic circles came early because fans themselves started to describe our own communities, modes of creation, genres, and how we accumulate social and cultural capital. No wonder that after honing our skills on so-called metas, analysing the cultural products we are fannish about, that discourse about this culture is also a typical work made by fans. Yet, despite fannish academics and essay-writing fans, there is work to be done in connecting these discourses. Of course, that happens many times already, but my project -- Fanhackers -- work is to provide tools that make these connections happen more easily, and more frequently.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

My work consists of long hours of reading and then the arduous work of talking about what I read with other people. It’s basically like being fannish and organising fannish events, but with academic texts. I have the honour of working together with talented and motivated people and I only have to encourage their writing and ideas.

It is my dream to work together with guest posters, to have people send us questions and suggestions for the kind of posts they want to see, the kind of texts they want us to cover, the kind of tools we should provide. We also have a bibliography of past and present fan studies work that I hope will move more into the spotlight in the future.

What made you decide to volunteer?

I know that I might not be able to stay within academia, but I wanted fandom studies to still be part of my life. This way, I made it other people’s jobs to kick my butt if I slack off.

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?

With my background, I mostly work with people who have a deeper understanding of fandom studies and more academic experience, and with people who have a deeper understanding of fandom discourses. I have too little understanding for both of their tastes, but at least I can rely on my lack of understanding to see where there might be a gap that needs to be bridged.

What fannish things do you like to do?

I am a fanfiction writer, so writing circles are where I am active. I participate in more exchanges, auctions and fests than what my beta would like to allow me. I also co-mod a Dreamwidth community. I am also just getting into ficbinding, and it is yet to be seen what my work in that area will be like.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Zixin, who volunteers as a staffer in the Communications Committee.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

I first joined the OTW as a Tag Wrangler. Our duty is to categorize user-created tags on the AO3, making it more convenient for readers to search for tags and fics. When the first Chinese wrangling recruits finished their training, I also helped other wranglers translate Chinese tags into English, participated in the Chinese fandom tag project, and discussed proper tag translation with other Chinese volunteers.

Later on, I joined the Policy and Abuse Committee, whose main duty is to deal with user complaints according to AO3’s Terms of Service and its FAQ. We also assist users with their Fannish Next of Kin requests. Of course, as one of the few Chinese staff in the committee, my work also includes helping with tickets about Chinese works. I also translate English emails into Chinese so Chinese users could better understand them.

Last year, I joined the Communications Committee and became one of the Weibo moderators for our OTW account. As a Weibo mod, I interact with users and answer their inquiries via Direct Messages and other channels; I post OTW-related news; and I follow updates about Chinese fandom.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

Mostly, I do volunteer work during the small gaps in my day: translating Chinese tags while queuing, answering Weibo messages before sleep, or checking the complaint updates while in the company of Josie (my beloved kitty). I also often use large blocks of time during weekends and holidays for some "serious business" like cleaning up unwrangled tags, which may require more research and discussion.

Of course, not every week is a typical week! When Chinese fannish platforms tighten up their censorship, we always receive more Chinese tags than usual, and when disputes emerge over certain work(s) in a fandom, Policy & Abuse tends to get more tickets. Last spring, AO3’s connectivity issue in China brought an unimaginable workload for Weibo mods. But in general, I do enjoy the sense of satisfaction and realization of personal value my work brings me.

What made you decide to volunteer?

Though I had been an AO3 user for years, I didn’t know about the existence of OTW from the very beginning. But then I accidentally clicked the “About Us” menu link on AO3 and learned so much about the OTW and its projects, its founding history and development. It amazed me that there can be such an open and friendly place for all fan communities, all run by volunteers who devote their time and effort because of their love for fandoms and fan communities.

When I learned about the volunteering opportunity for the OTW Weibo account, I applied without a second thought. After joining the OTW as a Chinese volunteer, I realized that AO3 and other OTW projects mean so much more than what I thought to the Chinese fandom. I hope that I can widen the bridge between the OTW and Chinese fandom with my own effort. That’s the reason why I joined Policy & Abuse and the Weibo Team.

What's are the biggest challenges you face?

The biggest one is definitely the series of incidents caused by the cutoff of AO3’s connection to Mainland China, which happened in late February last year. During the first few days, I devoted all my time (except eating, attending lectures and a bare minimum amount of sleep) to my OTW work. I checked and replied to tens of thousands of Weibo Direct Messages; assisted our AD&T Committee by checking website connectivity; introduced the Government Firewall to non-Chinese volunteers; discussed work arrangements for Mainland Chinese volunteers with committee chairs; learned suicide intervention techniques; and located professional resources for suicidal users contacting us. I would like to thank my chairs, my fellow Chinese coworkers, and every volunteer and user who went through the hardship with us. Without your encouragement and support, I don’t think I could have overcome such mental pressures.

While the crisis has mostly died down now, the mission to widen the bridge between OTW and Chinese fandom is ongoing. Offering service to fans all over the world has been OTW’s mission, and to realize it non-English speaking fans are always needed.

What fannish things do you like to do?

Reading fics, reading fics, and reading fics! I would be an entirely different person had I not read the piles of fanfiction I devoured over the years. Besides, I occasionally translate my favorite fics from English to Chinese or write some short fics and drabbles that I’ll probably just keep to myself. Recently I’ve been diving into the good ol’ DMBJ (The Grave Robbers' Chronicles) fandom and crying about Pingxie (my OTP).

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Olivia Riley, who volunteers as a graphics creator.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

That old idiom that “a picture is worth a thousand words” tends to hold particularly true on the internet, where users face an info-overload on a daily basis. The OTW needs visuals in order to break through the babble: bright, easily digestible messages to catch audience’s eyes and draw them into the larger conversation. That’s where we graphics volunteers come in!

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

Part of the fun of being a graphics volunteer is that it’s always changing! The most frequent graphic we make is headers for the “This Week in Fandom” post, but aside from that, it depends on what events are going on in the OTW that need visual accompaniment. So, I’ll get a message from the folks in Communications, who wrangle requests for graphics from the other arms of the OTW, and they’ll give me the basics on what they need. I’ll draft an image up and share it, and then it’ll go off to be approved by the relevant committee. If it needs some tweaking, I’ll edit it, and then the new version will go off into the cyber-world!

What made you decide to volunteer?

I’d been studying AO3 & the OTW as the centerpiece of an undergraduate research project for a while, so when I saw a call go out for volunteers, I really wanted to do something to give back to this awesome organization that had so benefited both my personal and academic lives. I’d recently taken a class introducing me to graphic design and realized that the graphics volunteer gig was a perfect opportunity to use those skills!

Do you have any favorite graphics you've created?

The “This Week in Fandom” graphics are always fun! They give me a reason to experiment with new graphic design tips and tricks. This one is a particular favorite…

What fannish things do you like to do?

It pretty much runs the gamut! I love to vid (Gotham and Hannibal, lately), I write a good bit of fic, and I’ve tinkered around with making gifsets and drawing fanart. I’ve recently started listening to a lot of podfic and would like to try making some of my own!

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Angel who volunteers as a co-chair for the Communications Committee.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

I have been one of two chair-track staffers (CTS) for the Communications Committee. The CTS position is for people who are in training to lead committees. While we're learning we take on other roles in the committee, so in Communications than means helping our chair get information circulated, both within the OTW and to our followers. It could also mean posting news items for our projects, sending out the OTW newsletter, or managing its social media accounts.

What made you decide to volunteer as a chair-track staffer?

I wanted to be involved in the organisation in some fashion and felt my background as a business journalist, and now a full-time fiction writer, gave me a good mix of skills that might be of use. I have flexible time since I work for myself, so I'm able to sort of float around at odd times which can come in handy. I applied for the Chair Track Staffer because I felt it was a good place to use some of those skills -- and to learn more about the organisation and how it operates.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

There are usually two to three meetings with Janita, our chair, and Jess our other chair-track staffer -- Janita calls Jess and I her 'mini-mes'. We respond to any questions from the public or within the organisation, prepare posts for social media, work on campaign notifications and posts with our Elections Committee, and help other committees who need our help. We keep a close eye on social media and on posts to see if we can offer any support, and if we can't answer questions that are sent to us we find out who it would be best to send them to.

What's the most fun thing to you about volunteering for the OTW?

Being involved. That sounds kind of odd, I know, but seriously how many organisations do you know where memes, fan fiction, fan art, and pop culture in general are a part of every meeting, because they're a normal part of the organisational structure? Where else do you get to fly your fan flag (say that fast five times) high and proud as part of your job?

What fannish things do you like to do?

I'm a hard core Supernatural fan -- #teamDeanbutSamcurious -- and have a growing collection of commissioned fan art and adore SPN fan fiction. I'm in the last few months of preparing my Masters thesis on the impact of fan fiction on the Supernatural source text and creators -- so a lot of my research time is spent either watching SPN or reading SPN fics. Dirty job... Last year I met John Barrowman and his husband Scott Gill which was the highlight of my year (John smelled awesome, Scott was lovely). Mostly I just embarrass my adult children by squeeing at inappropriate moments.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Rachel G., who volunteers as a graphics volunteer for the Communications Committee.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

As a volunteer graphic designer for the Communications Committee I create graphics that are used across multiple platforms to promote OTW events and materials. I primarily work on graphics for OTW tumblr events such as the Fandom First Friday. These F3 graphics are used to announce the monthly theme of the tumblr multi-fandom discussions and posting events each month.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

My work as a volunteer depends on the committee’s needs and/or the time of the month. Since I have a full time job as a designer at an ad agency, my OTW activities are generally constrained to the weekends. Communications has been great about giving me long lead times on projects so that my volunteer work doesn’t become overwhelming.

I spend most of my time working on the Fandom First Friday graphics. I usually spend an hour or two conceptualizing how to visually represent the F3 theme (sometimes longer for the more abstract themes) and then take a few more hours to putting together the final graphic on the weekend before each month's Fandom First Friday.

What is your favorite graphic that you've made?

I’ve enjoyed all of the F3 graphics that I’ve made over the years but there are so many that I’d be hard pressed to choose one. Instead, I'd say that my favorite graphics have to be the OTW anniversary graphics. I'm partial to the 8th anniversary graphic in particular.

(Editor's note: Rachel is also at work on content for our anniversary this year. Stay tuned for some fun announcements in September!)

What's the most fun thing to you about volunteering for the OTW?

Seeing things that I’ve created out in fandom and how people receive them has to be one of the most fun aspects. The creation process is pretty solitary for me so it is rewarding to know that my graphics are leading people to OTW events and discussions where they can interact with other fans.

What fannish things do you like to do?

I’m a huge fan of fanfiction and I’ve been engaging with fandom through it for the last 15+ years. As you can imagine I’ve been in and out of quite a few fandoms over the years (LoTR and Ronin Warriors were the start). I’ve used fanfic archives, Yahoo Groups, LiveJournal, Fanfiction.net, AO3, and tumblr among others so I know just how important what OTW does is for fandom. I’ve seen the good (even great), bad, and ugly that can from fandom and I still keep coming back for more. I can’t get enough of seeing and reading other fans' passion for the things that I love.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.