Organising an ongoing swap

[babalina58]

I will jump in also I have org the OWS for a few years now and I do it all really as even with a co only one can update threads, some people forget MOST PEOPLE forget to send to the co also so I just said heck with it and now like a snug glove..

  some people will find I am pretty laid back however I will NOT update everyday to me it is just not going to happen. I am a busy girl and have a busy life outside of here so I try and normally am pretty good at it Tuesday is thread updates ( with monday being a huge busy message day with the weekend mail coming in) and again with feedback on Fridays ( as I dont want to deal with it all on weekends if I don't have to) as I have a few OWS at a time going so one closing, one opening and sometimes can have still 3 if we have missing or flakes and even super late swappers for one reason or the other...keep 3 spots open for you if you will org as you can only org 3 at a time and it is the one month that you are in a jam as you have someone not sending on time, one or more flake ( you find this more the closer to the holidays you get IMO) You have to be careful not to over extend yourself in swaps and allot yourself time for you

I suggest pick days ( If you will be doing months and months w/o a break OR are a busy person outside of crafster) like I said I find that Tuesday is a great one so all the weekend people and monday have time to let you know....Friday so that the weekend is not bogged down even more

Also, breath, try not to over analyze and have fun! You will just find your groove and be just fine...Spread sheets work for some,Notebooks for others  others store all in Craftster messages  ( I know several that do this one but spread is a great way to go) I never purge my messages but 1 time a month for the prev. year ( I purge on last Friday of the month normally after updating for the year prior) you would not believe how I have had a few PM's I have had for some info so it is just a personal thing with me....

If you can update everyday or every other that is great too but if you make yourself set time a few days a week that must get done just for me makes it all part of a routine and most understand it is not done everyday ....

[Saintcady]

I don't know that I'm qualified to give advice since my ongoing has only been going for a few months, but what the heck. I'm running Swap Your Stash which is, as of yet, nowhere as big as some of the other ongoing ones listed here, and it's one of the list-post kind, not the chain kind. I thought it was tough my first month, even with use of a spreadsheet, so when I decided to run it again I created a much better spreadsheet. Now I think it's not bad at all.

The spreadsheet calculates how many claims have been made, sent, received, etc and even changes font colors accordingly. That way all I have to do it put in information once (not on 2 different spreadsheets, then the swap itself like my first month) then paste it into the swap page once or twice a day. If anyone wants a version for their swap just let me know.