MeFi Swap

September 27, 2002 2:25 AM

Another MeFi Swap anyone? (more inside)
posted by Dreama to MetaFilter gatherings at 2:25 AM (31 comments total)

The last swap seemed to be pretty successful, and all of the feedback I've heard indicated that there was interest in doing it again, even making it a regular thing. So I've gone out on a limb and set up a bit of infrastructure to make that feasible. If there's interest, then we're all set. If not, it was still a fun evening's work, no big deal. But if you're interested in another go, take a look. And if you were a part of MeFi Swap II, there's a follow-up survey that will hopefully help to improve the whole process for everyone. There's no stopping the swapping... or is there?
posted by Dreama at 2:29 AM on September 27, 2002

Swap swap swap.. J-Pop, Chinese opera and Hindi filmi music on the horizon..
posted by Mossy at 2:59 AM on September 27, 2002

Yes! After all that time spent lurking, watching the MeFi Swaps pass me by, I can now finally join in on the fun! Glory be!
posted by soundofsuburbia at 3:00 AM on September 27, 2002

I'm in! I watched the last one and was hoping the next one would be soon.
posted by ugf at 4:45 AM on September 27, 2002

Count me in as well! The last one looked like fun; alas, I joined at the tail end, so I'm rarin' to go on this one.
posted by boomchicka at 5:14 AM on September 27, 2002

[div class="cold sweat"]

Eeek! I've just realised that, despite the fact that I hauled all of my mixes to the US last month, I FORGOT TO POST THEM!

D'oh! doesn't really come close...so apologies to Dreama [especially as she let me in after the close] and co. from my swap set. Watch out for package from an sieve-head in the UK...

And to the original question, yes. [/div]
posted by i_cola at 5:17 AM on September 27, 2002

good work Dreama! I just missed the last one and been looking forward to this. Thanks.
posted by gravelshoes at 6:01 AM on September 27, 2002

Just post when sign-up is activated. I'll sign up. Cheers!
posted by rocketman at 6:38 AM on September 27, 2002

I'm in too!
posted by amberglow at 6:42 AM on September 27, 2002

YES! the last one was great - thanks and well done, Dreama!
posted by modge at 7:26 AM on September 27, 2002

I'm in. The last one was great.
posted by tdismukes at 7:39 AM on September 27, 2002

So, do most people prefer audio or MP3 CDs?
posted by JoanArkham at 7:59 AM on September 27, 2002

I'm in. Oh boy! This time, in an official capacity!
posted by interrobang at 7:59 AM on September 27, 2002

I've just realised that, despite the fact that I hauled all of my mixes to the US last month, I FORGOT TO POST THEM!

ah. That old chestnut.


posted by Frasermoo at 8:38 AM on September 27, 2002

JoanArkham: I don't care what I get, but personally I'll make Audio CDs. A CD entirely made of .mp3 files would basically be my entire music collection.

Well, maybe not that extreme, but for me it's difficult to assemble that many songs in some kind of order. If someone in my swapset doesn't care about flow, play time, conceptual unity, consistency of sound, I could easily throw 700MB of mp3s on a disc and mail it out.
posted by rocketman at 9:20 AM on September 27, 2002

eek! this sounds like too much fun. when do the sign ups end? [i don't know how soon i can get my hands on some blank cds so i don't know which i'll be using, though i would prefer to do cd....]
posted by zorrine at 9:26 AM on September 27, 2002

zorrine - the sign-up timetable is on the site Dreama linked to.

Count me in (again). The last one was much fun. And thanks once more for all your great efforts on the swaps, Dreama.
posted by aine42 at 9:43 AM on September 27, 2002

I enjoyed the discs I got a great deal, but it was disappointing to get NO feedback on the disc I sent out, so I think I'll pass on this one. I do recommend it for folks who want to do it, though; Dreama has set up an excellent system for coordinating the swaps.
posted by rushmc at 10:05 AM on September 27, 2002

I'll be in again, even though I only received 2 out of 5 in the last swap. Nice one Cortex and Mars Saxman, your mixes were great! I figure 3 people hated my mix so much they decided not to send me one back.. :-)

Just don't put me in the same swapset as GeekAnimator, as we've done our own swap based on the fact we have very similar tastes.
posted by salmacis at 11:54 AM on September 27, 2002

Anything to get rid of my wife for a weekend...
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:13 PM on September 27, 2002

Dreama - Have you gathered some preliminary stats yet on what percentage of people sent/received all their mixes in the last swap?
posted by tdismukes at 1:38 PM on September 27, 2002

I'm in.
posted by triggerfinger at 1:39 PM on September 27, 2002

Despite the fact that it's not yet October 1, sign-ups are open. You can join now and beat the rush. (Or perhaps not beat the rush - there are already 40 people in, less than 12 hours after the announcement.) Join now, join oft... no, wait, just join now! (Or any time before October 21.)

tdismukes -- the survey is my stats compiling mechanism. I would've done it sooner, but it honestly didn't occur to me until I realized how few (relatively) were taking advantage of the wrap up forum at MeFi Swap Talk. Quite a few surveys have been returned so far (though mainly from the people who actually did send all of their mixes which is to be expected, I guess) and when it looks like I've got something worth reporting from the info therein, I'll slap it up in the news section on the Swap site.
posted by Dreama at 2:08 PM on September 27, 2002

rushmc -- I'm one of those terrible people who neglected to send you feedback. I meant to, but I got caught up in a bunch o' things and it completely slipped my mind. Many apologies.

I'm loving the disk, though, especially the Daler Mehndi song. It really sticks in my head. Excellent collection of tunes throughout the disk. Very international and almost nothing I'd heard before. (I'd heard the Luka Bloom tune and had heard other Leonard Cohen songs, but not the one you included.) So, very belated thanks for a great compilation. You should definitely do it again.
posted by aine42 at 4:25 PM on September 27, 2002

nice work Dreama!
i thought i'd ask this question on this open forum type space:
could one choose to send both mp3s and audio cds? as one is permitted to receive both by the form. i don't mean cds of mixed file formats.
still, if tracklists are preferred maybe i'll stick to uncompressed audio cds for the sake of my fingertips.
posted by asok at 5:08 PM on September 27, 2002

Many, many thanks to Dreama for all her hard work, but I doubt I'll be swapping again. Despite the fact I got two very cool mixes (the one from Frasermoo plays endlessly in my car now), the experience on the whole was a fairly morale-lowering experience for me:

I only received two mixes; I discovered my personal audio technology level is way below par and sent out mixes I think actually have embarrassingly poor sound quality; three of the five people in my swapset were in Europe, which increased my shipping costs above what I had budgeted for the project (I'm in the US); after I sent out my mixes I went out and bought some new hardware to make 'my next mixes' less embarrassing, but I can't figure out how to use it.

sigh. All in all I just sort of feel like it wasn't worth all the effort that I put into it.

That feeling goes away when I listen to Frasermoo's mix, however.
posted by anastasiav at 5:23 PM on September 27, 2002

rushmc -- I'm one of those terrible people who neglected to send you feedback.

Not terrible at all! I went into it expecting people to hate my mixes, since my stuff was so different from everyone else's, and I guess I was just hoping for confirmation of my expectation (or, remotely, disconfirmation). But I know what it is to get busy, believe me. I'm not sure I even gave feedback to all 5 of my traders (if not, I liked all the discs I received...had only heard 4 songs between 5 discs, I believe!).
posted by rushmc at 11:47 PM on September 27, 2002

anastasiav: All 5 others in my swapset were in North America and I'm in the UK. I sent mine by surface mail, at a massive 85p each. They arrived in 1-2 weeks. All I'm saying is that postage should not be an issue, no matter where you're sending to/from.
posted by salmacis at 1:51 AM on September 28, 2002

i thought i'd ask this question on this open forum type space: could one choose to send both mp3s and audio cds?

If by that, you mean could you send to discs (one audio one mp3) then yes, absolutely. If that wasn't what you meant, I'm afraid I'm completely confused and maybe you should e-mail me or something.

In re: postage -- I tried desperately to make sure that there'd be as few overseas burdens possible, while not consigning all Brits to one swapset, all Canadians to another, not only because such segregation seemed odd, but because I figured that flowing music about over seas and borders could only enhance the chances of turning people on to stuff that they'd never heard before. (Unless they got me, because you know, my mixes are guaranteed to be pedestrian beyond belief.) In some cases, it ended up that I had no choice but to put one person in a group with five in other countries because there was really no where else to put them.

I encourage everyone to use the lowest cost postage possible. If it means that it'll take a bit longer to get the mixes to their recepients, fine. No one needs to go broke in the shipping process. Also remember that a slimline CD case weighs about half of what a full-size case weighs, and your postage costs will vary accordingly.

This has encouraged me to set up a "mailing tips" page for the site. I shall do that now. Anyone want to offer advice for a technical tips page, vis a vis bitrates and burn speeds and so on and so forth?


posted by Dreama at 5:28 PM on September 28, 2002

I can send an 8 ounce mail packet from the US to England no cheaper than $3.80 (That's about 2 pound 45 for you salmacis) via Economy (Surface) Letter Post - estimated delivery time 4 - 6 weeks. Note that I want to school in England. My personal experience is that they mean what they say about delivery times. Or I can send the same package via Global Priority Mail for $5.00 and actually get it there before Summer turns to fall....

Contrast that with sending an 8 ounce mail packet within the US. My cheapest option there is $1.47 for Media mail, and it gets there in about a week.

My apologies if I sound like a whiner. That wasn't my original intent. I was just trying to make the point that a $20.00 postage bill was an unpleasant surprise - one of many things that contributed to this being a less-than-optimal experience for me - the biggest issue, of course, being that I put quite a bit of time, effort, and resources into making the best mix I could and got only two mixes back.

I have to wonder, as well, if its one of the reasons that the other two US residents in my swapset never sent out their mixes.

Dreama, you do a wonderful job. Thank you for all you do. Could "only swap within my home country" be an option for next time?
posted by anastasiav at 8:48 PM on September 28, 2002

Could "only swap within my home country" be an option for next time?

On a limited basis, I think that might be possible. (Last time I managed to do a "no swaps within my home country" request, so it's technically feasible, I think, to do the reverse.) As with all "might I consider..." requests, drop me an e-mail, and we'll see what can be done.
posted by Dreama at 1:55 PM on September 29, 2002