FAQ
Q: How will my identifications be counted?
A: Automatically, with help from the iNat API! The project does not count your IDs, it's just for information and journal posts.
Q: Why are the project's observations people's pets?
A: The purpose of the project is for you to get journals relevant to the project. The observations within it are irrelevant, so we've decided to make it a showcase of our project member's lovable fluffs (and non-fluffs)!
Q: How do I add MY pet?
A: Add your pet as an observation (this is allowed so long as you don't spam). Then, a few things are necessary. One, is your pet one of the species listed in the project requirements? If not, an admin can fix that. Two, you must currently be a member of the project. Three, you must mark your pet Captive and also annotate it as Alive.
Next time we'll likely make the project a traditional project, so that observations can be added manually. Sorry to those of you whose pets are yeasts or plants.
Q: Who are the admins, and what do they do?
A: @trh_blue is coordinating the event, and @arboretum_amy is the co-admin. @zdanko is also assisting with the project. We're here to keep the project running and answer any questions you might have!
There are also a small team of other assistants, whom you may see from time to time as well.
Q: Can you give me a hat/stickers/etc if I win?
A: Prizes are going to be virtual only. Prizes with actual value would create incentives for poor behaviour.
Q: Can you help me learn more about identifying?
A: Yes! Check the Forum for information on ID workshops, or you can send one of the admins a message.
Also, you can ask one of our mentors for help -- but please, do not spam them!
About our mentors.
Q: Why did you choose not to use the project to count IDs?
A: There are a few reasons I didn't make the project's observations the ones you'd identify for the competition:
One, there are multiple categories, so we'd have to make several projects, splitting attention. Two, the project cannot differentiate the date IDs were added, only the observation date. Three, we don't want to put focus on volume of IDs, rather on individual self-improvement and collaboration, and having a leaderboard where people are ranked by number of IDs is counter to that ethos.
Q: Why X country, why not Y country?
A: We went through the list of the countries with the most observations, ignored the top 15, then counted how many unknowns each had until we reached our target.
The country restriction is ONLY for the unknowns, all other IDs can be anywhere.
Q: Can I mentor?
A: Informally, yes, please help your fellow iNatters. We can't add more formal mentors at this point, but we will recruit more for next time after this event has ended.
Q: Can I have a mentor?
A: All of our mentors currently have as many students as they can handle, but in the future we will have another round of sign-ups.
Q: Can I change what category I'm in?
A: No, you had to do that before registration. Anyone who wishes to leave can do so, simply notify us and we will remove you from all of the categories at once.
if you have more questions, please add them here.
Comments
If we don't have a mentor, are there other ways to connect in real time with the ID marathon participants? Will there be any open workshops or virtual meeting rooms where we can drop in and talk to other people working on IDs?
We wanted for that to happen, but right now... no. The best I could do is make a Discord server for spontaneous meetups, but I'll be too busy to organize anything this time around. I've got seven students as well as all the admin stuff.
Or, now I'm thinking about it. If you can get one of the admins or frequent users of the main iNat discord interested, that may also be a good place. I'm catching up on chores all day today, and tomorrow the event starts so sorry about that. Maybe @arboretum_amy or @zdanko can look into it
Hi @beetle_mch, you can always use the comment section of the Forum post, but I like the idea of having a Discord server. Is that something that appeals to you?
Is there a list of the X countries for the Unknown category somewhere, and I'm just missing it?
It'll be listed in the Welcome post, which is coming out at the start of the event. Likewise, there will be a Discord. Converted the admins server to a public one
Discord is great, thanks
event starts in two hours btw
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