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TowersStreet Contribute

Craig

Craig

TS Administrator
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When we kicked things off on TowersStreet back in June 2012, we made a commitment to ensure we’re as community focused as possible. As part of that, we’re launching TowersStreet Contribute.

We know we have a lot of talented people who read our site and already contribute to TowersStreet by posting on our forums and chat on our Twitter and Facebook pages. We’d now like to extend that to our website, and give anyone the chance to create content for TowersStreet.

So what are we doing?
Today, we’re launching the hunt for content for our brand new features section. We’re aiming for it to become a huge part of the website, with an array of different articles and viewpoints. Our members come from all walks of life and are of all ages, and we hope to reflect this in the new section. If you have a passion for anything Alton Towers related, and you’d like to talk about it then we’d love to give you the platform to do so!

What kind of content do you want?
We’re up for pretty much anything! The only stipulation is it needs to be publishable on our website and related to Alton Towers. It could be an article in written form, a collection of photos telling your story or even a video. To give you a little bit of inspiration, here’s a few ideas:

- Trip reports from special occasions (e.g. first visit, a ride opening)
- Ride reviews
- Articles on the history of the park
- Meet up reviews
- Opinion pieces on aspects of the resort
- An article looking back at your time on TowersStreet

The above list isn’t definitive though, if you can think of anything else you want to tell our readers about, then let us know!

What do I get in return?
Firstly, it’s important to note that if you’re successful it isn’t a team member position. We’re not looking for permanent writers as we’d like to keep content (and authors!) as varied as possible. Think of it as being a guest writer if you like! We’re still finalising details of what people will get in return for contributing content, but to give you an idea it’ll likely be something along the lines of forum ranks etc. You’ll also have the chance to help shape other contributor’s content for a time too, even after your own content has been published!

Writing content for TowersStreet can be a great way to give something back to the community, and could look great for those looking at careers in the media too.

So how do I apply?
Simple! All we want at the moment is a rough outline of your idea. The team will review the submissions we receive and shortlist a group of people who we’d like to go ahead and write full articles. That group of people will then develop their articles for publishing. You won’t be alone though, as team members and the other successful writers will have a space to help you along the way in getting your content ready to go online.

You'll need to think of a short specific proposal for the feature or article you'd like to write - just one or two sentences covering the topic, idea and process. So something like "What could the future hold for SW8? - A speculative piece that considers the ride options, locations and possibilities for the next big ride at Alton Towers" would be perfect to submit.

Don't forget your target audience for the site is very mixed - so your piece can be as geek-tastic as you like, or just aimed for the average day visitor too - the bigger the mix, the better!

To get the ball rolling, just fill in the form over on the main site. We’ll be in touch as soon as we’ve reviewed all of the submissions. As you’ll be contributing content to TowersStreet, please ensure you take a look at our legal stuff page, especially the part concerning user contributed content.

The closing date for applications is Sunday 14th July. Remember, we don’t need your full article, just a brief outline!

Any questions?
If you have any questions, let us know in this topic :)
 
When you're filling in the box titled 'What's your idea?', does this mean that you write what you would write about and include a sort of preview of what you would write? (i.e. I would write an Oblivion review... 'The impending doom upon the edge of the drop...' etc)

It's not made very clear what to write in the information but, asides from that, I like this idea. Good work! :)
 
Hi Andrew, you can include whatever you feel is necessary :). We basically need an outline of what you'd like to write about, so if it helps you to throw in a quick preview to get your idea across, then feel free.

Our aim with this is to make it as easy as possible to submit an idea, so we're leaving it up to you how you want to put your idea across.
 
Just as another note too - if you could be as specific as possible about what you'd like to create. If it's an opinion piece, what subject would you focus on? If it's a review of the park, what aspect would you be reviewing? Remember - we're looking for specific articles from a variety of different authors rather than general writers. We're specifically looking for unique content which moves away from the usual aspects seen on theme park sites, the further away from the norm the better.

You're free to submit as many ideas as you like - the more information about what you'd like to produce, the better :)
 
Out of pure interest, will this expand after the 14th July deadline?

I mean that as in, when you have x amount of applications from this process, will the process ever open again. Or is this just a one off thing?

Not sure if this would be a viable option for TowersStreet, as the website covers more grounds than purely article-based websites. I've seen other websites work on a basis where they have a section of the site members can submit articles they've written to be featured on their website. Articles are submitted via a separate application form page, and then the team on the site looks through these articles and decide whether said articles would be posted on the site under the form of a 'contributors' article.

I understand if such a system as that would not be viable for TowersStreet, as (from what I understand) on other websites it's quite a time consuming job and involves separate people from the main 'teams' having to manage it.

Either way, I'm interested in knowing whether there's a future in mind for this, or if you guys are just doing this as an experiment and then deciding where it could go.
 
It's more manageable to do it in 'stages' like this... We wouldn't want somebody to put lots of effort into writing something, only for us to turn around and say that it isn't suitable for the site. This way, we can receive ideas and then contact those who have the best article plans and will have a bank of content ready to release.

Of course, if this first run proves to be successful I'm sure this will be a more continuous thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
 
Thanks everyone for your submissions so far :). Just a few reminders:

- Submit as many ideas as you want. There's no limit to submissions per member, so if you think of anything later, just send another application - spam the hell out of us, we don't care :).
- We're looking for any ideas for content. If video content is your thing, audio, or even if it's a collection of photos telling your story, we're all for it!

There's one week left, so make sure you get your submissions in!

Ben has done a quick article to show you an example of what could be done, to give you an idea :)

I vividly remember 2005 and experiencing the Toyland Tours ride, at the time I was in my enthusiast infancy and went on the ride for two reasons: 1) to say Id been on the ride and 2) to laugh at the ageing, childrens ride - which in all honesty had become run down and a little odd.

Towards the end of the summer the ride closed its doors, with no fanfare, it just closed. Not long after a construction fence appeared around the site and the Toyland theming removed, it was clear something interesting was coming to the site.

Not long after speculation started an oversized giant golden ticket was fixed to the fences, inviting guests to return in 2006 to join Charlie on his tour through the factory.
Plans emerged showing a re-routed boat ride, 2 3-D lifts, on ride photos, a party room,a pre-show and a shop. Imaginations went into overdrive as did excitement - here was Altons first big intellectual property ride, and boy was it a biggie - Roald Dahl is famous world wide. Also jumping on the back of the very recent Charlie and the Chocolate factory film, which had been a success seemed to be a great idea from the park.

I (along with fellow enthusiasts and guests) followed the construction, which was impressive at times revealing theming from Around the World in 80 Days facade revealed. Two large green boxes appeared to hold the elevators and a small extension for the 'pre show'. Sadly but still intriguingly there was little to see as it was all behind the scenes.

I must admit, over the closed season I was becoming more and more excited about the ride opening.

Then opening day arrived, the first disappointment came in the lack of factory gates, they had been on the plans and mentioned on the construction walls. Apparently they were lost in an over run of the budget somewhere. Instead stood a very small queue with a metal banner across it, it looked as pitiful as it sounds.

By midmorning there was a large queue awaiting to get on the still closed ride, when staff appeared and informed guests the ride would not open until the afternoon. There was rumour one 'vip' family had gone through and somehow got drenched (apparently there was an issue with the waterfall sensor).

So another few hours on and we were allowed into the tiny queue line, which was spilling well out of cred-street and down towards Hex. The ride opened and the line started to move very slowly, it turned out only a handful of boats had on board audio.

So finally I entered the 'pre-show' there had been rumour of anamatrontic figures and huge props. We were met with a large black room, a very short instructional video that was of debatable quality and portraits of the other children. It didnt really explain the story, it very much assumed you knew it - the only premise was Charlie and the other children had gone ahead. At least there was a whiff of chocolate, if nothing else.

Eventually we got to one of to boats. Rather poorly we ended up on a boat with no audio.
We watched in silence while a handful scenes with very limited movements considering its past history.
The only interesting part was the 'juicing room' where a waterfall blocked the path and at the last moment a large flash occurs and the water stops. Id assumed this was the photo point.

You saw a very dodgy mirror maze where in a completely static room, you saw a video on the mirrors of Veruca Salt assaulted by the squirrels and then the boat mounted a ramp with an attempt at strobing lights. I didnt understand why.

We departed the boat and found ourselves in a cinema room, watching some bizarre mostly static image adverts of Wonka products.

When the batching area was full a video showing Mike Teevee came on, it was pretty pun-tastic but not the best Id ever seen. Then we entered a room where you were instructed by Willy Wonka to stand on a coloured dot and you would be filtered through after this.

So the door opened, you were sent through the next corridor in coloured dot groups and into the lift. Finally after an underwhelming start to the ride here was hoping the elevator would save the day.

The elevator was good, while there were certainly issues about which way to face, with screens all around and sometimes it was easy to miss the action. Thankfully it was detailed and the vibrating floor plate very good fun and timed perfectly with the action.
Willy Wonka bid us 'bon bon voyage' and out we went into a dark corridor and then outside.

Where was the shop? The on ride photos? The party rooms? The full pre-show? I think the majority of guests on opening day were very disappointed with the ride. I was, the boat ride felt soul less, the anamatronics minimal and just completely underwhelming.

--

The later experience
The ride did get all the boats audio working pretty quickly after opening, and the ride received a lot of a marketing behind it to the point where through put and queues became an issue.
In a surprising and disappointing move the ride became restricted to families only during many hours of the day.

Eventually the throughput was reassessed, the small queueline was extended though the originlly dodgy arch remained in its place - now bizarrely mid way through the queue. Also the 'dot' rooms were no longer used, with guests told to just walk though. Whether or not it made a big difference is questionable, although it does not remove from the experience.

During its first closed season additional props were added to the ride. Some 'shooting balls' before the juice room, some waving umpa lumpas and a squirrel in the maze were placed in the more empty areas.

Sadly they didnt add much to the ride, and the damage was done to many. These days the ride has dropped from the queue time boards and received no further attention during the Cloud Cuckoo Land make over.

I shant morn the ride when it departs, aside from the lifts. I still think it had the biggest potential of any family ride in recent years at Alton Towers it was just a shame it was pulled off in such a bad way. I only hope the next incarnation of that ride building is much better.
Click to expand...
 
Quick reminder that tonight is the final night to get your submissions in :). We'll be going through the submissions we've received over the course of this week, with an aim to letting those successful know by the end of the week!
 
I would like to send photos and pictures into the team, but my writing skills, as you can see, are not the best. Are the team/is there a way to submit photos to the team to be added to the site?
 
BigDave said:
I would like to send photos and pictures into the team, but my writing skills, as you can see, are not the best. Are the team/is there a way to submit photos to the team to be added to the site?
Click to expand...

If you could send them over to my first name @towersstreet.com Dave. Much appreciated :)

Thanks for your submissions guys, we'll be in touch very soon!
 
Hi all,

5 members have now been chosen to help create our initial features. All of them have now been private messaged on the forum to let them know. If you haven't received a PM, then unfortunately you haven't been successful on this occasion. We've kept all applications though, so if we're in need of further people in future we'll let you know!

As the 5 people have only just been sent their PMs, I'm going to hold off announcing their names for now. However, we'll let you know in the next few days who will be helping to create our brand new features section :).
 
A little (well, a lot actually) later than planned, I'd like to announce the 5 people who are currently working on authoring some fantastic new content for TowersStreet:

nvincer
Andrew
Alastair
lottie
James

They've all been busy working behind the scenes on some new articles which will be launching on a brand new section of the website. We have the first one almost ready to go, and the others will be following shortly after. All five are very different articles in their content, and both myself and the rest of the team are really happy to have such a varied array of content to kick things off.

Although we have quite a lot of stuff ready to go from the five guys we have so far, I'd love to hear from you via PM or email ([email protected]) if you feel you could write or produce something for the TowersStreet website. Remember, all we need at first is an outline to your idea, the detail can be developed later :).

In the meantime though, please welcome our five new contributors, and look out for the articles which will be going online in the coming days and weeks!
 
TowersStreet Contribute is now live and with a new name YourStreet!

Check out the first article from Andrew

:)
 
Two great articles so far, and with Astrodan's recent great post about Thorpe Park, it got me wondering when we might be seeing the next YourStreet article?

Ian
 
We have got some plans for YourStreet to continue and the Site Team are currently busy brainstorming how we can build on the feature!

Keep your eyes peeled ;)
 
As Scott says, we are currently looking at ways in which we can grow the YourStreet area of the website.

As for the next article from the first set, it is currently being edited and images processed so is hopefully not too far away :)

Ben
 
I'd love to contribute an article for YourStreet, and I have an idea that I don't think has been covered yet, and could be particularly useful for some visitors. Any ideas when you might be looking for more articles?
 
Recruiting for YourStreet is one of our next jobs, so keep an eye out and i'm sure we will have an update soon.
 
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