Greetings citizens of Mesopotamia and Ancient Worlds. Join with us as we plan for GoldFest 2011. Goldfest is our annual birthday party, celebrating the official launch of Ancient Worlds during October 2002, when the flame was re-ignited and the Ancients lived again! Dates of celebration Samhain ~ October 30 & 31 Day of the Dead ~ November 1 Goldfest Tour ~ November 2 to 4 New Worlds Gold Launch ~ November 5 & 6 This year's GF theme is "Exploration & Emigration" ~ exploring and emigrating to new lands, as the ancients did. The theme can fit just about any aspect of history: ancient, medieval or modern, whether you lean toward mythology, folklore, poetry, storytelling, interactive writing or fun and games. What better way to do this than by featuring famous explorers or emigrants, wars or natural catastrophies that caused people to migrate to a new home, rulers who brought slaves from another land, famous mapmakers, inventors, any type of exploration into practically any subject ... the sky's the limit! Goldfest 2011 will host two separate events for your enjoyment. There will be the Golden Explorations Hood Home Tour and Gold Launch of The New Worlds. All are invited to participate! Hood Home Tour Guidelines A Hood Home is defined as "residential property" purchased in one of AW's many Neighborhoods. The Neighborhoods project was originally conceived by Jot to enhance interaction between members, utilizing the historical and cultural setting of a chosen ancient world and a region or city within that world. At the same time it is possible to present and highlight ancient locations, people and ways of life; that which is the basis for this site. This year the Tour will be presented from the main Golfest board for easy navigation. Everyone is welcome to participate in the tour. You do not have to be a patron to submit a property. Here is a guide for members, scribes and demis who would like to take part in the Golden Explorations Hood Home Tour for Goldfest 2011. 1. On your world's GF planning thread, post the link to any property you are entering in the tour. There is still plenty of time to create a new hood home or finish a neglected one. Scribal teams will keep track of property URLs and provide a list to the Tour organizers - Xena & Caileadair - by October 25th. If your world does not have a planning thread, feel free to post your property link here or leave a scroll for Xena or Caileadair with the link or any questions about the Tour. 2. Everyone who submits a property is encouraged to be active and respond to posts made within their property. It is not necessary for participants to be online during all of Goldfest, but it is recommended they log in as much as possible. 3. Property owners should have some content reflecting the history, culture or ambiance of the region, district or realm in which the property is located, and at least one activity for visitors, i.e.: a guest book to sign, a game, a puzzle, music, gifts for visitors, a quiz, a general discussion, etc. with an Exploration or Emigration theme. 4. There may be a Hood Home contest. EDIT-No contest this year. 5. If there is a Hood Home contest, property owners will have a choice of two different plaques to display ~ one reading 'Entrant' and one reading 'Non-entrant' as a visual aid for the Hood Home contest judges. You do not have to enter the contest to be part of the Tour. You do have to be part of the Tour to enter the contest. No contest this year. 6. Members who want to submit a property in a world different to their own should submit that property to the appropriate world scribe or GF planning thread; i.e., if you have an Egyptian persona and own property in Meso, you should submit your Meso property URL to Meso's GF planning thread. 7. There is no limit to the number of properties to be included in each world. Again, the deadline to submit your hood home is October 25th. 8. Nuit created plaques for use on properties participating in the Hood Home Tour. image # 158784 image # 158785 No contest this year :( NEW! 9. Members are welcome to enter their homesites and/or articles that fit the theme Exploration and Emigration. Contact Caily or Xena with any questions. Thank you! This is the third sitewide Hood Home Tour of member-created neighborhood properties at AW. Let's make it even more spectacular than last year! THE NEW WORLDS GOLD LAUNCH This is scheduled to take place after Goldfest 2011, on November 5 and 6. Watch the Daily Index for announcements concerning this event. Journey with us during Goldfest 2011 and the Golden Explorations tour! Watch for news about The New Worlds Gold Launch, scheduled for November 5 and 6! All scribes are welcome to copy and paste any part or this entire communiqué to their respective world's Goldfest 2011 Planning Board. Guidelines by Xena, Sementaway & Fedelm. Table background by Samarcande Bahktiari's Kilim Bazaar.

Other Goldfest planning boards Goldfest planning in Egypt Goldfest planning in The Orient Goldfest planning in Celtia Goldfest planning in Hellas Goldfest planning in Rome Goldfest Planning in Germania Goldfest Planning in the Americas