Welcome to the YSWS Guide!

This guide is here to help you learn how to run your own YSWS (You ship We ship) events at Hack Club.

If you want to learn more about YSWS's and how Hack Club operates head over to this blog post to learn more.

This guide was origninally writen by @hellonearth311 and has been adapted for web by @freddie!

How do I make a YSWS?

Pitch you idea

This is the most exciting part, when you get to experiment with ideas and see what the community likes!

Simply put, we want YOU to send your YSWS idea in this channel, in this format:

You ship: (something coding related that the participants ship) We ship: (something with monetary or sentimental value that is related to the you ship)

Once you post it, people will react with or to show how they feel about your idea, and they should respond with constructive criticism in a thread :thread:.

Make sure to participate in the discussion, and once you think your idea is polished enough and has received enough feedback (and upvotes!), you can move to the next step.

Side Note: You should aim for at least 10-15 upvotes before moving to the next step.

Create a channel!

Now, you get to make a channel! Right-click anywhere in the channel menu on the left side, and create a channel, named after your YSWS! Get creative!

Then, reply to the thread where you originally pitched your idea and mention your channel. Optionally, send it to the channel as well!

Now, as members pile in, welcome them and get busy, as you will be after this step!

Get some RSVPs!

Make a form on build.fillout.com that asks for their Slack username, as a way to verify that they are real.

Then, you can /channel ping in your YSWS channel to tell everyone to RSVP!

Make a website!

Cook up a nice looking, creative website that "blows our socks off" - @ascpixi to attract sponsors! Please don't vibecode it!

Make sure to include a FAQ section and a link to your RSVP form on Fillout, then channel ping yet again to advertise your fresh website!

Advertise

Now, it's time to advertise!

Create a fun little description for your YSWS and post it in #ysws and #ysws-ads to get more members!

You should be seeing quite a few members piling in once you do this. New rules dictate you must only do this once a week but it is a good to try to attract sponsors!

You can also fill out this form to add your YSWS to the deck of events sent in #ysws-bulletin weekly.

And now we... wait..?

Now, you wait. A potential sponsor will eventually hit you up, or if you are impatient, you can DM sponsors, but some of them might find it annoying.

To find sponsors to DM, look at this: Sponsor List
(this links to slack, if you are not on Hack Club Slack head here)

That's pretty much it! Once you have a sponsor, they will inform you on how to proceed and what to do next and how you will be accepting submissions!

Hack Club: YSWS Guide