Create a Team - Spin Together

Teams are at the heart of the Spin Together competition since every spinner will be part of one.

You can sign up to create a team anytime between January 1sh and January 15th for the 2024 competition.

After that, individual spinners will be able to join a team beginning on January 20th and ending on February 4th. The competition itself will take place beginning at noon wherever you are on February 17th and ending at noon wherever you are on February 24th.

How much will it cost to create a team?

It is important to us for Spin Together to be within the reach of even the smallest fiber arts businesses, so we are keeping the required costs at a minimum. The minimum requirement is to sponsor 2 electronic Gift Card prizes with a retail value of at least $25 USD each. If it isn’t convenient for you to obtain gift cards, you can choose to have us take care of that for you.

Prizes must be electronic gift certificates to your shop or another fiber arts shop. We (the organizers) will send you the name of your prize winner(s) within a few days of the end of the competition. After that we ask that you email your gift card(s) within 10 days. It is very important to the integrity of Spin Together that each team captain email the gift cards(s) by the deadline.

Who can create a team?

Anyone can create a team, but we anticipate that most teams will be created by brick-and-mortar yarn shops, online yarn shops, manufacturers of spinning tools and equipment, and spinning guilds. The maximum number of spinners for each team is 25 including the captain. Chances are, you will know some of your team members, but others will be new to you.

What will my responsibilities be as team captain?

There are four major responsibilities related to being a team captain:

First of all, please spread the word about Spin Together and your team among spinners who might be interested in joining you for the competition.
As mentioned above, each team captain will commit to sponsoring at least two gift card prizes for the winners of the overall competition. Each gift card should be worth a minimum of $25 USD. You will be emailing your prizes to the prize winners within 10 days of the end of the competition. Team captains are responsible for the cost of their sponsored prizes. Alternatively, you can opt to pay the organizers to provide prizes on your behalf.
You will also be responsible for creating a Facebook group, a Ravelry group, or a thread on the Spin Together Ravelry group where you can encourage and get to know your team members leading up to and during the competition. This should be separate from any business groups or pages that you have. We ask that you commit to posting in your team group at least once a week in the weeks leading up to the competition and at least daily during the competition. Of course you are welcome to do more than that.
As team captain, you will also be responsible for submitting the yardage of each member and your own calculation of the total team yardage by February 29th. That should give your team members enough time to measure their yardage and get the totals to you. This will definitely be time-sensitive because all the spinners will be anxiously waiting to hear the results. You will be sent a Google Sheet for submitting your team’s yardage. For more about measuring yardage, take a look at the How It Works page.

What else can I do to lead a great team?

This is not a requirement, but you are certainly welcome to offer your own team prizes and/or discounts to your shop should you have one. You may not, however, require team members to buy fiber from you.
You are also welcome to set up and host spin-ins virtually or in person (assuming it becomes safe to do so where you are) before, during, or after the competition.