Piggy-backing on this with regard to the fests I participate in. These days it's not many BUT they tend to be very low pressure, run by people I know/have worked with before. I kinda do need the small bit of pressure that a deadline brings and doing fests can bring me out of my shell a bit, trying new pairings, etc. But both as a participant AND a mod, fandom should be fun and a relaxed atmosphere, in my opinion, makes for a good experience and keeps people coming back as participants. I'm sure I'm not everyone's cuppa but there are mods I know have scared people off with how they run things.

As for collabs, I've not done many, but Shelly and I have done a handful together for a comm we both used to write for. That was a good time.