Burlington Writers Workshop Leadership Team Meeting, 10/9/22 (approved 11/13)
(Specific to-do items underlined and bolded.)
Attendance: Katie Lazarus (Co-Chair), Dick Matheson (Treasurer), Millie Eidson (Secretary), Sam Fenner (Managing Director), Jon Fenner (Comms Team), Jane Nevins (Board member), Davy Yue (member), Julie Hay (Board Member), Dennis Bouldin (member), Riki Moss (Programs Team), Amy Place (member)
Minutes from the previous meeting: Approved.
Sam, CLA update:
- Begin reopening submission period Nov. 1- Jan. 30, contact them with questions
- First round, slight profit
- Sales $121, expenses $602 for first 6 months of this year from buying books before selling them at kickoff party, but sold less at this event; profitability unknown at this point
Dick, Conflict of Interest Committee Update:
- COI not a watchdog but can investigate concerns brought to the COI and develop proposals for LT
- COI met previously and passed 4 new motions:
- Any active member [defined as a member who has attended at least 6 workshops in the last 12 months] can request an Author’s page on the BWW website that would promote their book(s).
- Any benefit received by Contributing Members shall be extended to Board Members, Leadership Team members, and Committee Leads, on an equal basis
- We agree that one of the benefits received by Contributing Members may be increased promotion of their Author’s page/publication(s) via BWW newsletter, email and social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.)
- BWW can provide links to its member authors’ webpages but not buy links. We will include a disclaimer: BWW does not vet or take responsibility for non-BWW websites or material we may provide links to.
- After considerable discussion, the LT approved COI motions 1-3. Motion 4 discussion is summarized as follows, and LT voted to send motion 4 back to COI for further consideration:
- LT wants COI to re-examine this issue of whether advertising or calls to action (providing buy links) violates our nonprofit status
- Would board members have to be treated differently?
- Nonprofits should not act to enhance profits of members.
- Is BWW the only entity benefitting?
- Can an author reading be mentioned?
- Book reviews may not be a conflict
- What’s Happening page for information about non-BWW events of interest for members
- No endorsement; includes disclaimer that BWW doesn’t vet, endorse, or recommend them
- Info comes into Comms Team and Sam as Managing Director puts it up
- If restrictions from being a nonprofit impede member benefits, consider benefits from switching to C corporation. Lengthy process if wanting to evaluate. Jon willing to help with committee if we convene one.
Jane, Funding Group: update of initial meeting
- Podcast
- Sponsorship
- Grant funding, like previous BCA grant or Zoom license grant
- Extensive list of possibilities is being generated
Sam:
- Poetry Path – what to do with the panels: Mary Chaffee started it in spring, writers submitted poems written on plaques in woods; removed end of Sept.; Parks & Rec happy
- For future ones, find more accessible place that’s easier to find, better access, fewer mosquitoes
- Mary would like to solicit new poems for panels next year
- Long-term plans for panels: silent auction, sell to businesses, give back to authors, use again in a different park
- 3 members left comments online
- No way to tell if someone joined BWW because of seeing it
- Next year could post both old ones and new ones on multiple trails, even in different towns
- Book was left out at the path for comments, need to check on its status
- Could reuse panels for future years (paint over old poems)
- Raise money using them (selling, donations)? If Parks & Rec paid for them, that might govern how they could bring in BWW income
- Hotel Vermont: working on chapbooks into hotel rooms; perhaps they’d be interested in the panels
- Display in local libraries?
- Do auction of panels during Green Mountain Book Festival, or on website?
- Raffle?
- Sam will talk to Mary Chaffee to verify panel size, Parks & Rec interest for the future, who has financial involvement
- Put montage on website
- Contributing members update
- Website, newsletter, and social media announcements generated one person interested in contributing time and another in contributing money
- Green Mountain Book Festival – our involvement in future:
- Have two dozen new members since event (unsure if related)
- Book Sale
- $823.96 and 9 rupees collected in used book sale, half to library donating books, half to BWW
- Lot of work to coordinate
- Make leaflets/flyers about BWW to hand out there
- City Park location hard for potential patrons to find and challenging for loading and unloading
- Worked better to ask for donations for as many books as they wanted (than purchasing individual ones)
- Rained and difficult to get them under canopy tent so consider indoor location—BCA?
- Fletcher library does its own book sale so can’t go there
- LitNight at Lampshop
- Members liked involvement and hearing other groups
- Too small and crowded, COVID positives afterward
- Program in short break times every hour for people to move around and look at member books, perhaps purchase
- Other locations? Phoenix Books; BCA 2nd floor like Fri. night opening; or HalfLounge basement across from City Hall
- Eventbrite moving forward
- Options considered, including plugin through website
- Send questions for survey to Sam (including fundraising)
- NanoWriMo: earlier preparation, 20 people signed up for newsletter
- Resource Group: Jane stepping down to focus on fundraising, looking for new participants
- Program team:
- Riki rejoined
- Defined becoming a host, masterclass
- Decisions about fees to be paid the hosts will be made on the basis of policies developed by the COI and LT
- Publishing team:
- Mark and Dick working on defining publishing; decided that it’s different than programming
- Discord discussion
- 17 manuscripts submitted
- Other team volunteers dropped away; different perspectives on speed and scope of process
Jon, Website update:
- Bios for authors
- What’s Happening page
- Contributing member portion
- Revamping menu
- Sunny and Catherine have been doing social media
- Steve on MSR supports BWW to make website management cohesive, but need additional tech support to build out more functionality; Davy offered to advise and join Comms Team
- Calendar for program events as supplement for EventBrite
Agenda development in future:
- Use Clickup at least 10 days before next meeting to suggest items, then will be on agenda
- Add Additional business item to end of agenda, but don’t put multiple last-minute items there (prefer Clickup)
Meeting adjourned 7:35 pm. Date for next LT meeting: Sunday Nov 13, 6 PM
