Burlington Writers Workshop Leadership Team Meeting, 5/15/22 (approved 6/12/22)
(Specific to-do items underlined and bolded.)
Meeting began at 6:02 pm. Attendance: Janet Mckeehan-Medina and Katherine Lazarus (Co-Chairs), Dick Matheson (Treasurer), Millie Eidson (Secretary), Sam Fenner (Managing Director), Jon Fenner (IT Support), Margo Mertz (Communications), Ashley Hajimirsadeghi (MSR), Rebecca O’Bern (MSR), Debbie Costello
General
- Minutes from the previous meeting on 4/10 approved.
- Rebecca/Ashley: Update on MSR
- Issue 61 came out April 20 with good art work.
- Interviews with the authors are coming out soon.
- Manuscript reviews opened recently; will extend halfway through June. Getting an increase in requests. Good feedback about increasing publication after receiving reviews. Need to advertise it.
- Paying “The Take” poets now.
- Language added to website to encourage tip jar submissions, to increase funds and keep submissions free.
- Do we need to buy an expansion of Submittable? Keep plan going with current level of free submissions. Plan to purchase extra free submissions once each year if needed.
- ~15 people in-line for doing reviews; most are experienced or have done training, but recommend mentoring and oversight for new people.
- Central MSR oversight of the reviews and can ask for a rewrite if quality doesn’t hold up.
- Can continue submission timeline with more reviewers.
- Reviewers paid $75. Concern about a conflict with bylaws for board members to be paid.
Sam
- Voting on Sam’s title: Managing Director title and roles provided last meeting. Motion approved by majority vote.
- New LT Meeting Format: Problems in the past with not getting through all agenda items.
- Sam will research ways to improve this; send ideas to her and she will propose plan for next meeting.
- Contact List in the CRM (nicknamed “Old Biddie”); change to Membership Database
- Let Jon know if we need access to database
- Archive old list (maintain but take off Google docs)
- Send invitation to those not yet in new system
- Bylaws: requires name, physical address, email—never enforced, and will allow exceptions if extra privacy needed.
- BWW workshops are private, unless going through webpage. Middlebury and Lit Group are public.
- Question about whether numbers of participants has declined.
- Jan-April 2020 compared with 2021; numbers are maintaining except for SongWriting group; CNF larger but now 1 workshop instead of 2
- List of BWW physical assets for tracking
- Candelin has moved BWW materials to Elaine
- Not yet determined how long will people need to store materials long-term
- Sam is generating a list of all the property and where it’s located
- 225 copies of MSR editions 2 and 3; >550 copies of CLA
- Dick and Sam have other materials
- Proposal: Make a kit with some materials; provide to person hosting event
- Ask members in newsletter about ideas for storage space or disposing of materials; and their preference for workshop locations (on-line or in-person)
- Hosts may need to find place if going in-person; or Program Lead (not filled now) could assist
- Place stock of older materials into nursing homes: various suggestions; most not voted on or approved
- Metro area: about 12 places, give one to each for their library shelves
- Put a flyer or sticker inside copy asking for donations if someone enjoyed reading it.
- 800 books stored now
- Could improve name recognition
- Hotel VT asked for booklets in each room; could have showcase in lobby to buy copies?
- Haven’t had online store on website recently but used to sell them
- Consider using them for publicity and fundraising appeals rather than sales income.
- Charge less for second copy if purchased first one.
- Place emphasis on sales income for new copies rather than older ones.
- Donation jar at events: for each $2 donation, take an old copy.
- Some new workshops for the fall, so old copies with a flyer about BWW may be valuable for advertising BWW and attracting them to the workshops.
- Prioritize ways to recruit members who are serious people by going to BWW website rather than EventBrite that might attract more spammers.
- Can add new workshops if find new hosts.
- Remember our VT focus in our advertising messages and outreach, but workshops hosts may vary on who they want to open to.
- Pull together data on number of out-of-state participants.
- Thank you to previous board members
- Jacqueline Lawson online greeting cards for thank you note to four who stepped down from Board; sent already
- Book launch proposal: draft proposal sent to LT
- Members can let Sam know about new books and/or book launches through a form and info shared on website, social media
- If free event suggested by member and there’s room in newsletter, can be included
- If there is a sponsor within BWW willing to run an event, like part reading and part craft discussion, could be a paid event through BWW
- Identify Program team lead to help coordinate these ideas
- Poetry Path update: 53 poets submitted 72 poems
- Finalizing 15 poems for Parks & Rec approval and then put in trees
- Copy at both ends with QR code that links to BWW
- Goal of Memorial Day
- Put QR symbol next each poet?
- Remote location so will require promotion.
Jon: Comm Team update and discussion
- Website
- Still searching for programming assistance.
- Build out workshop sections so each workshop has their own page, files.
- Bookshop.org/author website page
- Do we continue to promote? It benefits independent bookstores. As an affiliate, BWW gets percentage of the sales. Can highlight BWW authors and link them to purchase options.
- Add a store to website to buy things like CLA or MSR, member books? Then we’d need to work out logistics, packaging, shipping unless copies have been submitted through sites that distributes them.
- Instagram: more posts planned, coordinate with other social media venues.
Dick: Finance and Fundraising / Programs:
- Vermont Fed CD $13,500; money moved when it expired to savings account.
- Interest rate was 0.5%; offered 1% on cancellation.
- Treasury bonds are paying 9.5% for 6 months, considered safe, Treasury Direct account will allow up to $10,000/year and don’t have to pay taxes as a non-profit organization.
- I bond: interest rate is linked to what’s set on federal level; unlikely to have inflation rate to drop down to what’s being earned by a CD or savings account
- Some withdrawal time limitations (not within 1 year); could lose 3 months interest if withdrawn earlier than 5 years (CDs have interest penalties for early withdrawal also).
- A motion was made seconded, and passed to approve investing $10,000 in I-Bonds and designating Dick Matheson to act as sole agent for BWW at Treasury Direct, where digital bonds are managed.
- Should we open a brokerage account? Approved but need to identify company
- IRS code for someone to donate stocks, they can potentially get capital gains tax on their profit
- Can have safe options like bonds of financially secure companies
- Need approval by LT for anything more than $500
- Book Fest got non-profit status
- No longer need us to be a sponsor for that
- Contact authors; they need to work out their plan to participate.
- Work out how BWW can participate in PubCrawl time slot (venues that will have a reading night)
- Previous book festivals, exhibit table cost was high; Tables for this year? Dick will find out (answer is no)
- Update on final report for BCA MasterClass grant
- Jane and Katie are developing
- Deadline for Final FCA Grant Report to be filed and accepted as satisfactory and complete by BCA is June 30, 2022.
- Goal is to have it completed and filed by June 15 to allow time for additions if BCA requests them.
Millie: Woodstock Book Festival proposal
- Let members know if they want to apply for exhibit booth, organize it, they have to make arrangements and pay for it.
- Could mark database with published authors
- Send email with information; Millie will provide to Sam (mail sent by Sam to members)
- Square provides free reader for iphone and you pay small %; Nancy Kilgore may have one
Adjourned at 7:36 PM. Next LT meetings: Sunday June 12 and July 10, 6 PM
