State of the Guild Speech

by 2013 Board President Helen Townsend

Day of Meeting: September 08, 2013

Thanks for coming! Great to see old & new faces! Special thanks to Andie Ptak (& husband) for opening up their home.

Governance

  • Entering our 4th year of operating as a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization

  • Board has grown from 8 directors last year to 11 directors (nearly the full complement of 12)

  • Ask Board members to stand up and be recognized

  • Advisors now at 4; read names & recognize those present

  • Healthy financial state ­ working on the budget for 2014

  • Cumulative knowledge now

  • Brainstorming and sharing of ideas

  • Board retreat planned to bring together outgoing and incoming board members plus advisors

  • 6 members will complete their term at the end of this year and are stepping off the board

  • Currently recruiting for new board members

  • Any member can apply

  • Talk to Kyra today if you’re interested in learning more about the board

  • Working on a Consultants Bureau – ­­the ideas are forming

Member Rate Survey

  • Conducted this survey and 81 of you responded

  • This is a good percentage of our membership

  • We got so much information from it that it’s taking some time to write the report

  • We’ll get that out as as soon as it’s ready

Website & Social Media

In February we launched the new and improved Editors Guild website

  • More posts on the job board have been coming in

  • Members and clients appreciate the searchability

  • Detailed list of notes from member meetings

Facebook page has been active this year

  • 470 “likes”

  • Regular postings from various members

Another great way for people to find us and interact with us

  • Twitter ­­@edsguild

  • 71 followers

Work has started on a Communications master plan, ­headed up by Mary­-Colleen Jenkins, and the Social Media guidelines are almost formalized

If interested in participating in the Guild’s social media, please see Amanda or Rich

Outreach

Creation of a Speakers’ Bureau

  • Headed by Beth Jusino)

  • Over a dozen members

Guild members as individuals or panels have spoken at

  • PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association) Conference

  • Write on the Sound

  • Any number of other events -­­ anyone want to shout out?

KUOW pledge drive

Plan to add outreach to sister groups, such as

  • SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists)

  • AWC (Association of Women in Communications)

  • WNBA (Women’s National Book Association) – Kyra goes to meeting tomorrow

  • AMWA (American Medical Writers Association)

  • And more, as well as to Seattle’s writing communities

Wonderful new marketing materials (thanks to Andie Ptak), including

  • Table­top displays for “Ask the Editor”

  • Guild post­-it notes, etc

  • Thank you cards

Camaraderie

Coffee Hours/Happy Hours

  • First one was in Seattle’s Capitol Hill in March 2012

  • Since then they’ve taken root in

  • Fremont, Columbia City, West Seattle, Greenwood

  • Also spread farther afield to Issaquah, Poulsbo, Portland

  • Meet­-ups to work on profiles for website potluck

Member Meetings

Having outgrown Hugo House, in January, 2013, we moved our meetings to the iLEAP space in the stately Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford, with a range of expert speakers and panelists:

  • Designers working with editors

  • Editors round-table

  • State of regional presses (Mountaineers, Sasquatch, UW Press)

  • Copyright for editors

  • Style guides

2nd year of regular volunteer note-takers, excellent notes on the website.

  • Lisa Gordanier

  • Marcella van Oel

  • Looking for 2014 note-takers – ­­speak to me!

One more meeting this year -­­ Creating Your Website!

Conference Red Pencil in the Woods 2013

  • Fourth biennial conference to be held on October 26 at Bastyr University

  • Hiring conference coordinator to lead volunteers

  • Talented conference committee headed up by Elisabeth Rinaldi (coordinator); recognize others present

  • Still time to get in on the early-­bird registration

Closing with Our Mission Statement:

“The Northwest Independent Editors Guild connects clients with professional editors in the Pacific
Northwest. We foster community among our members and provide resources for their career development.”

We are living into that mission and taking it forward into the future. It is because of our committed members who volunteer their time and talents in all sorts of ways. The Editors Guild has grown from those early days in 1997 with Sherri Schultz, Phyllis Hatfield and 9 other founding members to where we are today, with well over 200 members.

Thank you for all that you do, and for coming out today!