With conference season upon us, I thought it would be interesting to learn what goes into creating those conferences, so you can better evaluate the conference(s) you choose to attend (and pray for their organizers).
I asked Julane Hiebert, chairwoman of the Called to Write Writers Conference held in Pittsburg, Kansas, to share her experience and advice.
I first met Julane at last year’s Called to Write conference and wish I had had more time to get acquainted with her. Conferences are wonderful places to make new friends who are walking the same journey and understand the joys—and frustrations—of writing!
When and how did the Called to Write conference get started?
The Called to Write conference is sponsored by a writing group, Christian Writers Fellowship of Girard, Kansas. The first conference was in the mid 90’s, and was only a one day event held in one of the parks in Pittsburg. We held several one-day conferences, then when it began to grow we expanded to two days, and now runs from Thursday evening to Saturday noon.
Can you give us a taste of what it takes to organize a conference every year?
Organizing a conference is a year-round process. Many of the authors, publishers and editors who we get for speakers have schedules that are booked at least a year in advance, so we need to work with that. For instance, we already have the speakers for the 2017 conference.
As chairman, I make sure the motel is booked and rooms for our main speakers reserved for the following year before leaving the present year’s conference. The rest of the year is spent, as a committee …
- scheduling workshops and workshop leaders;
- making sure speaker contracts are sent/signed/returned;
- ordering books for the book table;
- deciding on menus and providers for the catered meals on Thursday evening and Friday noon;
- a LOT of time goes into making the schedule for the event, trying hard to schedule speakers and workshops so attendees can take advantage of as many as possible;
- making sure we have workers available for each little detail that has to be covered…
- greeters,
- registration table,
- book store,
- prayer room/devotionals,
- contests and awards,
- read-around moderators,
- scheduling for critiques and special service appointments,
- ice and water available at all times,
- sound system and tech adviser,
- someone to take pictures,
- kitchen help,
- snack providers,
- and then backup should an unforeseen emergency arise.
And, I’m sure I’ve missed something. It’s a very time consuming process, and takes many hands to achieve a successful conference.
I expected there was a lot of work to it all, but I’m exhausted just reading the list. You need a year to get it all done!
How do you determine the speakers, editors, and agents you invite?
We try very hard to book those who will give our attendees the best opportunity to have their work evaluated, as well as have questions answered. And we try to address various genres. We ask our attendees to fill out an evaluation sheet and one of the questions is what topic they’d like to have addressed at future conferences. We go from there, and try our best to accommodate those requests.
The most difficult to book are agents. Their schedules are quite full and many of them prefer a larger conference. Cost is also a factor, as much as we wish it weren’t. We pay the travel expenses, hotel accommodations and food for our main speakers, and with gas prices plus air fares or whatever might be needed it limits us somewhat.
There’s no question that attending a conference can get expensive–the cost of the conference, travel, lodging, food. How can authors determine whether the conference they’re considering is worth all the expense?
Perhaps the best way to determine worth of a conference, is to actually look into various conferences being held.
- What does it cost to register?
- What is included in the registration?
- Are the main speakers professional in their field?
- Are the classes offered relative to my genre?
- Will I have an opportunity to meet with an author/editor/publisher?
- Will I have an opportunity to have my work evaluated, either by entering a contest or by submitting a portion of my work for critique?
- Do I know someone who has attended a particular conference, and if so what was their experience?
The best, and most honest evaluation of a particular conference is word of mouth.
We feel we’ve been able to keep the cost for our conference very reasonable. The Lamplighter Inn, where the conference is held, has been very generous with us and gives us a special rate for the rooms, plus we’re able to use all the meeting rooms for a very minimal charge.
Members of our local group can attend for $60 if paid by the deadline of March 1. Non-members can attend for $70. The cost goes up $10 after the deadline. This price includes all the workshops, and catered meals on Thursday evening and Friday noon.
Individual critiques and special service appointments are extra. The lodging is also extra but still very reasonable ($72 per night) and most rooms will accommodate up to four people. The motel also provides a very nice breakfast bar every morning.
The cost of your conference is very reasonable and when you share the cost of lodging with another attendee, the outlay is considerably less.
How would you best advise writers in making their choice of which conference(s) to attend.
That’s very subjective. I think each writer must try to get all the information they can about each venue.
- Who are the speakers?
- What workshops are offered?
- Will what is offered help them on their writing journey?
- What opportunity will they have to meet with an author/editor/publisher, etc.?
- Will they have an opportunity to have their work critiqued, and if so, what is the extra cost?
- Are there contests offered?
- How long does each conference run?
- How far will they need to travel to attend?
- Will they need to take time off work?
All decisions that only an individual can address. Of course, the bigger conferences are able to offer more, but the cost will also be higher.
What do you feel is the best part about putting on Called to Write?
As a committee, we gain great satisfaction in knowing that we’ve attempted to give our attendees the most for their money. It’s been encouraging to see one-time wannabe writers become published authors and still come to the conference to sit beside others either to encourage or to gain even more information.
What do you feel is the best part about your conference for attending writers?
The best part of any conference is the friendships that are forged. Being in the company of others who have the same heart to write, and understand how topsy-turvy that journey can be, is always an encouragement. Because we are still a small conference (hopefully, we’ll have 80 registrants this year) there’s a great opportunity to become acquainted with others.
Over the years, we’ve learned to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. Attendees really do become family. While our common denominator is Christ, and a desire to write for Him, there are many, many branches on this family tree.
Attendees have the opportunity to meet not only fiction writers, but those who write for children, and young adults. Those who choose to write nonfiction, poetry, devotionals, or memoirs. Even some Christian curriculum writers.
How many people are involved in getting the conference organized each year?
We have four on the main committee, but during the conference we have no less than 16-20 volunteers from the writing group who have various functions—and all are vital to the overall success of the conference. It is definitely a joint effort, especially when you consider we are a small writing club, which means some of the volunteers have more than one responsibility.
Julane, thank you so much for sharing this information with us. It’s been eye-opening, and I’m sure it will also be very helpful to my readers in helping them evaluate conferences they are considering attending.
ABOUT CALLED TO WRITE
April 7-9, 2016 ($70 to register if paid by 3/1)
Lamplighter Inn, Pittsburg, Kansas
Award winning, best selling author Kim Vogel Sawyer, and publisher/editor Tamara Clymer are the main speakers.
In addition there will be workshops addressing self-publishing, and writing devotionals. Special services offered include help with setting up sites for social media, hands-on instruction for the use of Scrivener, and advice and encouragement from a professional writing coach. Registration forms and more in formation can be found at: www.christianwritersgirard.org
ABOUT JULANE HIEBERT:
Julane Hiebert lives with her husband in a wee cottage by a lake in the beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas. Her love of prairie comes from a childhood spent as the daughter of a cowboy, and she was named after characters in a Western magazine. While encouraged to pen the family’s story of raising two handicapped daughters, she has chosen to incorporate the lessons learned into the lives of the characters in her novels. She enjoys music, reading, junk shopping, and chocolate. Mostly chocolate. Julane has a passion to present God’s truth in everyday events, with ordinary not-too-perfect characters.
Julane’s debut book, Robin, published by Wings of Hope Publishing, was released in November 2015. The second book, Lark, will release March 15, and the third in the Brides of a Feather series, Wren, is scheduled to release July 15.