NorCal Meeting February 2, 2013
MINUTES
SATURDAY, FEB 2,
2013
11:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M.
BELLEVUE CLUB, 525 BELLEVUE AVE.,
OAKLAND
MEETING CALLED BY
Joyce Krieg
TYPE OF MEETING
Quarterly Regional Meeting
FACILITATOR
Joyce Kreig
NOTE TAKER
Elaine Webster
TIMEKEEPER
Joyce Krieg
ATTENDEES
Joyce Krieg Central Coast, Elaine Webster Redwood, Dave La Roche South Bay, Carole Bumpus
SF/Peninsula, Bob Garfinkle Fremont, Margie Yee Webb Sacramento, Judith Marshal Mt. Diablo,
Linda Brown Berkeley, Kathleen Orosco Berkeley, Lenore Hirsch Napa Valley, Deborah Bernal TriValley, Barbara Truax Marin.
Agenda topics
11:00 – 11:10 A.M.
(10 MINUTES)
CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTIONS
JOYCE KRIEG
DISCUSSION
Joyce calls the meeting to order and introduces Napa Valley Wr iters President and Representative, Lenore
Hirsch. Napa Valley Writers is the newest branch of the California Writers Club.
CONCLUSIONS
Welcome Lenore and Napa Valley Writers.
ACTION ITEMS
PERSON RESPONSIBLE
11:10 – 11:15 A.M
(5 MINUTES)
MINUTES AND TREAURER’S REPORT

Secretary Elaine Webster

Treasurer Judith Marshall
DEADLINE
JOYCE KRIEG
Minutes from December 1 approved by all Ayes
DISCUSSION
We spent $870 of the “use it and lose it” funds. $1130 of the original $2000 allotment is left in the fund.
Mt Diablo continues to hold $500 of SoCal’s contribution to the Publishing Pathways website. None of this
money has been spent.
CONCLUSIONS
We are within budget.
ACTION ITEMS
PERSON RESPONSIBLE
1
DEADLINE
Elaine will add page numbers to minutes.
11:15 – NOON
(45 MINUTES)
Elaine
SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE

Wrap up anything and everything we
need to do to make our table
professional-looking, worthwhile, and
just plain fabulous!
Feb 2
DEBORAH BERNAL
Deborah thanks the branches for the book covers. She received more than she could use for the threefold color display, so she chose a good mix of genre, branch and designs. Several reps expressed a desire
to have the display converted to a poster. Deborah will see what she can do.
We have a banner and banner holder designed from PVC piping to act as a free standing display. The
structure is light weight and easily disassembled to travel on BART. Other table items will include
membership files and maps of the Northern and Southern California branches. Deborah designed Be Our
Guest cards , which allow access to any branch meeting at membership rates. There will be a Scrabble
game and dictionary.
DISCUSSION
Our exact location has not been determined. The conference continues t o work on placement. We hope to
be right off the lobby, possibly in the same room as the bookstore.
Deborah reviewed the volunteer list and procedures. Deborah will send more information and a finalized
spreadsheet in the next few days. There will be a copy of the schedule at the table. Volunteers are to
arrive 10 minutes before their shift. The Mark Hopkins hotel requires business casual attire. Jeans are
okay as long as they’re presentable. Volunteers are required to bring a cell phone and have it on the
entire time. There is one badge for the entire conference to be shared by all volunteers. No meals are
provided. It is recommended that you bring a brown bag lunch and water. Attendees dine during the
keynote address. It’s okay to stand at the back of the room to hear the presenter.
We printed 1000 brochures, so hand them out freely. There’s no need for the volunteers to bring supplies. Everything
required will be there. There will be a sign-up sheet for membership inquiries. Lunch and late afternoons will be heaviest.
No unmanned booths. Linda Brown will be staying a block and a half away, if we need anything. She said to feel free to
call on her. Carole asked if we’ll have a business card drop off point. The answer is yes. Tri-Valley volunteers will tear
down the table after 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Linda Brown asked about the tri-fold. She could arrange to have it displayed at City Hall. Once again, can we get an
electronic copy? Can we make poster of the book covers? Maybe.
Joyce passed around and talked about the brochure. Our total costs were $250 for the table plus $200 brochure. If we get
ten new members we break even and the exposure is excellent.
Linda Brown suggested we publicize before and after the conference. She will try and get interviews with key presenters
and organizers. She suggested we use Twitter feeds to build on the excitement. Kathleen Orosco knows a reporter from
Channel 2 news and will contact him.
Discussion continued about the brochure. Joyce already passed them around at the Central Board meeting where there
were lots of good eyes on it. Joyce will send the branches more information about QR codes. She made some tough
choices for blurbs, but she got a good representation and edited them down. Can we post these up on CalWriters? Bob
said to put them in a doc file and send to Donna. Leftover conference brochures will be distributed to the branches. Dave
offered to include leftover brochures when he mails the Literary Review. Not every branch ordered extra Reviews, but he’ll
include the brochures for those that did. The conference draws 350 paid attendees, numerous speakers and 100
volunteers. Whatever’s left Paula and Deborah will give to Joyce to distribute.
Bob suggests that the CWC Central Board pay for the printing costs and any PR materials. He will approve the
expenditures and Sharon will either pay or reimburse the costs.
Margie commented on how many award winning authors among our members and we should showcase them. All agreed.
Linda Brown and Bob had a few grammatical corrections to the brochure. Joyce wrote down the changes. Applause and
smiles all around.
CONCLUSIONS
Everything is set, however keep in mind that parking is bad. There are two parking garages. There is parking at the
Embarcadero and a cable car ride is $4.00. Remember all expenses are tax deductible. The Mark Hopkins has Valet parking
for $50.
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Round of applause for Deborah.
ACTION ITEMS
Deborah will send out all the information in the next few days and
copy the reps.
Deborah will send out parking recommendations.
Joyce will get brochure to Paula by Tuesday in PDF format.
12:00 NOON – 1:00 P.M.
(45 MINUTES)


PERSON RESPONSIBLE
DEADLINE
Deborah
soon
Joyce
Tues. Feb 5
LUNCHEON IS SERVED!
Let’s use lunch time to share branch
activities
Don’t forget to bring speaker
recommendations
DISCUSSION
General lunchtime discussion about branch news. A few flyers were made available.
CONCLUSIONS
Yummy lunch. Gourmet Chicken Pot Pie with Cheese cake and fresh berries for dessert.
ACTION ITEMS
PERSON RESPONSIBLE
DEADLINE
Burp! Stretch! Back to work!
Branch Representatives
completed
1:00 P.M. – 1:45 P.M.
(30 MINUTES)
DISCUSSION
PUBLISHING PATHWAYS

What’s the next step for this
worthwhile project?
ELAINE WEBSTER
Elaine outlined the plan, most of which was discussed at the December 1 meeting. As of today:

The committee is Elaine, Judith and Deborah. Joyce oversees. Elaine has set up a password
protected Discussion Forum for the committee and Joyce. This could be expanded at a later
date to include other key players. It eliminates the need of long strings of e -mails and keeps a
permanent record.

Bob reported that as of yesterday, February 1, Rik Scott renewed the domain and pa id for one
year of hosting. He will send Joyce an invoice to pay. Elaine remarked that she had seen that
the domain had been renewed.

Elaine has already added a button for easy access to Publishing Pathways from the NorCal page
and a “Start here” button that clicks through to Joyce’s design.

The next step is to create an interactive “Start Here” page from Joyce’s design. The idea is to
have her icons come alive and click through to the appropriate sections of the website. Elaine
hopes to have this complete in February or March.

Once the new design elements are added, Publishing Pathways will be ready for a re-launch.

Elaine will amend the Publishing Pathways contact sheet from the branch changes she has and
forward it to Judith to follow up further with the branches. Judith will compose a letter(s) to the
contacts and confirm commitments.

Elaine will work with Joyce, Deborah, and Judith to re-launch a Publishing Pathways
extravaganza. Hold on to your hats.

Final discussion of whether the website should be open to everyone or password protected
ensued. Elaine feels strongly that the site be open. It is part of her plan to draw interest to the
branches. There will be no confidential information on the site and no negativ ity. Others felt
differently. Margie said that Sacramento’s board didn’t think any presenter reco mmendations or
skills banks should be included. Many points of views were expressed. For now, Elaine will make
the changes. The discussion will continue at the next meeting, a motion will be formally drafted
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and voting will take place.
CONCLUSIONS
We are on our way. The issue of Password Protection will be voted upon. The site is open to anyone now,
but there isn’t any new content. It can be password protected at a later date, when a decision is reached.
ACTION ITEMS
PERSON RESPONSIBLE
DEADLINE
Bulleted above
Elaine
May 4 meeting
1:30 P.M. – 1:45 P.M.
(15 MINUTES)
DISCUSSION
NCG WEB SITE

What’s the next step for making this a
valued tool for our branches?
ELAINE WEBSTER
No additional discussion.
CONCLUSIONS
ACTION ITEMS
1:45 – 2:15 P.M.
(30 MINUTES)
PERSON RESPONSIBLE

LITQUAKE!
Should we be involved in this year’s
event – and if so, how?
DEADLINE
CAROLE BUMPUS
Carole Bumpus fills us in on the history of Litquake. She points us to their website www.litquake.org
for the full story. It is a nine day literary spectacle. It includes all ages and most of the Bay Area’s
literary community. Jane Ganahl is one of its founders and she remains a driving force.
How can we be part of Lit Crawl? The event is held on the final night of the nine day event. Lit Crawl
takes place at Mission and Valencia in San Francisco. Different groups read. Carole passed out the map
for the Lit Crawl. Litquake goes on all year. Check out the website for the San Francisco and Berkeley
events. The events take place throughout the Bay Area. The idea is to consider bringing in more of the
CWC branches. Carole passed around information about how and when we could participate.
DISCUSSION
There is a cost to enter, possibly as much as $75 with an April 30 deadline. Is this date too soon for us to
get involved this year? Linda Brown did contact the organizers last year. They indicated that it’s helpful
to have a big name and a certain size venue. The participating organization secures the venue and
organizes the event.
Linda Brown thought that for CWC an event at Lake Chalet, on Lake Merritt or at Mont. Gains Restaurant
in downtown Oakland might be places to consider. Linda did talk to organizers last year and indicated
that they had an annual budget of at least ½ million dollars and each year is growing. For Lit Crawl we
don’t have to pick the place. The norm is five speakers, speaking for an hour. The organizers successfully
handle the event. Barbara Truax felt it may be too late for this year. Linda Brown felt with some
advertising, we could still pull it off. Kathleen felt that participation would be based on the individual
branch. Many branches already have members that participate and they would welcome a NorC al effort.
Many felt that if we don’t make it too complicated, that both Litquake and Lit Crawl are doable.
Everything together is huge with lots of opportunity to organize, promote and participate. On line,
www.litquake.org still shows 2012. What’s going on now? The website has contact information. Kathleen
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said last year Berkeley promoted their anthology. Linda Brown might take on collaboration with Kathleen
as the contact person. One idea is to use Mt .Diablo’s on-going panel discussion re: So, you want to write
a book? Judith already has all the materials needed for this type of event. The hard part is finding the
venue. We might consider the San Francisco Library, which right across from the BART station. Deborah
asked about setting up an expert panel. Judith said she’s like to keep the book writing event at the
branch level, but we could do an expert panel as a NorCal function. The feeling was that we may not be
able to pull it off this year.
CONCLUSIONS
It’s an option.
ACTION ITEMS
PERSON RESPONSIBLE
DEADLINE
Judith will register for a NorCal panel, then get back to us about
what’s involved and the cost.
Judith Marshall
soon
Linda will look into what is required for an event in the East Bay.
She will also check out the venues from last year.
Linda Brown
soon
2:15 – 2:45 P.M.
LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE AND/OR RETREAT

Do we see merit in reviving either or
both?

If so, what are our next steps?

Other endeavors NCG could pursue to
provide value to the branches.
JOYCE KRIEG
Joyce started the discussion with the CWC July picnic. There is excitement surrounding a cake decorating
contest with a literary theme. Call it Lit Cake?
Deborah Bernal and Tri-Valley discussed a NorCal mixer. Maybe a 3 or 3 ½ hour cocktail party. Some
thought we could use the “use it or lose it” money?
Barbara Truax said there has been between 50 to-60 people at the picnic. Regarding other events,
Barbara thinks we have enough on our plate for right now and should take it slow. Let’s do what we want
to do first.
Linda Brown proposes a retreat for California Writers Week.
DISCUSSION
Margie wants leadership to be a component for future events. Our branches need support to reinforce
positive behavior.
Linda Brown likes the idea of another leadership conference. She also brought up the need for a paid PR
person or firm.
Joyce likes the idea of mini leadership conferences at our regular NorCal meetings, along the lines of
what Kim Edwards presented in December.
Lenore wondered if branch volunteer meetings of individuals with the same job might be useful. For
instance all Treasurers meet? It might be a good idea to have mentors for each position—a person that
would be a NorCal contact for policies and procedures. We could use technology to dispense information.
Joyce would like to push the picnic. Can we expand? Guest speaker? Dave said we need more publicity.
Can we enhance it?
CONCLUSIONS
We have lots of ideas that we need to continue to discuss and consider.
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ACTION ITEMS
2:45 – 3:00 P.M.
DISCUSSION
PERSON RESPONSIBLE
NEXT MEETING

Currently scheduled for May 4. Does
that sound reasonable?

Should we break for the summer or try
to have a summer meeting?

Venue for next meeting – outdoors? If
so, where?
DEADLINE
JOYCE KRIEG
Joyce suggests four meetings a year. The only Saturday that works is the first Saturday of the month. We
should consider May for our next meeting, and then we will be done for the fiscal year. The next fiscal
year would include August, October, February and May meetings. We decided that the next meeting is for
May 4, once again at the Bellevue club at the same time. It was also agreed we should give our sponsor,
Carole Levenson, a $50 gift card as a thank you.
CONCLUSIONS
ACTION ITEMS
PERSON RESPONSIBLE
DEADLINE
$50 gift card for Carole Levenson, the Bellevue Club member who
makes it possible for us to meet.
Joyce Krieg
Done.
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