Would you like to volunteer to coordinate a

Schmooze or a Workshop

for the

SCBWI Midsouth Region?

 

What’s the difference between a Schmooze and a Workshop?

 

A Schmooze:

            Is a small social gathering – networking at its finest

            Is an event that strengthens the membership’s feeling of unity and facilitates creative networking

            May include discussions or presentations about the publishing industry as a whole

            May be a time for attendees to share industry news with each other

            May be a time to share technical information with each other

            May be a time for group critiques

            May be a time to discuss favorite children’s books

            May take an hour or two at the most

 Is free to attendees

            Occasionally includes a speaker who may be paid a maximum of $50 (multiple speakers share the honorarium of $50). A speaker may be paid for a Schmooze event only once per year per region. The        speaker must be regional and can be a bookseller, author, librarian, illustrator, etc. If the speaker is pre-published, he/she should speak on a topic where he/she has relevant expertise in a related field (not on writing or publishing children’s books until published in that genre) or about specific information that SCBWI members will find useful (i.e., a CPA, attorney, publicist, etc.)

            Needs to be held at a free (or very low-cost) facility like a library, church, or school

            Allows no children

            Refreshments may be provided by the region, and a small budget may be provided by the region to cover costs of hand-outs

 

The Midsouth Schmooze Director is Shirley Amitrano. If you’d like to coordinate a schmooze anywhere in the Midsouth, you’ll need to prepare an event proposal including a date, location, schedule, and possible speaker(s) you’d like to invite and send the proposal to Shirley Amitrano. After Shirley’s okay, the regional advisor must also pre-approve it. If possible, try to pre-plan your schmooze idea at least two months in advance.

 

A Workshop:

            Is a craft-oriented gathering with a specific focus – an event with a higher level of expertise than a schmooze

            Is an opportunity to explore, in-depth, an aspect of writing or illustrating with intent to make a profit

            May take anywhere from a couple of hours to a full day

            Charges an attendance fee (enough to cover a nice speaker honorarium and pay expenses) and SCBWI members must be charged less than non-members

            Includes at least one paid speaker

            Allows no children

            If refreshments are provided, they must be covered by the attendants’ fees

           

            If you’d like to coordinate a workshop, prepare an event proposal including a date, location, schedule, and possible speaker(s) you’d like to invite. Also prepare a budget and send it with the proposal to the regional advisor, Kristin Tubb. Regional advisors must pre-approve all SCBWI activities and speakers.

            The Midsouth Region can provide seed money to pay deposits for facilities, but workshops need to break even and try to make a profit. That’s tricky to plan, so you’ll want to plan to break even at 50 to 75% capacity of your event. After a workshop proposal has been pre-approved, the coordinator will prepare a brochure to be used for publicity and for online registration. The regional advisor will prepare and oversee online registration. Try to pre-plan your workshop idea at least four to six months in advance.