Minutes of 2015 Biennial General Meeting

CANSCAIP SK Horizons

Meeting – September 20, 2015 at St. Michael’s Retreat, Lumsden, SK

Present:   Sharon Hamilton, Alison Lohans, Myrna Guymer, Pat Miller-Schroeder, Judith Silverthorne, Sally Meadows, Donna Gartshore, Laura Blackman, Marie Powell, Lee Reaney, Dianne Young, Connie McGrath, Jeannette Montgomery, Paula Jane Remlinger, Linda Aksomitis

Agenda

Sharon called the meeting to order.

  1. Welcome and introductions.
  2. Old Business/activities of the past two years:
    1. Thanks to the organizing committee for this conference:  Judith Silverthorne, Pat Miller-Schroeder, Pat Trottier, and Ruth Pradznyski. Thank you also to the national CANSCAIP office for funding support. The conference was well attended and once again, the best one ever. Sally Meadows will write up a report for FreeLance and CANSCAIP News.
    1. Collaboration with national CANSCAIP for the Prairie Horizons conference:  We plan to continue with this, now that the glitches have been worked out.
    1. SWG Writing Group grants:  We have received another grant of $750 for SK-CANSCAIP activities. (2/3 of SK-CANSCAIP members must be SWG members as well.) Our previous grant was used in June, when Paula Jane Remlinger presented “Rhyme Crimes:  What Makes Good Children’s Poetry?” This took place at the SWG office on June 19, 2015 and was simulcast for wider viewing. It is presently up on Youtube, as well as on our website (SK-CANSCAIP.wordpress.com) and on the Prairie Horizons Facebook group. We appreciate the support of the SWG in sponsoring this talk; the funds were used to cover the presenter’s fee and mileage. SWG member group funding requires that several meetings take place within a year, but it is acceptable for smaller group meetings to take place in different locations.
    1. Online discussion blog on the website. This took place on a monthly basis, primarily between October 2013 and April 2015. All of the discussions had a few participants.
    1. Emails. Discussion followed regarding the anti-spam regulations. Sharon has cleared the spam regulations and asks that everyone who has not already done so, email her to confirm desire to receive emails. Marie Powell and others noted that emails need to have unsubscribe option. However, if one belongs to a group, email consent is secured.
  3. Next conference: September 2017. The date and location are still to be determined.
    1. The new committee consists of:   Paula Jane Remlinger, Danica Lorer, Donna Gartshore, and Jeannette Montgomery
    1. St. Michael’s will no longer be a feasible venue for future meetings. The new committee will search out a new location for the 2017 conference.
  4. Financial Statement:  The 2013 conference left a nice surplus, with $1243.26 in seed money for this 2015 conference. There was discussion about what to do in the coming two years. Grants received include: SWG, $750; CANSCAIP $750 (conference). Two events with the SWG money are suggested, one Regina-based and one Saskatoon-based.

Our bank balance includes mail registrations but not online registrations (which are processed through the national office), plus grants. We are expecting to break even after the surplus from 2013 Prairie Horizons. The bank balance as of November 2014 was $5587.30 which included $750 from the SWG plus interest. The September balance immediately preceding this conference was $11,408.82, which included the 2015 PH registrations sent by mail and a grant from the SWG for non-conference events, with some expenses paid. This balance does not include online registrations, and with most expenses still outstanding.

  • National Conference: Packaging Your Imagination, Saturday November 14, 2015 in Toronto. www.canscaip.org  – We discussed PYI; Sally Meadows will contact them for more information. Registration for online participation is quite expensive; we talked about watching events of interest in small groups. Scheduled events include four streams, ranging from beginner classes to master classes.
  • New Business:
    • How to connect SK CANSCAIP Members:
      • Should we revive the Virtual Blog (as in 2013-14)? Posted on the 15th of the month, the person who wrote the article moderates. Length of blog is approximately 500 words – to initiate the discussion. Questions are good, and links can be posted. Our blog link is also posted on the national website by Sharon Hamilton; it’s open for others to read. Can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, etc. 
        The question was raised as to whether we wish to keep doing this, and it was regarded as worthwhile. Myrna Guymer suggested circulating notice of the blog posts to everybody who is a member. Please volunteer to write blogs!
      • SK CANSCAIP Facebook page; Prairie Horizons page. Should we use that or do we want a second page as well? Discussion led to a decision not to have a Prairie Horizons page as well. SK-CANSCAIP PRAIRIE HORIZONS … change the name.
      • Local meetings:  Is there interest in holding regular meetings? (eg. Montreal & Edmonton have regular meetings) Saskatoon members can talk about it.
      • Regional workshops: These are good for outreach as well. One-day or one-afternoon workshops could be held, possibly simultaneously? These could be livestreamed through the SWG. Might dual funding be possible? It would require cooperation between organizations, and we would need people to organize them. Connie said that Paula Jane’s session “Rhyme Crimes”, livestreamed & then on Youtube, was very helpful and something she was able to watch multiple times. September is a good time for starting things and getting them to happen. This would be an excellent opportunity to cross-connect with other groups. The $750 SWG grant needs to be spent before the end of June; then with the next grant something could be planned for Saskatoon in the following year. Planning the event could be a blog discussion.
      • Paula Jane said that the Delish group in Saskatoon is open to new members. There are also opportunities for Saskatoon CANSCAIP members to participate in Saskatoon Coop open mic events. 
    • Online Presentations – SK CANSCAIP has received another SWG grant of $750 for two more online presentations during the next year (prior to June 30, 2016). Art Slade and Alice Kuipers’ names both were suggested as presenters. It would be good to determine workshop topics before presenters are chosen. There could be online discussion to determine the topics. Topics raised in the meeting included marketing & promotion; Marie Powell’s session on query & pitching; Donna Gartshore – how best to tell your story? Linda Aksomitis on branding. There could be a webinar with 3 sessions with panelists. Prior to this conference, an email was sent out to individuals who pitched manuscripts at this conference; information could be put on the blog. (Judith Silverthorne has the information and can tweak it, & put it up on the website.) Sharon Hamilton could do a session on building websites.   
    • Possible online courses?  In the past, it was suggested that SK CANSCAIP present an online course for illustrators. This was discussed two years ago, and the topic was dropped. “How to do an illustrator’s portfolio” could be a presentation topic. Paula Jane Remlinger suggested a course on storytelling, which could be taught by Danica Lorer.  
    • Members’ books can be posted on the SK CANSCAIP website, suggested by Marie Powell, listed in a sidebar. This idea was received with enthusiasm. Members are asked to email Sharon cover images along with write-ups, links to members’ websites, etc. Those who wish to do this need to join national CANSCAIP in order to belong to SK CANSCAIP. Fees are $85 for professionals, and $45 for CANSCAIP Friends.   
    • Any funds left over after a conference: Linda Aksomitis/Judith Silverthorne moved/seconded that we agree on a policy that the Prairie Horizon biannual conference funds remain in place as conference seed money as much as possible. This was unanimously approved. Additional events will be carried out only when extra annual funding is available.
    • Sally Meadows suggested that members’ events can be listed on our website & Facebook page in a stream of events. Members are responsible for posting their own events on the Facebook page.
  • SK CANSCAIP officers:
    • President and Secretary-Treasurer positions: with no new volunteers to take over, Sharon Hamilton & Alison Lohans are both willing to continue for two more years ONLY. Both are stepping down as of the September 2017 meeting.
    • Possibility of creating new position of Event Co-ordinator. Duties: Spearhead initiatives like meetings, speakers, courses. This does not mean you have to do all the work yourself. Everyone who wants to see some of these things happen is invited to take part in organizing them.  No action was taken.
  • Adjournment.  10:20