We need you to make 2012 the best conference ever!
Only 251 days until the conference.
The New England SCBWI annual conference is entirely organized and run by volunteers, so help is vitally needed and greatly appreciated. This is one of the largest regional SCBWI conferences, and last year we sold out the conference in two weeks. This year, the theme is "Keeping it Real: Reality and World-building in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Illustration" and the conference will take place April 20-22, 2012 at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel, Springfield, MA.
Please complete the conference volunteer survey if you are interested in helping out. Getting more involved in the NE-SCBWI conference is a great way to meet accomplished authors, illustrators, editors, and other publishing professionals.
Volunteers are needed to assist with many different aspects of the conference. Conference weekend volunteers are responsible for tasks during the conference weekend only, and will be trained that weekend. We also need volunteers to help select workshops for the conference. The Workshop Selection Committee will meet on October 2, 2011 in Holden, MA to choose the best workshops out of all the proposals submitted.
We are also seeking volunteers to take on roles with greater time commitment and involvement. If you are interested in any of the following volunteer positions, please email
nescbwi12@gmail.com with your full name, contact information, and a brief explanation of why you feel you would be a good fit for the position.
Open Volunteer Positions
Special Interest Group Coordinator
Special Interest Groups are informal discussions meant to promote networking and discussion on topics of mutual interest. For example, past Special Interest Groups have discussed writing fantasy, using Twitter, and digital illustration. The Coordinator will need to solicit topics for the groups, find and recruit volunteers to lead the discussions, create signage for the tables, and make sure that the event runs smoothly.
Book Signing Coordinator
Authors and illustrators who present at the conference are invited to sign books. The Book Signing Coordinator is responsible for contacting and scheduling faculty for the signing, coordinating with the conference book seller to ensure that their books are available, and figuring out the best set-up for the book signing room, including line management.
Assistant Critique Registrars
The Critique Registrar takes every manuscript submitted for a critique at the conference, organizes them by genre, and submits them to appropriate editors and agents. The Registrar also puts together the schedule of critique meetings. Assistant Critique Registrars will work with the Registrar to manage this process and deal with critique requests and scheduling issues. We are looking for volunteers who live in the Burlington, MA area.
Open Mic Coordinator
Open Mic night was popular this past year, so we would like to offer this event again in 2012. The Open Mic Coordinator will plan the open mic night (or nights) and will be there to ensure that the event goes smoothly.
Door Prize Coordinator
The Door Prize Coordinator will solicit prizes to give away during the conference weekend, organize the prizes at the conference, and come up with a fun, creative, and efficient way of conducting the raffle.
Poster Showcase Coordinator
The Poster Showcase Coordinator organizes and runs the Illustrator poster contest at the conference. The Coordinator will come up with a concept for the contest, solicit prizes for the winners, present the prizes to the winners, and take charge of set-up and take-down of the contest.
Portfolio Critique Coordinator
Art Directors give portfolio reviews at the conference. This Coordinator will seek out Art Directors who are interested and available the weekend of the conference to critique portfolios, and will manage the portfolio critique schedule.
Portfolio Display Coordinator
This year, we are interested in adding a location for illustrators to display their work. The Portfolio Display Coordinator will recruit illustrators to take part in the display, and will manage set-up and take-down of the room.
