I'm with you. I was just going to suggest an award myself. The SFPA would be getting more support from me if it wasn't so CFC-hostile.
Your list looks excellent to me. Of those, I am keenly interested in the following, which I think would be good for starting:
Awards Directories Websites
I would love to see a magazine, online or hardcopy or both. When this comes into active planning ... let's talk. I've run a magazine before and enjoyed it.
We already have this blog; I'm not sure that additional blogs would be a good idea. It's only in the last few months that there's been really strong activity here as the membership has snowballed. If we can do things on discussion forums that we can't do here, that's worth considering, but I wouldn't put it at high priority.
Legal Counsel and Emergency Funds would be excellent. That depends on having the money to fund them. Does anyone here have experience with organizational fundraising? If not, we should seek someone who does.
I've seen a lot of organizations crash for lack of funding, especially if they're run by volunteers who burn out. If we could raise enough money through donations or other means, then we could afford to give people some kind of kickback for hours/goods contributed to the organization.
Events and tables at conventions are good. That can be started anytime after the organization is codified; people go to cons all the time, and it's not hard to get panels, lecture rooms, etc. Tables are more of a challenge, requiring a fee and staff and materials; and some cons run out of space. But there are many other venues to consider: libraries, colleges, coffeehouses, bookstores, craft fairs, etc.
Looks like we're going to need a press kit eventually, too.
One thing I would like to add is Targeted Grants. I have been impressed with ones I've seen some organizations offer for senior writers, lesbian writers, regional writers, etc. We could think up what someone would need related to crowdfunding and create support for that; frex, creating a personal website could be supported by some funding and a volunteer designer.
Contests are another possibility, with cash and other prizes. The prizes don't even have to be big; this is something that might be doable early on. *grin* We have the advantage of many people who produce nifty things.
PR Service would be extremely useful. We could start with internal announcements via our website, newsletter, etc. But there are also businesses that send out press releases to the media. We could either find a volunteer to duplicate that, or investigate what it would cost to hire a PR person/firm. Because then, every time we did an award, contest, grant, event, somebody released a book, etc. we could send out a press release and even if nobody published those people would still read them so it would raise awareness. This kind of ties in to a PR Database, but I'd like to reach out beyond just the people we already know are sympathetic, to others who might be if only they knew what we're doing.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zvi![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Go for it!
Date: 2009-08-07 06:21 pm (UTC)Your list looks excellent to me. Of those, I am keenly interested in the following, which I think would be good for starting:
Awards
Directories
Websites
I would love to see a magazine, online or hardcopy or both. When this comes into active planning ... let's talk. I've run a magazine before and enjoyed it.
We already have this blog; I'm not sure that additional blogs would be a good idea. It's only in the last few months that there's been really strong activity here as the membership has snowballed. If we can do things on discussion forums that we can't do here, that's worth considering, but I wouldn't put it at high priority.
Legal Counsel and Emergency Funds would be excellent. That depends on having the money to fund them. Does anyone here have experience with organizational fundraising? If not, we should seek someone who does.
I've seen a lot of organizations crash for lack of funding, especially if they're run by volunteers who burn out. If we could raise enough money through donations or other means, then we could afford to give people some kind of kickback for hours/goods contributed to the organization.
Events and tables at conventions are good. That can be started anytime after the organization is codified; people go to cons all the time, and it's not hard to get panels, lecture rooms, etc. Tables are more of a challenge, requiring a fee and staff and materials; and some cons run out of space. But there are many other venues to consider: libraries, colleges, coffeehouses, bookstores, craft fairs, etc.
Looks like we're going to need a press kit eventually, too.
One thing I would like to add is Targeted Grants. I have been impressed with ones I've seen some organizations offer for senior writers, lesbian writers, regional writers, etc. We could think up what someone would need related to crowdfunding and create support for that; frex, creating a personal website could be supported by some funding and a volunteer designer.
Contests are another possibility, with cash and other prizes. The prizes don't even have to be big; this is something that might be doable early on. *grin* We have the advantage of many people who produce nifty things.
PR Service would be extremely useful. We could start with internal announcements via our website, newsletter, etc. But there are also businesses that send out press releases to the media. We could either find a volunteer to duplicate that, or investigate what it would cost to hire a PR person/firm. Because then, every time we did an award, contest, grant, event, somebody released a book, etc. we could send out a press release and even if nobody published those people would still read them so it would raise awareness. This kind of ties in to a PR Database, but I'd like to reach out beyond just the people we already know are sympathetic, to others who might be if only they knew what we're doing.