The Catholic Writers Guild

Project: Social Media
Purpose: Promote the Guild and its activities in social media.

The social media group continued reasonably well. We still had times when volunteers didn’t fill the buffer of posts, and there were days with no social media, but we have three volunteers now (Jane Lebak, Lisa Mayer and Stuart Sexton) who are carrying the torch. Michael Fraley continues to do a grand job with the CWG Book Blast.

Status: We need a volunteer to rewrite the regular posts. Jane Lebak is redoing some, but we need them all refreshed. The links to the books have been checked, and we are removing them or finding valid links for those that no longer work.

Note on CWG Volunteer FB group: Karina set this up for the committee chairs to use, but it does not get much activity.

Project: CWG Facebook Group
Purpose: Provide an online venue for talking and sharing over Facebook.

Status: Carmela Martino has done a fantastic job moderating. The number of conversation posts seems pretty good, and we have a very active group. We have had a few instances where we need to remind folks about the no-politic and no-spam rules, but mostly, it has gone well. We need a new volunteer to take this on this new year.

Note: The CWG and CWCO fan pages differ from the FB group page. They are outward facing and promote the Guild and member books. Members are encouraged to post about their blogs, books, etc. there, and every day we post a promo about one member’s book. This new year we promote speakers on the CWCO page. Those who signed up in the speaker’s bureau will soon be able to post a promotional post on a regular basis.

Project: Catholic Writers Conference Online (CWCO)
Purpose: To provide a low-cost, high-information online writing conference.

Status: The 2017 online conference was a great success in attendance and profit. We’ve also heard from several people who have been published as a result of the pitch sessions.

It has been hard for Karina and Laura to organize the conference in the spring, so for 2018, we are moving it to October 12-14 so that we can plan during the summer.

Project: Monthly writing seminars
Purpose: To provide intermittent writing classes on requested topics outside the conferences; also to raise money for the Guild and share profits with the instructors. This is a moneymaking opportunity for Guild members. Also to promote the Guild to other Catholic writers.

Status: Laura Lowder is spearheading this, and it is still in the planning process. She that these will be more open-ended, time-wise, and allow a greater variety of topics and greater depth of coverage.

Lori Watson is working with Laura to contact potential presenters, and they are hunkering down as we transition to the new year. The next webinar is set for January 20, Writing out of Life’s Experiences, featuring Jeannie Ewing and Virginia Pillars, with Laura Lowder as moderator.

We plan to use the conference software (AnyMeeting) to host the seminars, which will be a single class taught by one person. Fees are being determined and most likely will be $10/class, and split with the instructor.

Project: Using project management freeware for better organizing committees.
Purpose: Better coordinate Guild projects.

One of the biggest issues we seem to have with committees is communication and making sure the guidelines, procedures, etc are all in one place that’s accessible. People who volunteer often don’t get contacted or follow-ups as needed, and as a result, don’t participate. To this end, Karina Fabian researched project management software that’s free in order to incorporate one for the Guild.

Status: This project died. Karina found two programs that worked, but only two people volunteered to test them, and each liked a different one. Interest in this project wasn’t strong enough right now. Perhaps later this year we will try this again.

The above report is a compilation of information submitted by Karina Fabian and Laura Lowder. Here’s the major committees and their email addresses. Please contact them directly to volunteer, or for more information about their committee functions. They can answer your questions and will welcome your input.

CWG COMMITTEES

Blog: Kathryn Cunningham and Dennis McGeehan 

CALA (Catholic Arts and Letters Award): Carol Ann Chybowski

CBN (Catholic Book News): Dawn Witzke

CWC: Ann Lewis and Ellen Hrkach

CWCO: Ann Lewis, Karina Fabian and Laura Lowder 

Communications/Social Media: Karina Fabian 

Facebook- Karina Fabian 

Membership: Maureen Smith

Newsletter: Cesar Chacon

Retreat: Ann Lewis and Margaret Rose Realy 

SOA: Ellen Gable Hrkach

Zenit: Dennis McGeehan 

CWG Fiction Critique Group† Don Mulcare

CWG Non-Fiction Critique Group† Nancy Ward

For other concerns and suggestions about our fabulous committees, contact Nancy Ward, Coordinator of Committees.