Post Fall Conference Post

Phew! Well, InScribe’s Annual Fall Conference is only a memory. It will go down in the books as an excellent and unprecedented event.

Like many other events in 2020, the executive and Fall Conference Committee had to rethink our usual plans. We started switching to a virtual mindset as early as March or April and made the decision soon after that to hold our conference as a virtual event instead of the usual face to face in Edmonton, AB. This year’s theme Writing With Unflinching Boldness seemed providential, even though we’d set the theme long before Covid hit.

Advantages: We had people attending from across the country that don’t normally come because of the distance and travel costs. Unfortunately, other ‘regulars’ chose not to attend. but it all evened out with about the same number of people as we would normally get.

I suppose one down side was the long time spent in front of the computer screen for two days in a row. Screen fatigue (and ZOOM fatigue) are real, but we kept things running with enough variety and breaks that most people didn’t seem to mind. I know I felt like the time flew by and didn’t really realize I’d been in front of my computer all day until it was over.

Highlights:

He definitely challenged and inspired us with his two keynote addresses and one workshop. There is far too much to say in this post, but I plan to give further details in the future. Suffice to say, he gave us enough meat to keep us chewing for a while in both practical and philosophical terms. He was very transparent about his own experiences, both his successes and things that could be seen as ‘not-so-successful’ – probably one of the reasons he resonated so well with the attendees, if the feedback we’ve been getting is any indication.

Workshops and Break-outs:

We offered a variety of other workshops, none of which I was able to attend. (That often happens when you’re one of the organizers!) Fortunately, all are recorded so I plan to go back and watch them all at a later date.  We also offered several short ‘Freefall’ writing sessions as a way to gather in small groups. Since I love freefall writing, I really enjoyed all of these sessions and it was a chance to chat with other attendees face to face.

Some other special offerings:

We started each day with a ‘Show and Tell’ session. We’d invited attendees to bring an item to share and it was a lot of fun as various people held up an item and talked briefly about what it was and why it was significant. One of our executive members shared a song, too, which was very special since we didn’t schedule in any worship time – something that usually happens when we gather together in person.

Mosaic Collection Panel

Three of our members, Deb Elkink, Eleanor Bertin, and Janice Dick – all successful authors in their own right – shared about their experiences in a marketing group they belong to called the Mosaic Collection. It is a group of twelve authors who have decided to combine their marketing efforts by branding their new work under the Mosaic Collection banner, thus expanding their individual reach. It’s a brilliant model, really. If each author releases a new book each year, they’d have a new book each month. Kudos to these lovely ladies and the success they are having through this group! You can read more about the Mosaic Collection here.

Word Cafe

Our last session was called ‘Word Cafe’ which was another small group experiment. We divided up the attendees into several random small groups and rotated hosts, along with a different selection of discussion topics every twenty minutes. I heard afterward there were some glitches in some groups, but mine was awesome. We managed to talk about a lot in such a short time and it made the conference feel more intimate.

I’ll be sharing more in future posts, but thought I’d set the stage. Now it’s time for a rest!