Posts Tagged ‘PPW President’

From the President

Pikes Peak Writers
Photo © Mike Anderson

 

By: Kim Olgren, PPW President

Is it a sunset, or a sunrise? For some, it’s both as they move out of one chapter and into another. One thing is for sure. It’s sure a beautiful image for the header of our soon-to-be-unveiled shiny new website. One of the many things your new board of directors and a host of other volunteers are diligently working to bring fresh and useful content to our members. As your new board president, I’m thrilled to be a part of the exciting changes happening with Pikes Peak Writers that will help us better serve our membership in so many ways.

Who am I?

Kim Olgren, PPW President

I’m Kim Olgren. Some of you may have seen me around hosting non-conference events. These are the events we put on nearly every week and special events we put on once a quarter and the occasional pop-up event. We may have met at one of our previous conferences. If not, I’ll be at the 2023 conference. Be sure to say “hi.”

What qualifies me to be president of your PPW board? My background includes having worked several non-profits, including The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Goodwill, and The Retired Enlisted Association, Chapter 1. Where I worked closely with their boards and/or leadership. I’ve worked in HR for a few companies in the Pikes Peak area as well. Giving me the necessary soft/people skills to thoughtfully match people to the positions best suited for and in which they can flourish. I’m a maker, creator, author, and likely your best cheerleader. For me, creativity is life. Math and data entry are necessary evils to be executed as cleanly and quickly as possible (I said what I said). I’ve run non-conference events for PPW for the last couple of years, including budgetary responsibilities. I’ve been the editor of our newsletter, I’m a contributing writer for the PPW blog, handled PPW’s social media, and done some administrative work as well. But mostly, I’m passionate about PPW’s mission:

“Pikes Peak Writers (a 501(c)(3) organization) is committed to helping writers grow and thrive through education, outreach, and community.”

Pikes Peak Writers

We are an all-volunteer organization run by an all-volunteer board of directors. We run 100% on coffee and tea laden, wild-eyed (possibly somewhat feral) volunteers who are determined to fulfill our mission. Each one is precious to us, as are each of our members. Those in leadership positions with PPW have a special obsession for helping others. You’ll be meeting the rest of the board in future social media posts. Please be patient with us as we transition into new leadership positions and take on new tasks. We encourage every board member to take on some kind of responsibility within the organization besides their duties as a board member. I still wear several other hats for PPW. Our vice president is also the newsletter editor, one of our members at large is transitioning into the role of non-conference events director, another is taking over social media, and the board helps with conference in many hands-on, behind-the-scenes ways, just to name a few.

What are our future goals? Great question! Our biggest priority is to give you, our members, what we promise in our mission statement. The pandemic has been tough on all of us in some way. Many of us who rarely had too many issues writing found ourselves with too much time on our hands and too isolated to write. Others found they couldn’t find the time to write as spouses were suddenly home 24/7 and kids were attending school online from home. Some of us flourished during the pandemic and are having trouble adjusting to post-pandemic routines. If your train has jumped the track, we want to help you get back online. Attending some of our events and connecting with fellow writers again could be just what you need to find that spark again or you may find the desire to continue. My door is always open. You can shoot me an email at president@pikespeakwriters.com anytime. I will do my best to answer emails within 48 hours.

Who are We?

My job, along with the rest of the board, is to be responsible leaders, decision-makers, and stewards of Pikes Peak Writers assets in order to best fulfill our mission; whether that’s during our annual conference, non-conference events we hold throughout the year, our info-packed website and blog, or our anthology. We’re always working hard to inspire and help Pikes Peak area writers grow and thrive. Look for exciting new events and workshops happening every month culminating in one of the best writers’ conferences in the land, Pikes Peak Writers Conference, happening April 28-30, 2023. Volunteers are always welcome to help us serve our writing community. Email volunteer@pikespeakwriters.com to find out more.

The all volunteer board of directors are:

Kim Olgren President
Deb Courtney, Immediate Past President
AJ Metzgar, Vice President
Charise Simpson, Returning Treasurer
Kathie Scrimgeour, Secretary
Laura Hayden, Returning Member at Large
Dustin Hodge, Member at Large
Sharon Manislovich, Member at Large
Leilah Wright, Member at Large

PPWC2023 Submission Portal

The 2023 conference workshop submission portal is open until October first, and there’s never been a better time to share your knowledge. Conference registration will open in November. Be sure to register early and reserve your room. They go fast! Our lineup of workshops is shaping up to be stellar and with keynote speakers like Robert Crais, author of the best-selling Elvis Cole novels, Barbara O’Neal (who’s won more awards than you can shake a stick at), and Dave Chesson, creator of Kindlepreneur.com this conference promises to be one of our best. You do not want to miss this. Some attendees say one of the best things about conference happens in between and around the fabulous workshops when you might have the opportunity to rub elbows with your favorite author, meet a new favorite, or maybe even chat with an agent or editor. We are, after all, the friendliest conference in the U.S.

I look forward to seeing you soon. Until then, write on!

Kim Olgren

President, Pikes Peak Writers

PPW Prez Says, 2nd Quarter 2018

Readers, today we hear from Bowen Gillings, president of Pikes Peak Writers. Look for the Prez Says Column each quarter as Bowen keeps Pikes Peak Writers informed.

Prez Says

Report on the June 2018 PPW Board Meeting

Hello! Your Pikes Peak Writers Board of Directors met on June 7th to cover a full agenda and here is what’s fit to print for you, dear reader.

I will lead with one of the last items we discussed: volunteering with PPW and PPWC (conference). If you do not know, Pikes Peak Writers is run entirely by volunteers. That means everything we do, every event you attend, or post you see online is made possible by dedicated individuals generously giving of their time and talent.

We need more volunteers.

Many members have volunteered for a long time—some for a very, very long time—and they are getting tired, which is understandable, inevitable, and expected. We would love to get some new blood in the mix. PPW needs volunteers to help out with functions ranging from social media and marketing to membership management, volunteer coordination, and helping run the organization as members of the Board of Directors. All of our volunteer needs can be found on the website at https://www.pikespeakwriters.com/about/key-volunteers/ and at https://www.pikespeakwriters.com/about/support-ppw/volunteer-opportunities/.

Speaking of the Board, elections are in September. Open positions will be President, Secretary, NCE Director, and Member at Large. Serving on the Board does take some time and dedication. Reach out to any one of us for a sense of what it takes. But, believe me, it is worth it when you see how PPW positively affects the writing community.

Members at Large (MAL) are voting members of the Board who hold no additional Board duties. MALs help out as eyes, ears, and voices contributing to Board decisions. Often MAL is a good start if you’re curious about helping lead this great organization. Up to eight MAL positions may be accepted on the Board this year.

Stacy Jensen has done an outstanding job as our Board Secretary, but is not seeking reelection. Linda Tschappet has gone above and beyond as our Non-Conference Events Director and now is working with Laura Hayden on running the 2019 Conference. So, she’ll be busy. Both ladies have won our Volunteer of the Year Award for their services.

I have enjoyed my 18 months as your president. However, it is time for someone else to take over the reins. I will stay on the Board in the voting position of Immediate Past President until 2020. Also, I am running programming for the 2019 Conference. So, like Linda T., I will be busy.

Nominations for Board positions must be in by the end of August, 2018. While you do have to be a PPW member to run, no prior experience with the Board is necessary for any open position. If you are interested in running, submit a one-page letter detailing your position of interest, your qualifications, and a short bio to president@pikespeakwriters.com or secretary@pikespeakwriters.com. Write “Board Nomination 2018” in the subject line. 

The Board also reviewed the 26th Annual Pikes Peak Writers Conference. What a rousing success it was. Anyone who attended knows that PPWC 2018 set a new standard in fun, networking, learning, and general literary awesomeness. 

What many of you don’t know is all the hard work that went into making it such a great event. Kudos to conference director Karen Fox and her amazing staff of volunteers who gave it their all to make sure every attendee had a great weekend. Our thanks as well to keynotes Jonathan Maberry, Mary Robinette Kowal, Laurelle K. Hamilton, and Bob Mayer, and to all the faculty, agents, and editors. I have added being a co-emcee with Mary Robinette Kowal to my bucket list. Those who came to conference know why.

We also discussed how to honor PPW members in memorium. This past year saw the loss of two visibly involved members, Ron Cree and Steve Nelson. Finding ways to honor them without setting further precedent that may hamstring the organization in future was the focus. To that end, the Board decided to return the scholarship fund back to it’s general name of Pikes Peak Writers Conference Scholarship Fund and create two scholarships under it dedicated to Ron and Steve and available to writers who meet certain criteria. More details on these will come shortly. Once finalized, they can be found on the website’s scholarships page.

Many other topics were discussed and, to save space, I will address them in the form of a no-nonsense bullet list:

  • The Board appointed a representative to work with the Webmaster to help streamline our transition to new Internet platforms and tools.
  • A second phase to our Writing is Art partnership with Cottonwood Center for the Arts is under way. March 2018’s showing exceeded expectations. Keep checking the website for new submission guidelines.
  • The Board is looking for someone to take the lead in creating a PPW Anthology. Anyone interested in details can contact president@pikespeakwriters.com.
  • We are dissolving the PPW Yahoo! Group. This legacy item served us well for 16 years, but has become a dinosaur seeing little use save for people promoting their own material. It will be gone by the end of August. Those affected are invited to checkout our Pikes Peak Writers Connect group forum on Facebook.

Thank you for engaging with Pikes Peak Writers. If you have questions about PPW and how it works, please reach out to me. The address is president@pikespeakwriters.com.

Thank you.

Bowen Gillings

President

Pikes Peak Writers

PPW Prez Says, 4th Quarter 2017

Readers, today we hear from Bowen Gillings, president of Pikes Peak Writers. Look for the Prez Says Column each quarter as Bowen continues to keep Pikes Peak Members informed.

Report on the December 2017 PPW Board Meeting

Happy Holidays! Pikes Peak Writers is about to close the books on another exciting and educational year. My heartfelt thanks to all of the amazing volunteers who have taken time away from their families, friends, and (heaven forbid) their writing to keep PPW going. You make this organization great. I wish for each of you a merry wrap-up to 2017 and a great and Happy New Year.

Your Board of Directors met twice in December. The first meeting covered necessary tasks for upgrading and maintaining our web presence. Our outstanding web team vetted several options for web hosting, membership management and event management software, and website migration. The Board eliminated some choices before our Conference Director ran a few demos with the software. The bottom line is that PPW will soon have a better system for member management, workshop and event submission, Conference and Zebulon registration, and blog functions. Yippee!

The second meeting determined our operational budgets for 2018. Several exciting decisions were made to include allocating more funds for volunteer appreciation, non-conference events, and social media. We approved spending for the new software and web migration. We also approved funds to provide honoraria for presenters at our monthly Write Brain events–something many of us believe has been a long time coming.

On a personal note, I am happy to announce that the Board approved funds to buy books published by PPW member authors. The goal here is two-fold: 1) motivate authors to use our events page so that we can publicize and support their book releases and 2) show PPW’s support of our members by paying for a copy of their new books then giving those books away at PPW events. This proposition is for both traditionally published and independently published member authors.

Next year promises to be our best yet. The Writing is Art event in partnership with Cottonwood Center for the Arts begins its showing in March. If you are interested in contributing to this event, go to the Special Events tab on our website, pikespeakwriters.com, and click on Writing is Art. There is still time to submit before the December 31st deadline.

Our Write Your Heart Out event in February is shaping up. This is our annual free preview of faculty presenting workshops at our 2018 Conference.

The Pikes Peak Writers Conference runs from April 27-29 and looks to continue its tradition of excellence. PPWC keynotes will be Jim Butcher, Laurell Kaye Hamilton, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Jonathan Maberry. PPWC boasts outstanding workshops and the return of our attendees’ favorite improvisational writing event, Write Drunk, Edit Sober. Please, drink responsibly, but write recklessly.

If the price of Conference is the only thing keeping you from registering, fear not! Scholarships are available to help defer costs for those who qualify. Check out pikespeakwriters.com/ppwc/ for more information.

Thank you for engaging with Pikes Peak Writers. If you have questions about PPW and how it works, please reach out to me. The address is president@pikespeakwriters.com.

Thank you.

Bowen Gillings

President

Pikes Peak Writers