With the Guild heading into its third year, this meeting's topic was the Guild itself.

1. What are your hopes for the Guild?

Members expressed appreciation for the sense of community and collegiality the Guild provides. A few of the novice editors expressed interest in finding more experienced editors in the group who are interested in taking on an apprentice.

 2. Ideas for future meetings

·         online editing (i.e., copyediting manuscripts online, not copyediting for Web sites) and the advantages and disadvantages; how can one be more efficient online?

·         developing an action plan for the Guild's newly formed marketing/advertising committee (see below for additional discussion on this)

3. Speaker series

There is interest in hearing from area book publishers and magazines as well as from the dot-com world. What do the folks doing the hiring look for in freelance editors? What would the path be for a less experienced editor to gain a foot in the door? Specific ideas for speakers:

·         Joan Gregory, managing editor at Sasquatch (she's already expressed interest in speaking to/with the Guild; member Amy Smith Bell to coordinate date with Joan)

·         One member suggested inviting experienced editor/book doctor Phyllis Hatfield to address the group, to discuss her work, her "path," and so on.

·        Member Judith Calman recommends a speaker she recently heard at a meeting of the Northwest Science and Technology medical editors group (?); she'll get back with the name of that speaker (a Ph.D. from UW).

4. How can the Guild increase its presence beyond Seattle's book/magazine publishing industries with some marketing and advertising? How do we market to the public and penetrate the business community?

(These ideas may be fleshed out further at a future meeting to discuss concrete action for the Guild's marketing/advertising committee.)

One idea is to place advertisements or classified ads for the Guild in such area publications as the Puget Sound Journal, the Journal of Commerce, Seattle Weekly, the AIGA newsletter, Fishing and Hunting News, and any other local trade business journals. Member Randy Hilfman volunteered to gather some rates for a few of these publications.

What about placing an ad in Literary MarketPlace (published annually by Bowker) under their "Editorial Services" category? The deadline may have already passed for inclusion in the 2000 edition and it may be quite expensive, however. This information may be available on LMP's Web site.

Could we gain listing in US West yellow pages, even though we don't really have a phone number (Sherri shouldn't be bombarded with these calls)? Perhaps we can set up a mailbox for voicemail messages, and set up a system for checking and responding to those messages.

What about joining the Seattle Chamber of Commerce? How much does membership cost and what are the benefits? One attendee volunteered to look into this.

The Guild could also increase its presence in the community by taking a table at the various Puget Sound tech fairs and writers' conferences (such as the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, held every June). 

Are there members willing to represent the Guild in this capacity, sitting on panels or speaking to other groups? At the least, if members are attending such conferences, they could take along a handful of brochures for distribution (Sherri has a large number of brochures--just let her know how many you'd like). 

Is our site registered in all the major search engines? [Note from Sherri: No, we haven't registered with anyone; this would be an excellent task for a volunteer or the marketing committee. Feel free to e-mail info@edsguild.org if you'd like to do it or any other unassigned tasks mentioned in these notes.] When one searches on "Northwest Independent Editors Guild," what comes up? 

Where are we linked (on whose sites)? Members are encouraged to include the link on their online resumes or portfolios.

5. Alternative meeting times/days/locations.

Members in attendance seemed open to exploring other options, such as an evening meeting time (7–9 p.m.) during the week. Suggestions for meeting places include Shoreline Public Library, North Seattle Community College, Third Place Books in Lake Forest, PCC Aurora, Greenwood Library, Magnolia Community Center, Meadowbrook, East-West Books, the Alibi Room (although would attendees be required to order food/drink? Is this a problem?), and Blessed Sacrament Hall in the University District.

Members with these suggestions volunteered to look into these facilities (room capacity, days/hours open, cost of use, parking, bus accessibility, etc.) and post this information on the Bulletin Board. Another idea was to hold the meetings in alternating spots (not always on Capitol Hill) to encourage members who live in those neighborhoods to attend meetings. Perhaps these issues should be put to the membership at large?

See more meeting notes