Presentation of the First Sale ribbons
There were quite a few this year – I think 25 or so standing at the front, and of course others who were not present. I didn’t record names, I am sure the list will be available in Hearts Talk or on the website. Congratulations to all 🙂
AGM:
just the highlights, the minutes will be available to RWA members.
Change in membership structure – will no longer be divided by published / unpublished. There are now three categories:
- Aspiring (unpublished)
- Emerging (first 1 – 3 years of publication)
- Established (3+ years)
There are going to be programs tailored for each category, and members are to self-select their status in their website profile.
Membership has gone above 950 for the first time, may reach 1,000 by next AGM.
Looking at new ways of doing things. For example:
- New relationships – working closer relationship with Romance Novel Association (RNA) UK
- New technologies – looking at rolling out workshops online
- Digital trial judging has been successful, will look at expanding to other competitions in the future.
- New look website launched at the start of the year
- Better members section on the website
- Automated processes such as membership renewal – eases manual handling.
Hearts Talk
- new editorial team this year
Social Media
- 5th year of presence
- Twitter has 2,000 followers
- Public facebook page has too many members, need to migrate members over to official website in order to make it manageable for volunteers
Election of positions:
There was a changeover of the executive, with several (including president) standing down. Thank you to all the hard work that the outgoing executive have done over the past year, and in some cases for many years.
Meeting closed, members went to get ready for the Annual Awards Dinner.