GPCWC 2015
Pre-Conference Timeline

Please note: Dates are NOT padded!

Due	Task	Done
July 8	Book flight and send itinerary to Marlene.      —Run info by Marlene first if she is paying all/part of this.
July 10	Return contract to Marlene. Scan, save as PDF or JPEG, and email to [email protected]. Note lodging preference on contract. If staying off campus (your expense), make reservation ASAP. Return Book Consignment, Order, Donation form to Marlene. Scan, save as PDF or JPEG, and email. Include titles you will recommend in class.
July 17	Mail free-lit and give-away books to Cairn University. Attn:  Kelly Hendrickson—Writer’s Conference Freebies              200 Manor Avenue,  Langhorne, PA  19047 Mail items you want to sell to address above unless you prefer to bring with you. (20% consignment fee on items sold) Click Here for consignment form REQUIRED to be included. Email hand-outs to [email protected] We’re going GREEN! Handouts will be on website instead of being printed out. Expect to receive emailed manuscripts for your paid critiques (if any).
July 24	Expect to receive approximate count of number in your workshop. Expect to hear from driver if you’re receiving a ride from the airport.
July 29	Feel free to attend Early Bird Workshops at 1:00, 2:15, and 4:45. Rooms at Cairn University available at 1:30. Optional first-timer’s orientation at 4:00. Focus on conferees but also helpful for first-time faculty. Faculty dinner at 5:45. Get food in cafe and bring tray to Eagle’s Nest.

July 27 – I’m three days behind where I need to be, and registrations are around 35 behind last year at this time. But Father, I’m CHOOSING to trust You and to praise You.

Now . . . for some last minute info:

Counts - Below is the present count of the number signed up for workshops and continuing sessions. This number is likely to change since, as usual, not everyone has told us what they plan to take. Then, too, I tell them they are not locked into their choices but are free to go wherever Father leads them. And, I trust, we'll get last minute registrants and walk-ins. We now have 179 conferees less 14 cancelations. That's a far cry from the almost 300 conferees we’ve had in the past and the first time in 32 years of ministry that it looks like we’ll have less than 200, but God sees hearts, not numbers, and I know He will provide. 

Wednesday Early Bird Workshops 
If you arrive early, you’re more than welcome to slip into a workshop.

1:00 - 2:00
E1 A to Z of Writing the Feature/News Article -Jeanette Windle 6
E2 Devoted to Devotions - Ava Pennington 12
E3 Setting Out on the “Write” Foot - Emily Chase 5
E4 The Over 50 Writer - Chris Richards 9
E5 Subplot Sanity - Amy Deardon 8
 

2:15 - 3:45
E6 How to Create an E-book – Cheri Cowell 7
E7 Self Editing Intensive – Natalie Gillespie 10
E8 Let’s Focus on Your Fiction – Joyce Magnin 6
E9 You Can You Tube! – Angela Schans 9
E10 Getting the Book Inside You to Come Out – Debbie Hardy 12
 

4:45 - 5:45
E12 Pro/Con - Cool It! – Emily Chase (cancelled)
E13 Writing for Women – Megan Breedlove 8
E13 Writing Your Past into Your Fiction – Susan Baganz 8
E14 Prepare Ye the Way – Cindy Sproles 10
E15 Book Proposal Essentials – Jeanette Windle 13
E16 Pro-active Time Management for Writers – Karen Whiting 11
 

Continuing Sessions
1 Heart of the Storyteller – Allen Arnold 25
2 Master the Memoir – Marti Pieper 14
3 Writing Nonfiction Books that Change Lives – Jim Watkins 35
4 Indie Publishing – Scoti Domeij 20
5 Take Your Fiction to the Gym – Tim Shoemaker 14
6 Take Your Publishing Ministry to the Next Level – Suzanne & Shawn Kuhn 11
7 Fiction Practicum - Eva Marie Everson 12
8 Break in with Middle Grade & YA Books – Sally Apokedak 18

Workshops
1A   How to Be a Confident Conferee – Dr. Harold Arnold Jr. (7)
1B   Writing the Truth – Jeff McDonald (24)
1C   The Heartbeat of Inspirational Romance (9)
1D   Craft and Publish Bible Studies – Ava Pennington (16)
1E   Proposals that Pop – Jim Hart (25)
1F   News Releases, Media Kits & More – Natalie Gillespie (12)
1G   Effective, Efficient, Engaging Websites – Jonathan Shank (18)

2A   Emotional Healing and the Writer – Peter Lundell (16)
2B   Speak Their Language – Chris Lassiter (7)
2C   Christian Fiction that Doesn’t Preach – Mike Dellosso (19)
2D   Reaching Kids with the Gospel – Terrence Clark (7)
2E   Our changing Industry – Joyce Hart (15)
2F   How to Promote Yourself & Your Book – Blythe Daniel (29)
2G   You Can Create a Digital Publication – Nina Newton (14)

3A   Prayer in the Life of the Writer – Gloria Penwell (19)
3B   Being Real in Your Writing – Peter Lundell (28)
3C   The Sound of Your Story – Joyce Magnin (15)
3D   Finding Great Stories Everywhere You Go – Natalie Gillespie (13)
3E   You Can Do It! Going Indie – Kathryn Ross (14)
3F   Content Marketing – Tyora Moody (14)
3G   Transformed Manuscripts – Karen Whiting (9)

4A   The Writer’s Heart – Susan Baganz (19)
4B   Keeping the Gospel at the center – Marty Machowski (15)
4C   Romantic Comedy – Eddie Jones (8)
4D   Great Beginnings – Jim & Joyce Hart (19)
4E   Position Yourself – Blythe Daniel (24)
4F   Branding for People Who Are Not Cows – Peter Lundell (18)
4G   E-books that Sell – Amy Deardon (17)

5A   Overcoming Spiritual Attacks – Lynn Pinder (19)
5B   Dig Deeper – Patti Shene (4)
5C   The Truth about Show Don’t Tell – Joyce Magnin (18)
5D   Writing Dynamic Bible Studies – Gloria Penwell (19)
5E   Explain to Me hte Publishing Process! – C. Hope Flinchbaugh (22) 
5F   Time to Party! – Ava Pennington (8)
5G   Launch Your First Audio Book – Eddie Jones (15)

6A   Full-Time Writing? – Deanna Garlic (4)
6B   Writing as a Ministry – Cindy Sproles (4)
6C   Here a Spec, There a Spec – Pam Halter (7)
6D   Blogging Success – Rick Marschall (28)
6E   The care and Feeding of Editors and Publishers – Chris Richards (25)
6F   Social Media for the Reluctant - Cheri Cowell (10)
6G   Jump Into Video – Patricia Durgin (13)

When you arrive on Wednesday, July 29
Before 1:30 pm - Go to the downstairs floor of the Biblical Learning Center (#1 on map). This is where you'll pick up your packet, name tag and meal tickets, consign your books, and drop off any free lit. It is also where the early bird workshops will be held beginning at 1:00 pm. Again, you are welcome to attend them.

After 1:30 pm - If you’re styaing on campus you can go to Heritage Hall (#12 on map) to check in.

Dinnertime (5:45 pm - cafeteria open until 7:00 for late arrivals) - Go directly to the  Mason Activity Center (#7 on map). Go through the cafeteria to get your food and then walk down the hall to the Eagles Nest for the faculty dinner. If you'’e not been to the Biblical Learning Center to pick up your dinner ticket, I will ask the cafeteria to let you sign in and I’ll provide the ticket later. Better still, hopefully I’ll be standing at the door to welcome you!

7:15 pm and later - Go to Chatlos Chapel (#3 on map) for our opening session or to Heritage Hall to check in to your room.

Weather & What to Wear? - Well the weather is anyone’s guess :), but it does look like it will be in the 90s all week. I know that’s not really hot for some of you, but add Philly’s humidity and it can get quite uncomfortable. So, please, dress cool and comfortable. Shorts and capris are fine. Seriously! This is NOT a dress up conference.

Questions?

Marlene –  484-991-8581 (home & office) or [email protected]
Cell (during the conference only) – 267-328-7589

Paul Bagnull - rides between buildings on campus, Langhorne train station,
and the Radisson - 215-353-2464

Roland Bubaker – rides between buildings on campus, Langhorne train station,
Radisson, and airport. Also assistance with luggage and boxes of books 267-988-9221

Margie Vawter - my assistant 303-981-1487 or [email protected]

Barb Haley – Registrar, Appointments Coordinator, and Bookstore Manager
[email protected]

Sharon Conover – Assistant Bookstore Manager 610-506-8142

Assistance with AV in classrooms & recording
Rob Bagnull - 610-662-8807

 

It's a good idea to review the following information that I posted earlier:

Notes about Contract Terms             

Keynotes and General Sessions 

     Please view as a PRIORITY! Come ready to focus on the Lord and hear from Him through our keynote speakers.

•  Located in Chatlos Chapel. Click Here for a map of the campus.
•  ANNOUNCEMENTS: This is the only venue I have to speak to everyone at once. Attendance is much appreciated.        

Continuing Sessions

     Meet five times throughout the conference. 

• TH: 10:15-11:45 and 4:45-5:45          FR:  10:45-11:45 and 4:45-5:45          SA:  2:15-3:30
• Please use last 15 min for Q & A on longer sessions. CDs only last 75 minutes.

Workshops

     These last 60 minutes (except E6 through E10 on Wednesday that are 90 minutes).

• Please be considerate: end on time and clear the classroom for the next instructor.

Handouts — We’ve gone GREEN!

     Email your handouts to Margie at [email protected] no later than July 17.

• Margie will post these to the website. Conferees really appreciate handouts.
• We will be able to print these at the conference for conferees who don’t have them, but want to avoid the last minute scramble.
• Only conferees, faculty, and people purchasing CDs post conference will have access to the handouts.
• URL – http://philadelphia.writehisanswer.com/2015handouts

Paid Critiques

     A written critique is not expected, but conferees appreciate notes jotted directly on the manuscript.

• I suggest using Track Changes and printing a copy for the conferee.
• Please spend at least 30 min PRE-conference in preparation.
• Appointment with conferee at conference is 30 minutes.
• Because we have a large list of faculty available to do these, you may not be called on for this service.
• The conferees choose, based on who they feel can help them the most.

One-on-Ones

     For more information about how our appointment system works, click on Appointments.

• Many conferees consider this the most important part of the conference.
• Please do not disappoint them by being late for their appointments.
• Please sandwich constructive criticism between positive encouragement, but be careful not to give false encouragement.

Father, please give us all much wisdom to know
how You would have us respond to the conferees we meet with.
And please help them to hear what we're saying; not what they want to hear.
Give them teachable spirits and give us sensitive hearts.

An important note to editors and agents - We are all pressed for time, but if you take a manuscript with you or request that it be sent
to you, please try your best to get a response to the conferee in at least three months. If your policy is that no answer within three months means you're not interested, please make that clear to the conferee at the conference.

Panels 

Marlene will monitor the Book Editors Panel in the Chapel. Marti Pieper, will you monitor the Magazine Panel?

                    Each year we have several “missing-in-action” editors and agents. Please don’t disappoint our conferees. Thanks!

 

Thursday Specials        I believe these two-hour specials are an important part
                                         of preparing all of us to live and to share our faith in these critical days.
                                         Click here for more info about

"Expanding Your Influence”
Dr. Harold Arnold Jr.  (10 am-noon)

"Postmodernism, Worldview, and You!”
Dr. J.B. Hixson (1:00-3:00)

"Dealing with Our Cultural Crisis”
Rick Marschall (3:30–5:30)

Please join us in prayer that the mailing we have sent to 750 churches will not be round-filed, and ask Father if He wants you to attend one or more of these specials or a portion. If so, please let Barb Haley at [email protected] know as soon as possible so she can save the time on your schedule. Important: If you have appointment times that are not filled, you do not need to sit in the appointment room in case someone comes. Instead, please feel free to slip into a workshop or one of these Thursday Specials. Ava or Marti will call you if you are needed.

Book Signings                                   

• We encourage you to be part of this on Thursday evening.

 

Lodging

Cairn University's Heritage Hall was purchased and renovated in 2005. It has a wonderful great room with lounge areas and there is air conditioning (with a thermostat in each room) as well as wireless Internet connectivity. 

• Faculty are housed two to a room with a private bath and two beds - debunked! Linens are provided. There is no need to bring your own pillow unless you sleep better with it. :) You will need to bring toiletries and an alarm clock.
• If the conference is covering your lodging, please note your roommate preference on your contract or you may upgrade to a single at your cost of $20 a night. 
• If you need Saturday night lodging, please check if you’re open to staying in a home of a member of my church. We'd like to avoid having to drive back to the university on Sunday to get you to the airport.
• If GPCWC is NOT covering your lodging and you want to stay on campus, please let me know so I can hold a room for you. The cost is $39 a night for a double; $59 a night for a single.
• If you prefer to stay at The Radisson Philadelphia Northeast at your expense, you will need to make your own reservation by July 16 by calling 215-638-8300. Be sure to mention the Group I.D. "Christian Writers Conference" for the special price of $112 a night plus 9% sales tax. The Radisson is about 15 minutes from Cairn University. We will provide transportation (if needed) in the morning and evening, but obviously it will be easier to have you stay on campus. Click here for directions from Cairn University to The Radisson.

Meals            

• Since the conference pays for each meal ordered (whether or not it is eaten), please note what meals you plan to eat with us.
• Saturday night faculty and staff are invited to a picnic at the Bagnull's in Lansdale.
• Please note that the campus cafeteria will not be open Saturday night or Sunday morning and that dinner is at your own expense if you decide not to come to the picnic.

Travel

• See Arrival and Departure info below before finalizing your plans.
• For directions to the conference click on Location and Lodging; for directions to The Radisson (if you opt to stay there at your expense) click here.

Fly-ins

• If GPCWC is covering all or part of your airfare, please run the itinerary and price past me before booking to give me the option of using my Frequent Flyer Miles if the price is too high. (If you need to be reimbursed before the conference, let me know.) I suggest you visit www.orbitz.com or www.kayak.com for a helpful overview of times, prices, and airlines. The conference provides shuttle service between the airport and the conference; therefore, we are unable to reimburse you for the cost of a rental car.

Arrival

• Travel time from Philadelphia Int'l to the campus is approx. 45 minutes (longer during rush hour).
• The conference officially begins Wednesday evening at 7:30.
• Hopefully you can arrive in time for the 5:45 pm faculty dinner/meeting.
• The cafeteria will be serving through 6:45 for those who can't make it by 5:45. You'll need to go through the cafeteria line and bring your food to the Eagles Nest down the hall.

Departure

• You need to allow 2 hours for check-in and 45 minutes travel time.
• If you're leaving Saturday, we hope you can stay through the closing that ends around 5:00. Ideally, this means the earliest you should book your flight is 7:45 pm.
• Lodging is available Saturday night as well as a picnic at my home in Lansdale.
• If you re leaving Sunday morning, please keep the 2-3/4 hour lead time in mind.

Special Needs

• Please note your audio-visual needs. Power Point is available in the chapel for the general sessions.
• If you are teaching a continuing session or workshop, and Power Point is an essential part of your presentation, we will provide it. But please keep in mind that it is costly to rent the equipment.
• If you are bringing your own projector and are willing to share it when you are not using it, please let me know.
• Classrooms have a whiteboard or chalkboard and Internet access.
• Be sure to also let us know any special dietary or other needs.

Permission to Record

• CDs of keynotes and general sessions, continuing sessions, workshops, and panels will be reproduced on site and sold to conferees.
• You will receive one free CD of each session or workshop you teach, to be picked up at the conference.
• In order to expand the conference's ministry and recoup the cost of recording, GPCWC reserves the right to make and sell CDs (or MP3s of your session(s) and workshop(s) at and after the conference and to make CDs available through our website. All other rights belong to you.
• CDs will carry a copyright notice in your name and will be professionally produced. (My son, Rob, is a sound design engineer.) If there is any reason why you do not want to be recorded, please let me know ASAP.

Videotaping 

• Patricia and David Durgin will videotape one keynote each day. They will also videotape interviews with faculty and conferees that can be posted on your website. More info coming.

Contact Info

• Please fill in all of this info even though, obviously, I already have it. It makes working from a briefcase at the conference much easier.
• FYI we no longer print a roster because of serious abuse one year. (We had a conferee who felt she was being stalked by another conferee!) Be assured that your info will not be shared with conferees without your permission.
• Our Appointments Coordinator, Barb Haley, and the co-captains of our Appointment Desk, Ava Pennington and Marti Pieper, have requested your cell phone number so they can reach you during the conference if there is a change in your schedule. We will, of course, also give your cell phone number to your driver if you're being picked up at the airport.

A FEW MORE DETAILS - thank you for reading this far :)

1. Help spread the word - If you have a website and can link to http://philadelphia.writehisanswer.com and let your visitors know you'll be serving on our faculty, we'd appreciate it. Please also "like" our Facebook page. If you need more brochures or flyers for Teens Write and the Thursday Specials, let me know.
2. Conference book table - You are welcome to consign books, CDs, and other special products for sale at our book table. We charge a 20% consignment fee on items sold.
3. Please use the Book Consignment/Order/Donation form to let me know by July 10 if you are shipping or bringing your product. If you are shipping, please ship no earlier than July 17 to:

Cairn University
ATTN: Kelly Hendrickson/Writers Conference
200 Manor Avenue
Langhorne, PA 19047

• All items need to be priced—individually. If you are shipping, click here for a consignment form. You may list your titles, quantity, and price on this form or include your own form in the box. If you are bringing your product with you, it will save time at check-in if you have the consignment form completed.

• We are glad to obtain your books directly from your publisher and apply the sales profit to conference expenses if you prefer. (Thank you!) Please include titles and publishers on the Book Consignment/Order/Donation form.
   
• Please help us make this year's book table the best yet by including a list of titles you will recommend to your class. Book sales not only help us meet our budget, they provide continued learning after the conference. We encourage you to browse the book table and borrow titles for "show and tell" in your class.
   
• How many books should you bring or ship? While we sell a huge number of books, there is no way of knowing how many copies of specific titles will sell. Typically the biggest sellers are writing how-to books and books by our keynoters and continuing session speakers.
   
• Give-aways - We're delighted to have books you've authored or your house has published as give-aways. If shipping (to the above address), please clearly note titles that are for give-away.
   
• Free Lit - Our conferees appreciate free copies of your magazine or book catalog as well as your guidelines for writers and list of upcoming themes, if any. We are unable to make copies. Based on registrations to date, we are  planning for 200 conferees. Not everyone takes a copy of everything that we make available on the free lit table, so use your best judgment when deciding how many to send. We know it costs money to print and send literature to us, so we encourage conferees to take left-over free lit home to their writers' group or church. Please ship no earlier than July 17 to:

Cairn University
ATTN: Kelly Hendrickson/Writers Conference Free Lit
200 Manor Avenue
Langhorne, PA 19047

• Other Free Lit - If you have flyers for resources for writers or info about a ministry you are a part of that you'd like to add to the free lit table, we'd be glad to have it.
• What to Wear – The campus is air conditioned but there is some walking outside. Right now the weatherman is predicting upper 80s for Wednesday and Thursday. Casual, comfortable, cool clothing. Women – jeans or capris are fine. Men - please NO suits or ties! 

Father, thank You in advance for what You're going to do through this year's conference. I especially pray that you will bless each faculty and staff member in special and unexpected ways.
 

Questions?

Marlene – 484-991-8581 (home & office) or [email protected]
Cell (during the conference only) – 267-328-7589

Paul Bagnull (on campus transportation & from Langhorne train) – 215-353-2464

Margie Vawter (my assistant)  [email protected]

Barb Haley (Appointments Coordinator) – [email protected]