Faculty Notes

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. I trust we'll get last minute registrants and walk-ins. We now have 165 conferees less 4 cancelations. (Same as last year!) That's a far cry from the 200 and more (often over 250) we had for the first 32 years of our now 36 year ministry. Father, please help me to remember that You see hearts, not numbers, and that You are faithful to provide.

Thursday Learning Labs, 1:00 – 4:30
If you arrive early, please slip into a class. There is, of course, no charge!

L1 – How to Craft Page-Turning Novels with Dan Walsh – 21
L2 – Writing a Nonfiction Book with Ava Pennington – 29
L3 – Writer, Thou Art Loosed! with Beatrice Bruno – 21
L4 – Develop a Unique Marketing Plan with Karen Whiting – 20
 

Thursday Workshops, 1:00 – 2:00
T1 – Practical Productivity with Debbie Maxwell Allen – 22
T2 – Spiritual Footprints with Chris Richards – 5
T3 – Resurrect the Past with JP Robinson – 6
T4 – How to Write a Story with Alice Wootson – 8
 

Thursday Workshops, 2:15 – 3:15
T5 – Scrivener for Beginners with Debbie Maxwell Allen – 10
T6 – Writing Books for Children with Michelle Lazurek – 9
T7 – Write to Hold the Reader’s Attention with Rob Cook – 12
T8 – Turn Your Preaching or Teaching into Writing with Dave Fessenden – 15

Thursday Workshops, 4:45 – 6:00
T9 – Customizing Scrivener, Advanced Techniques with Debbie Maxwell Allen – 11
T10 – Academic vs. Popular Writing with Charles W. Christian – 14
T11 – Make a Scene with Darcie Gudger – 18
T12 – Inside Your Characters’ Personalities with Lynne Babbitt – 11
T13 – The Brave New World of Indie Publishing with Dan Walsh – 39
T14 – Get Out of the Boat with Angie Bass Williams – 27

Continuing Sessions (Friday 10:45 – 12:00 and 2:15 – 3:30, Saturday 11:00 – 12:15 and 1:15 – 2:30)
1 – Fiction Writing with Bill Myers – 29
2 – Write the Truth with Bill Watkins – 8
3 – Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams with W. Terry Whalin – 15
4 – Social Media for the Clueless Author with Scoti Domeij – 13
5 – You CAN Indie Publish and Market Your Book with Sarah Bolme – 21
6 – Authentic Writing that Changes Lives with Peter Lundell – 13
7 – Your Nonfiction Book – From Good to Great with Michael Klassen & Karen Bouchard – 39

Friday Workshops, 3:45 – 4:45
1A – Give Purpose and Intent to Your Writing with Terrence Clark – 11
1B – How to Handle the Wod of Truth with Michael Klassen – 11
1C – Middle Grade and YA Fiction with Linda Howard – 18
1D – Use FictionTechniques in Your Nonfiction with Barb Haley – 26
1E – Creating a Book Proposal with Karen Whiting – 22
1F – Marketing into Ministry with Michelle Booth – 18
1G – Writing for Focus on the Family with Stephen O’Rear – 15

Friday Workshops, 5:00 – 6:00
2A – Writing Out of a Broken Heart with Michael Gantt (this was originally 3A) – 21
2B – Your Writer’s Voice with Edwina Perkins – 32
2C – The Heartbeat of Inspirational Romance with Susan Baganz – 6
2D – Theological Accuracy in Nonfiction with Catherine DeVries – 14
2E – What Do Editors and Agents Want? with Linda Glaz – 24
2F – Facebook Live 101 with Patricia Durgin – 27
2G – Writing for Young Children with C. Hope Flinchbaugh – 14

Saturday Workshops, 9:45 – 10:45
3A – The Watchman’s Burden with Michael Gantt (this was originally 2A) – 13
3B – Skittles and Editing with Susan Baganz – 21
3C – Ethnic Diversity in Fiction with Catherine DeVries – 4
3D – Write and Publish Articles with Charles W. Christian – 26
3E – Turn Your Writing into a Business with JP Robinson – 29
3F – Attending to Your Audience with Emily Chase – 12
3G – Poetry Packs a Powerful Punch with Angie Bass Williams (this was originally 4G) – 6

Saturday Workshops, 2:45 – 3:45
4A – Write from the Heart with Linda Glaz – 13
4B – Add More Humor to Your Writing with Karen Bouchard – 18
4C – How Much Christian Should Be in our Christian Fiction with Dan Walsh – 13
4D – Confidentially Yours: Ethics in Nonfiction with Emily Chase  13
4E – Heading Home with a Plan with Karen Whiting – 19
4F – Redesign Your Social Media Plan with Patricia Durgin – 29
4G – Write Devotionals and Get Published with Debbie Hardy (originally 3G) – 17


Teens Write (Saturday, 9:45 – 3:45) – 8

Remember – You are welcome to slip in and out of continuing sessions and workshops if you do not have appointments scheduled. Just let the appointment desk know where you will be.

Handouts - Available online. Click here.

When you arrive on Thursday, August 8

If you arrive before the 3:00 pm (the time rooms are available at the Holiday Inn), come to the Dock Mennonite Academy campus. From Forty Foot Road (Rt. 63) turn onto Detweiler Road and park in the two lots to the left of building 11, Clemens Center, the conference hub where registration, keynotes, meals, and appointments will take place and where we will be setting up the book tables. Classes are in building 1 (a very short walk).

If you need help with a box of books
call Eric Sprinkle, 719-322-6992. 

If you have brought books to sell, give us the completed consignment form and feel free to arrange them on one of the tables for faculty or for keynoters. Be sure the price is on each book. And remember, we cannot track “two for $” sales. Each item must be individually priced.

Pick up your faculty packet and envelope with your meal tickets and your neck wallet with your name tag from the table just inside the chapel.

You are welcome to attend a Learning Lab or early bird workshop or to fellowship. There are benches around the pond if it’s not pouring rain or scorching hot. Or you can help us set up!  

Check-in at the Holiday Inn begins at 3:00 pm. 

Dinner is at 6:00 pm in Clemens Center. As I mentioned in an earlier email, there is no separate room for a faculty dinner/meeting so you must review this page to get your questions answered since we’ll be seated with the conferees.

Opening session at 7:30 in chapel just across the hall from the cafeteria. I hope you won’t miss this time of worship and  Michael Gantt’s keynote, “Cry Mercy.”

Weather & What to Wear? 
Well the weather is anyone’s guess :), but it does look like we will be in the 80s instead of the 90s. 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. There’s the possibility of rain every day, so bring an umbrella!

Questions?

Marlene –  484-991-8581 (home & office) 
Cell – 267-436-2503 (only during conference)

Eric Sprinkle – our “go-to” guy for 
rides, help with luggage, etc.
Technical help
719-322-6992

Rides between the conference & the Holiday Inn
and pickups at the Pennbrook Train Station
Donna Brennan – 484-264-9028
Debbie Talese – 267-640-9535
Peggy Montagna – 609-675-3952

Jennifer Lebo – 215-630-9209

Will post additional numbers later

Pre-Conference Timeline 2019

Thursday Learning Labs & Early Bird Workshops

Meet from 1:00 to 6:00 Thursday afteroon. You’re welcome to attend free of charge, of course.
 

Keynotes 

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

• ANNOUNCEMENTS: This is the only venue I have to speak to everyone at once. Attendance is much appreciated.

Continuing Sessions

Meet four times times for a total of 5 hours.

• FR: 10:45-12:00 and 2:15-3:30   SA: 11:00 – 12:15 and 1:15 – 2:30

Workshops

These last 60 minutes.

• Please be considerate: end on time and clear the classroom for the next instructor.
• You are welcome to attend workshops and continuing sessions when you are not scheduled for appointments. You will receive an Appointment Availability form to X out times when you do not want to be available. We want the conference to bless you professionally and spiritually.

Handouts – We've gone GREEN!

Email your handouts to Chris Richards at passingthequill@gmail.com no later than July 15.

• Chris will post these to the website. Conferees really appreciate handouts.
• We will be able to print these at the conference for walk-ins who do not have access to the Internet,.
• Only conferees, faculty, and people purchasing CDs post conference will have access to the handouts.
• URL http://philadelphia.writehisanswer.com/handouts2019    Note: This is a corrected URL.

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

• Book Editors/Agents Panel, Magazine Editors Panel – FR 9:45 am
• Indie Publishing, FR 1:00-2:00. If you provide services for indie authors or have independently published a book or ebook, please join this panel.

Book Signing
We encourage you to be part of this on Friday evening and the author interviews. Please choose just ONE book to tell us about.

Lodging
At the Holiday Inn, Kulpsville, just off the Lansdale Exit of the PA North/South Turnpike and five minutes from Dock Mennonite Academy.

• Faculty are housed two to a room.
• 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 $60 a night.
• Breakfast provided at the Holiday Inn. 
• If you need Saturday night lodging, please note on your contract if you're open to staying in a home of a member of my church. 

Meals

• Breakfast provided at the Holiday Inn. 
• Thursday evening catered dinner, 6:00 pm at Dock Mennonite Academy.
• Friday – wraps. Saturday – pizza. 
• Saturday night faculty and staff are invited to a picnic at the Bagnull's in Lansdale (10 minutes from the conference).
• Please note on your contract any special dietary needs. (I trust you’ve all alerted me to any needs in an email.)

Travel

• See Arrival and Departure info below before finalizing your plans.
• For directions to the conference click on Location and Lodging.

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).
• Check-in time at the Holiday Inn is 3:00 pm. Check-out 11:00 am.
• You are welcome to attend the Thursday afternoon learning labs or early bird workshops from 1:00 – 6:00 pm.
• Dinner at Dock Mennonite Academy at 6:00 pm Thursday.
• Worship and opening keynote, Thursday evening at 7:30 pm.

Departure

• I recommend allowing 2 hours for check-in and 45 minutes travel time, but check with your airline.
• If you're leaving Saturday, we hope you can stay through the closing that ends around 5:30. Ideally, this means the earliest you should book your flight is 8:15 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 so your driver does not need to get up at the crack of dawn.

Special Needs

• Please note your audio-visual needs. Power-Point is available in the chapel for the keynotes.
• If you are teaching a continuing session or workshop and Power-Point is an essential part of your presentation, we will provide it but you need to have told me this in the email I sent a week or so ago..
• 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

• Keynotes, continuing sessions, workshops, and panels will be professionally recorded and available for purchase as CDs or MP3s. 
• You will receive one free CD or MP3 of each session or workshop you teach.
• 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) at the conference and afterwards through our website. All other rights belong to you.
• CDs will carry a copyright notice in your name. If you do not want to be recorded, be sure to note this on your contract.

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 captain of our Appointment Desk, Ava Pennington, will have access to your cell phone number so they can reach you during the conference if needed. 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.

• 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 and Instagram page. Let me know if you can use extra brochures. And please visit http://philadelphia.writehisanswer.com/pleaseshare for memes to post on your social media
   
• 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.
   
• Please use the Book Order/Recommend/Donate form to let me know by July 20 if you are shipping or bringing your product as well as any books you recommend I order. If you are shipping, please ship no earlier than August 1 to:

Marlene Bagnull
GPCWC Book Table
951 Anders Road
Lansdale, PA 19446

• All items need to be priced individually. Please do not offer a quantity price (i.e., 3 for $10 or $4 each) since we can't track these sales. 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 instructors.
   
• 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. 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 26 to:

Marlene Bagnull
GPCWC Free Lit
951 Anders Road
Lansdale, PA 19446

• 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 (suggest you bring a sweater), but there is some walking outside. Philly summers can be very hot and humid or cold and rainy. Check the forecast but know it can change. Casual attire is encouraged. Women – 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 mbagnull@aol.com
Cell – 267-436-2503 (only during the conference)

Barb Haley (Registrar & Appointments Coordinator)
haleybarb@yahoo.com

Eric Sprinkle – rides between Holiday Inn and Dock.
 Also assistance with luggage and boxes of books.
Technical AV issues
719-322-6992

Donna Brennan  - rides between Holiday Inn and Dock. 
484-264-9028