The SFWA Nebula Conference is coming right up (June 6 and 7, 2025). Although I’ve attended remotely before, I’m attending this year in person for the first time. I will be appearing at two events on Friday, June 6th: a “Meet and Greet” at 4pm CDT with William Ledbetter, Greg Leunig, and Michael Capobianco and a Networking Reception from 8 to 11pm.
I have also been invited to serve during the award ceremony as a “runner,” that will guide people to the stage during the event. When I was asked if was willing to do that, I pointed out that I would be happy to, as long as it didn’t actually involved any running, as I will be wearing a mask and walking slowly with a staff. I was assured that would be fine, and so I said I would be happy to serve.
Prior to the conference, the SFWA Board will have a retreat to discuss strategic planning. Anyone who’s been reading my blog will be unsurprised by my focuses: restoring normal functioning, increasing fundraising, and improving member retention. To accomplish the last two, I think we need to improve publicity and outreach. SFWA does a lot of great stuff, but people don’t always know what we’re doing.
I really do appreciate many of the things that SFWA offers. I particularly take advantage of the Writing Date for socialization and networking (though a little less since I run my own similar event for the Straw Dog Writers Guild). Writer Beware is a particularly useful useful service. The information about contracts and publishing have been extremely helpful. And I appreciate the SFWA community as a resource to learn about craft of writing, the publishing landscape, to learn about new projects, and to hear scuttlebutt.
I find I’m a little more nervous heading to this convention than I usually am. I think this is because I’m a little more concerned than usual about making a good impression. I’m going to be meeting a lot of people that I’ll be working with for the next couple of years as Secretary. But everyone involved in SFWA leadership has been fantastic to work with so far, so I’m not really worried — just a little nervous.
