Why be a Carteret Writers Board Member?

Well, to further your goal of world domination of course. In case you didn’t know, the path to the top starts with Carteret Writers. 

I decided to be a board member because I didn’t want to see an organization that had been around for so long disappear. I had only recently joined Carteret Writers when Stanley Trice put out the call for nominations in 2022. I was excited to have found another place to continue to commune with other writers after having spent a couple of months with a group of supportive people in Tom Kies’ Creative Writing class. So Emily Carter, Autumn Ware, Allison Daniel and I put our names forward to keep Carteret Writers going. 

Along the way I found that the enthusiasm of my fellow board members (that eventually included Jennifer Heironimus) and the diversity of the members served up an inspirational triple shot espresso dose of creative caffeine, and we were able to organize a lot of great events for Carteret Writers. 

So why should you seek to be a Carteret Writers Board Member? 

Maybe you too are energized by interacting with other writers in our community. Maybe you want to learn more about some of the web tools that Autumn and Jack Ware developed for Carteret Writers to further your author online presence. Maybe you want to get some experience running a small non-profit organization. Maybe you want to do your part to ensure Carteret Writers continues to be a valuable resource for writers along the Crystal Coast. 

Perhaps you’re interested in meeting other people in our community that care about the arts. People like Beverly Snowden, the Executive Director of the Arts Council of Carteret County. She’s an engaging leader who is supporting as many artists, musicians and writers in Carteret County as possible through Arts Council programs. Or Amanda McCall, who is the dynamo behind the Title Wave Book Mobile. 

Whatever your goals going in, my guess is that you’ll achieve them, and so much more. I was fairly new to writing in 2022, and in the past year and a half my position on the Carteret Writers Board has exposed me to aspects of the writing community I never knew existed. I met publishers, interacted with the North Carolina Writer’s Network, and its Executive Director, Ed Southern, even attended our 2023 Spring Conference. There are resources and programs that I never would have known existed had I not served on the Carteret Writers Board.

Now I know some of you are thinking about the horror stories you’ve heard from people that serve on homeowner’s association boards. I promise you it won’t be anything like that. No not-so-neighborly disputes to moderate, or complaints about unsightly landscaping or noisy dogs to mediate. The Carteret Writers email account gets some spam messages, but all you have to do is hit delete. Being at the helm of Carteret Writers is a cruise in calm waters, where you chart the course to the creative islands the group will visit.

And the current Board will ensure you have everything you need to be successful. You’ll get to attend our day long Board Retreat to get help planning out the year ahead. There are online tools already in place to manage membership, send out newsletters, and post blog articles. And you have a well connected and supportive group that comes forward to populate committees and get things done when needed.  

Mostly you’ll get to build the writing community that you think our writers want and need. You’ll connect more deeply with all the people at our meetings. And you’ll keep this wonderful group going for another two years.