SHAZAMM! Last year at Bookbuilders just flew by! I wish I could share all its special events and accomplishments with you in pictures, much as Life Magazine does with its "Year In Review." I am extremely proud to have worked with the people that made it possible, and I thank them for making BBW the vital organization it is. Here are some of the highlights_in words.
Brooks Vitalone and Detta Penna |
Sandy Ryan and Leslie Austin deserve a big round of applause for informative and often entertaining monthly meetings. Remember "Nightmares-Night of the Living Dead(lines)"? And topics such as Publishing CD-ROMs and Computer-To-Plate Technology dealt with important current issues.
Our best attended Electronic Publishing Update seminar was masterminded by Wendy Wood and BBW secretary Arlene Cowan. Headliners Rick Smolen, Thad McIlroy, Bill Ralph, Owen Cooper, Walter Shield, and Eric Shropshire coaxed the timid into the shallow end of the electronic swimming pool and inspired the more initiated with specific techniques.
Special thanks go to Mary Lou Slater, Les Cowan, and Dennis Teutschel, who tirelessly attacked our biggest annual project, the Book Show. Their theme-On the Edge-appropriately describes the common thread running through our community as we metamorphose into the electronic publishing age. Anyone who has been involved with the Book Show appreciates the coordination and gut wrenching required to pull off an awards banquet for 500 people, complete with a printed catalog! Our hats are off to you.
These events were the tip of the iceberg. What took place behind the scenes last year was equally momentous. First, we launched the BBW web page, thanks to the tenacity of Stephen Thomas, Dennis Teutschel, and Jim Beley. Second, a permanent phone number for BBW was established. And third, we published the California Sales and Use Tax Guide for Publishers, the culmination of nine years of work.
As if that weren't enough, dedicated board members continued to carry out important BBW functions. Tony Crouch, with the backing of UC Press, provided us with another year of Jobs Bank recordings. Thank you, Tony, for making it smooth-running and smooth-sounding. Special thanks, also, to Don Smith who deftly handles the Membership committee. Applause goes to Pat Brewer and her Newsletter committee for their consistent delivery of an information-packed newsletter. Bill Ralph and Elliott Derman are to be commended for their diligence in delivering our new Directory. And more thanks to Roy Wallace and Eleanor Gordon, who maintain our mailing list.
Under the baton of George Christensen and his band of volunteers, the annual Crash Course in Publishing was successfully presented. It is BBW's primary mission to foster education, and the Crash Course, as well as the Educational Seminars orchestrated by Tony Crouch and his enthusiastic committee, offered a brilliant curriculum to our membership.
ZOOM! Before we knew it, it was June and we were on the beautiful grounds of Sunset Books enjoying the luscious appetizers and California wines at another educationally minded event: the Scholarship Fund Raiser Wrap-Up Event! The Silent Auction was skillfully coordinated by Gwen Larson and her team, Mary Lou Goforth and Martha Branch.
The work for awarding scholarships at this meeting begins early in the year by our Scholarship chair, Vivian Tobias, who scours the western universities to find potential scholarship recipients. Thanks to Vivian and her committee, who review applications and choose recipients based on their interest in careers in book publishing. Congratulations to this year's scholarship winner, Paula Sinnott.
ZOWIE! I'm awed by this Board of Directors and my Executive Committee, who possess unwavering dedication to the ideals of Bookbuilders West. Everything that is accomplished by BBW is done by true guardians of the BBW spirit. It was a privilege working with all of you.
Brooks Vitalone
Following Brooks Vitalone's dynamic success in the last year will be an interesting endeavor. Many thanks to Brooks for her leadership, her graciousness, and her boundless energy for making positive changes. I am honored to follow in her footsteps and to continue our progress into the next season.
Bookbuilders West is a vibrant organization, driven entirely by volunteers: all of us are people who believe in the book and the future of books. In its twenty-eighth year, Bookbuilders West will continue the tradition of serving the people and companies involved in books in the western United States. Please help me welcome our new and returning board members: Leslie Austin, Paul Butzler, George Christensen, Tony Crouch, Arlene Cowan, Gloria Fontana, Mary Lou Goforth, Randy Hurst, Casimira Kostecki, Gwen Larson, Joan Marsh, Barbara Redman, Sandy Ryan, Don Smith, Dennis Teutschel, Stephen Thomas, and Brooks Vitalone.
Through our educational seminars and other professional resources, we encourage the efforts of book people to continually improve, progress, and lead the way into the future for our industry. A big achievement this year will be the distribution of our newly published California Sales and Use Tax Guide for Publishers. Bookbuilders West has been the main force behind this publication, and we want it to reach as large an audience as possible.
The Bookbuilders West/James S. Worden Scholarship is awarded annually to students with a strong interest in publishing careers. Many of these bright and motivated students enter and enrich our industry, reappearing later as recipients of Book Show awards.
Despite predictions to the contrary, books remain the premier method of information dissemination. Ray Bradbury has described them as the "only truly random access retrieval devices." Reports of the demise of the book have been wildly (and rashly) exaggerated. Bookbuilders West will continue to report on the challenges facing the industry, and, through our newsletter and website, inform you of the efforts being made to keep us evolving.
We will continue to explore and report on technological advances that will change our world and our work: kenaf and chlorine-free papers, waterless and filmless printing, vegetable inks, digital imaging, the Web, and who knows what else.
Because we are an all-volunteer organization, we ask for help from the community. That means you! Because we are all striving to improve the usefulness of Bookbuilders West for our members, we will not indulge in politicking, but will work together toward a greater good. We have a book listing all of our committees and their various responsibilities; it's available for browsing at dinner meetings. Come and take a look. You know you'd like to be more involved.
Come and join us.
Detta Penna