Dear All:

I'm jazzed to get this ship off the ground, so I'm moving forward. I have clipped the following from my CSTS Application on committee positions. Now is the time for input because remember this is OUR CSTS. So if you have thoughts on other committee positions which would be beneficial, now's the time to put them forward.

Also, I'M LOOKING FOR AWESOME PEOPLE WHO WANT AND HAVE THE TIME TO DO MORE ON THE GLOBAL SCALE. If you would like to put forth to either LEAD a committee or be on one, please email me at the anne@cantstoptheserenity.com addy and let me know how you'd like to help. So long as you have the drive and commitment to take on the job, that's all I am requiring - just be sure you have the time and commitment to work at this level.

I am leaving the discussion open on thoughts as to committees and what they do, until this Sunday at 11:59 p.m. CT. After that, we're moving ahead with getting people on the committees and setting up meeting schedules and doing awesome sauce things! This is your chance for input.

I am so excited to work with all of you. I know this is going to be an amazing year.

FROM THE APPLICATION


"The following positions are necessary, in my opinion, to ensure that things run smoother. I think anyone who wants to put in the time, no matter what country they are located in, and who is responsible,
should be able to volunteer for any of these positions. It should not matter if someone is new or a veteran. Nor, should people be appointed due to whom they know or don’t know. Lastly, I don’t believe you have
to be a head organizer in your city in order to be considered for the job. It’s helpful of course, but there may be those who have limited but very valuable time/resources to devote to the greater good, and not
necessarily the time to be part of a group. (Also these are only my thoughts and ARE negotiable. Nothing here is to be considered written in stone.) [Please note these are ideas combined from various individuals
that I agree would be beneficial. Many thanks to those who have discussed and passed on these ideas and allowed me to put my spin on them.]

ADMINISTRATION - Would be in charge of keeping up to date contact information for all local organizers and CSTS personnel and verify said information periodically as they see necessary. Would work with Communication in the event of bounced emails etc. to ensure information is as up-to-date as possible. If a global site calendar is arranged (which would be a really great tool for everyone), they would be responsible for scheduling dates therein. Would process and keep track of event registration forms, and would be in charge of updating and organizing the How to Manual.

COMMUNICATION - Would be in charge of sending out various emails to update organizers as to various upcoming meetings (regular and emergency), policy and manual changes/updates, and field
questions from the organizers and general public by directing them to the proper parties for resolution. They will not necessarily be responsible for the writing of every missive, except as requested. Instead
they will take prepared emails and forward them to the appropriate parties. A designated central “communication” email will be created so that all emails go to the same source. (A back up email can be
put in place to ensure cyber gremlins don’t feast too well) This position will work with Administration and Web Management where they overlap.


WEB MANAGEMENT/ FORUM ADMINISTRATOR - Would be in charge of updating and creating where necessary, all pages of the CSTS Website and maintaining the forum. They will be in charge of weekly (or more frequently as determined by the administrator) backups of all systems and information, and be in charge of maintaining the integrity of the website (look, virus, hacking etc.) Would work with Communication to ensure valid topics of discussion sent out by email are posted in the forums and on the event calendar if we have said calendar available. (Covering both bases so people have access to all information in a timely manner.) Also would ideally be able to pair up with new event
organizers/Browncoat groups and their mentors to give suggestions and help in how to create a website/Myspace/Facebook etc.

SPONSORSHIP - Would locate, arrange and coordinate with global sponsors in all areas of sponsorship from providing items to event organizers (swag) to covering costs for tee-shirts, posters, website/hosting
costs. Ideally they would be able to take leads from organizers and interested parties, field and pursue them into new areas of sponsorship. Instrumental in developing new tools for local event organizers to
use in pursuing local sponsorships and grants, such as sample letters, thank you letters to sponsors, certificates etc. Also will arrange with sponsors providing items and other financial resources for a date
certain when items must be received in order to qualify as part of any official promotional material (such as tee-shirts, posters etc.) and send necessary letters to sponsors for receipt of said items.


MENTOR PROGRAM - In charge of coordinating volunteers to pair with new event organizers (screen as well as affiliate) and oversee said mentor-ships to ensure that both parties work well with one another.
(Hey, sometimes apples and oranges just don’t go together - doesn’t mean anyone is bad.) Insures that new event organizers have a place to go to ask questions and be directed to helpful forum information in
the event that they cannot get in contact with their assigned mentor. They would also be in charge of arranging donations from the item bank and/or funds where available, to approved new event organizers (see below under new ideas I’d like to see)

PR/MARKETING - Would be in charge of setting up the new artwork for the CSTS event to be utilized on tee-shirts, posters, etc. (I am not sure how this has been done in the past but if there is a contest, they
would set up the dates for submission and arrange with Communication for the voting thereof, or in the event there are approved bids, setting the same) They would be in charge of formatting general as well as
global press releases, kits, banners, buttons, fliers etc. (sample and other), promoting to outlets with national/global reach (media, blogs, print, websites)

T-SHIRT/POSTER/PROMOTIONAL LIAISON - Will work with Marketing to obtain design to be used for Tee-Shirts, Posters and other promotional items to be determined (such as bumper stickers, jewelry,
buttons etc.) and with Sponsorship for final layout of Sponsors on said promotional items. Will obtain bids, establish firm timetables for creation and shipping of all items in a timely manner. Will coordinate
with Communication and Administration as to any dates for voting or input on said items, as well as for firm deadlines for local organizers to place their orders for said materials. In the event it is decided these
items will be the responsibility of each local event organizer, instead of with one overall global outlet, these duties will be changed accordingly. Will still need to coordinate on the design/graphics and layout
if a global theme is embraced, but other duties would change.


FINANCIAL - This person would be ideally in charge of a centralized bank account/accounting system for funds received by global for swag shipping, tee-shirts and other promotional orders, funds received
from a global sponsor as advertising/promotional support for CSTS items etc. All billing and accounts payable (for website maintenance, payment of tee-shirt and other orders etc.) would be centralized in this committee. Final payment of any monies due to Equality Now for overages to be donated to them from various sponsorships etc. (does not include taking local organizer money unless CSTS votes for said procedure but would be in charge of obtaining and reviewing records to be sure all monies are received by Equality Now) Safeguards and audits should be in place so no funds can wander away by accident

_________________
CSTS 2009 Global Organizer

I don't know how qualified I am to be commenting on these subjects, but I got an email asking for my "thoughts and comments" (not sure if it was automated or not) and now you're gonna get em. Feel free to ignore / correct me at will.

Can't Stop The Serenity (and thus Browncoat Groups in general) is one of the more relevant and inspiring groups I have been involved with. I have met great people and made new friends from participating in Browncoat events including CSTS 2008. I helped out Dwight and James from the San Diego and So Cal groups for CSTS 2008 and Comic-Con in various capacities, mostly helping with graphic design (a hobby of mine) and event production elements (my career). I have a standing offer to volunteer my help / services if needed with either of them and thus to the CSTS group in general, if need be. As long as it doesn't directly conflict with my work, I love helping out; especially an organization that I think has one of the best balances of charity and fun (not that those are mutually exclusive) that I have seen.

I don't know if I would consider myself fully qualified (or even available enough) for any of these CSTS Global Committee positions, but, having helped start / run a couple of (smaller than CSTS) event production and theatre performance organizations, I at least feel qualified enough to make a few comments about the proposed positions. My area of intermediatese (not quite expertise) would be graphic design / promotion / marketing and event production. For that matter, I can only comment on the positions related to this such as "Web Management" or "PR / Marketing".

It is important for any organization, no matter how small, to have a unified, unique, befitting and somewhat professional "look and feel" for all of their public (and even internal) appearances. This includes the Logo, Logotype, Typeface, Color Scheme, Theme, Web Design, Letterhead, etc. Basically, an overall graphic design that should trickle down through the organization and all of it's facets. I can tell you from experience that having this cohesion helps to lend a more permanent, serious air to an organization's correspondences that eases the aversion that larger organizations or corporations may have in dealing with them. It generally comes off as less fly-by-night and more "legitimate" as it were, regardless of how permanent or legitimate said organization actually is - and CSTS is very legitimate and permanent in my opinion.

Having a single person or "designer" in this position is imperative to fostering the unified and consistent aspects of this "Organizational Image". This person wouldn't have to do all of the work, but instead, come up with the theme and then write guidelines on how to properly apply this to many different situations such as letterhead, t-shirts, posters, websites, and any other promotional material. This is very common in most large organizations, just google "graphic identity guidelines". I don't think that person would necessarily be me, graphic design is only my hobby and I am sure there are more qualified browncoats here that could jump on this - it would be a great resume / portfolio item! Honestly I think the best person for the job would be Adam Levermore-Rich (or someone he recommends), as he has already done amazing work for past CSTS events and is obviously a very talented and capable artist and designer, but I don't know anything about him, his availability, or his involvement in this organization.

So I would say, maybe split the graphic designer elements off of "Web Management / Forum Administrator", "PR / Marketing" and "T-Shirt / Poster / Promotional Liason" and, maybe just center that all around Marketing or something. You really should have an experienced IT type nerd in charge of the website and forum stuff, I kinda do that on the side for my work and can say definitely that it is not something you can "do on the side" especially when you have a BFA in theatre and not like, you know, an actual computer science related degree. And public relations is kinda with sponsorship and promotion in my opinion. But take that with a grain of salt.

After typing all of that, I'd say there isn't really any need for any kinda event production based positions. The individual CSTS events should each have their own coordinators, helped out when needed by the mentor position(s) mentioned. Dwight and James are great examples of this (maybe I nominate them as "mentor(s)"?). I'd say the only other thing that comes to mind about the individual events (aside from more cohesive graphic design / more promotion) would be that as the film prints in circulation start to wear down or get inadvertently destroyed over the years, CSTS events start switching to using HD versions (HD-DVD or Blu-Ray) with properly configured HD projectors. In these cases, having someone knowledgeable in dealing with professional video equipment and projectors on hand at the individual events would be imperative as the newer technology is harder to get working and configured properly than film or DVD. Some of these might also involve renting or (preferably) getting a rental donated / borrowing, a 1080p capable medium-size venue video projector or LED video wall. Maybe that is part of the mentor position, helping to use / secure said equipment?

Just my thoughts. feel free to comment, criticize (constructively), or just ignore. I know I haven't put as much thought or time into this post as you folks have in coming up with these positions and improvements for the next CSTS, so I could be totally misunderstanding something or suggesting things that seem ridiculous; but I hope an outside opinion will be helpful and I am glad to see that the organization is moving in the right direction and still steadily growing even after all these years. (also sorry for the sporadic nature of my somewhat "stream-of-consciousness", overly-lengthy, parenthesis and air-quote-filled rambling of a post...)

-Pete

I would love to head up the Mentorship Program. I enjoyed mentoring this past summer and think it's an important addition to our organization.
I've worked with CSTS since 2006. I was the lead organizer for Charlotte, NC in '06 & '07. Now that Danny is our lead organizer, I have more time available to dedicate to the Global effort.
I'm a stay-at-home mom and have time during business hours to make phone calls & other work that some folks might have to reserve for the weekend or their lunch hour. So I'm happy to help in other areas where this might be useful.
And I'd like to see a real effort to recruit new cities. With a tight economy, that might be our only chance to increase our donation amount for '09.

Oh, and congratulations Anne!!

_________________
Diana Lopez
2010 CSTS Global Communications Lead
2009 CSTS Global Administrative Lead

_________________
Diana Lopez
2010 CSTS Global Communications Lead
2009 CSTS Global Administrative Lead

_________________
CSTS 2009 Global Organizer

_________________
CSTS 2009 Global Organizer