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What Our Boston Chapter Accomplished in 2010

Professional workshops. We offered workshops on The Nuts and Bolts of Self-Publishing, on Writing the Great American Query Letter, on Ghostwriting and Collaborating, on Electronic Publishing, and on Self-Publishing. Thanks to Leslie Brunetta, Chris Kenneally, Judah Leblang, Randy Susan Meyers, and John Amiard Oberteuffer.

Advocacy on bread-and-butter issues. We testified at a Massachusetts State House "Artists Under the Dome" briefing on how the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law may cause freelancers to lose jobs. Thanks to Elaine Gottlieb for representing freelancers' interests.

Skills training via new media. We jump-started the National Writers Union webinar series by being the first chapter to participate in a Copyright and Contracts webinar and two social media webinars. Thanks to the NWU Grievance and Contract Division and to Boston steering committee member Jason Pramas.

Promotion of members for writing jobs. We helped members get paying gigs by launching Services for Writers: Hire a Fellow Writer , where we post writing services offered by members for a fee. Thanks to webmaster Barbara Mende for posting the announcements of services that members send in.

Advocacy on bread-and-butter issues. We testified at a Massachusetts State House "Artists Under the Dome" briefing on how the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law may cause freelancers to lose jobs. Thanks to Elaine Gottlieb for representing freelancers' interests.

Lobbying for health care for all. We lobbied state representatives to support a single payer health care system. Our chapter's rep worked to gather 350 signatures to put a non-binding referendum on the November ballot recognizing health care as a human right and instructing the state's legislators to support such a program. Thanks to Maria Termini for her activism on healthcare initiatives.

Representation at international confab. We secured NWU representation at the first-ever Boston meeting of IFRRO, the worldwide federation of reprographic rights collection groups, hosted by the Copyright Clearance Center. NWU President Larry Goldbetter conferred with representatives of royalty collection agencies and authors' organizations, and Boston co-chair Charles Coe opened the gala dinner with a reading of his poetry. Thanks to steering committee member Chris Kenneally for ensuring the union's presence at this important meeting.

Member-to-member networking. We helped members share information, advice and contacts via two Resource Swaps, and at our informal monthly Writers' Nights Out. Thanks to co-chair Charles Coe for hosting the resource swaps.

Member involvement. We brought members together to help shape direction and programs of the Boston Chapter via two Think Tanks. Thanks to Charles Coe for hosting the gatherings.

Expanded scope. We welcomed 40 members from the Western New England Chapter, which after many years as an active chapter, decided to fold. Thanks to Boris Kolba and Daisy Mathias for make it a smooth transition.

Support for our national union. We advanced the union's national agenda by funding, for a year, half of the cost of editing NWUsletter, and by serving in a variety of leadership roles. Thanks to National Executive Committee members Jeanne Harnois, Barbara Beckwith and Barbara Mende, and to NWU Service Organization board members Jim Barton, Charles Coe, Nancy DuVergne Smith and Charles Thiesen.