Get Involved with UPPAA!

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UPPAA only works when members participate!

GET INVOLVED WITH UPPAA
Our membership has soared to over 100 authors, poets, editors, illustrators, and independent publishers. The current Board of Directors invites you to get involved. Contact the committee chairs for more information. Contact Victor Volkman or Mikel Classen to join the distribution and marketing team for the U.P. Reader. Assist Larry Buege by marketing our Dandelion Cottage short story writing contest to your local schools. Debbie Frontiera is our association newsletter editor and welcomes you to join her staff. Contact Gretchen Preston to join the 2019 conference planning committee.
All members are welcome at board meetings. Our Board of Directors meets the First Friday of each month at noon in the Dandelion Cottage room at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette, Michigan. Please feel free to join us. If you are out of the Marquette area, or unable to attend the meeting in person, you can join the board on its conference call line.  We recommend connecting to the Zoom.US video conference system by clicking on https://tinyurl.com/call-uppaa  Of course, you need not turn on your laptop camera or even have a webcam at all to watch and listen.  You can join by phone by calling 408-638-0968 and enter the Meeting ID 450-290-7750.

We will be electing new association officers at our 2019 conference business meeting. All positions are open. Take time to review the job descriptions for each position below. If you are interested in running for an officer position, contact Tyler Tichelaar. Watch our group email for more information!

UPPAA Board Member Descriptions

President
The President’s duties include:

  • Presiding over the monthly Board meetings.
  • Presiding over the annual business meeting at the spring conference.
  • Organizing the spring conference with the help of the rest of the board.
  • Responding to inquiries via email and phone from interested prospective members.
  • Promoting UPPAA through various means such as handing out brochures at events, bringing UPPAA material to the Superiorland Library Coop for distribution, etc.
  • Following up with fellow Board Members to ensure all board duties and responsibilities are being fulfilled.
  • Proofreading the quarterly newsletters to make sure all information is accurate.

Vice President
The Vice President’s duties include:

  • Attending monthly Board meetings.
  • Preside over meetings if the President cannot.
  • Preparing the agenda for the monthly Board meetings and submitting it to the President prior to the scheduled meeting.
  • Serving on the annual conference planning committee.
  • Working with the Board members and general membership to create new book marketing and sales opportunities.
  • Promoting UPPAA publicly at appropriate opportunities.
  • Being actively involved in all club activities and events.

Treasurer
The Treasurer’s duties include:

  • Filling out Federal e-postcard in January and the Michigan Corporation Annual Report in July. These documents are essential to keeping our 501(c)6 nonprofit status.
  • Downloading money from dues payments from PayPal into our savings account. This should be done at least monthly.
  • Paying all bills. This is a minor activity for most months, but the workload increases near the Spring Conference.
  • Providing a monthly financial report for the board. Fiction writing skills (with humor) is helpful when preparing the report but not mandatory.

Membership Chair
The Membership Chair’s duties include:

  • Maintaining the current member database, including yearly renewal.
  • Adding new members and their information to the database.
  • Keeping the Newsletter Editor up to date on the member database.
  • Adding members to discussion group.
  • Annually removing people who are no longer members from the database and discussion group.
  • Sending out member renewal notices in March of every year and then overdue notices.
  • Sending out Conference registration and compiling a list of attendees and lunch numbers.
  • Sending out and compiling conference surveys.
  • Depositing membership dues checks to the UPPAA account.
  • Sending out notices that go to the entire membership, for example the fall picnic.

Recording Secretary
The Recording Secretary’s duties include: 

  • Taking notes during the business meeting portion at the Spring Conference.
  • Writing minutes based on these notes and keeping a copy for records.
  • Reading minutes of last meeting during business meeting of the conference.
  • Taking notes during monthly board meetings and writing minutes

Webmaster
The Webmaster’s duties include:

  • Managing submissions for www.UPPAA.org, including new book announcements, author events, and listings of resources.
  • Managing social media accounts such as Twitter and the UPPAA Facebook pages.
  • Sharing management of the online discussion group with the Membership Secretary.

Newsletter Editor
The Newsletter Editor’s duties include:

  • Gathering the news from members four times per year for the spring, summer, fall, and winter newsletters (generally sent in April, July, late Sept./Oct. and late Jan./Feb.) No date set in stone. News is gathered throughout the year and saved to a file and a reminder is sent to members to send their announcements with a deadline about two weeks before the newsletter goes for layout.
  • Preparing the newsletter text and saving any images sent in a file.
  • Having the President proofread the newsletter for typos and missing or wrong information.
  • Sending the text file and any images via email to Margaret Helminen at Designotype for formal layout.
  • Reviewing proofs from Designotype and approving or recommending changes.
  • Using the UPPAA membership list to send out the PDF newsletter to the membership. (Note that for the spring issue, Designotype mails the printed version. The spring issue always focuses on the Spring Conference. Summer usually recaps the conference. Fall and winter have member news, marketing tips, announcements, etc.

Publications Chair
The Publications Chair’s duties include:

  • Managing everything related to the U.P. Reader, including submissions, concept, design, technical issues, promotion, and coordinating sales distribution.
  • Working with other U.P. Reader staff and the UPPAA Board as well as the organizers/student winners of the Dandelion Short Story Contest.
  • Managing any new publications UPPAA may choose to pursue.

UP Notable Books Chair

The UP Notable Books Chair’s duties include:

  • Liaison with the UP Notable Books / Book Club (currently administered by Crystal Falls Community District Library)
  • Develop contacts with booksellers to find out what U.P. books are notable
  • Writing copy for the annual Press Release of UP Notable books.
  • Compiling the “short list” around November each year so we can be ready for it.  Researching author contacts
  • Develop other marketing materials  featuring the year’s U.P. Notable books .
  • Handle media relations for UP Notable Books

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