Good News for The Santa Barbara Writers Conference
by Steve Beisner -- July 17, 2010
The Santa Barbara Writers Conference is back! For the last two years Santa Barbara writers, including regular conference attendees from around the world, have felt a mid-June hole in their lives caused by the absence of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. But after a recent public meeting it appears that lovers of good writing can begin making plans for June of 2011.
Two years ago, when the conference became insolvent, there was nothing to do but cancel, but now, help is on the way. A posse led by Monte Schulz, with support and assistance from an army of local writers, workshop instructors, the original founders (Barnaby and Mary Conrad), and some talented new faces, is poised to relaunch the venerable Santa Barbara institution.
Monte Schulz,
SBWC's New Owner
On Thursday evening, July 15th, Monte convened a meeting of old hands and supporters to announce that he had bought the conference and to explain his plan for resuscitation.
Monte began the meeting with a statement of his love for the community of writers that the conference represents and by assuring the assembled workshop leaders, volunteers, and friends of the conference that his purpose in buying the SBWC was to save it from extinction.
Monte plans to preserve the best of the conference, not make radical changes. Any changes will be in the direction of returning the conference to its roots, focusing heavily on high quality workshops that teach good writing and on providing an environment where the writing community can flourish.
Monte also emphasized the role of the conference in the wider Santa Barbara community and said he hoped to increase community involvement.
On the subject of the conference as a business Monte said, "My goal is not to make a profit, but I can't afford to lose money, either." When the old conference became insolvent, a number of attendees who had prepaid their conference tuition were left with worthless "tickets". The conference will provide free tuition to those people for the 2011 conference.
The new conference will be held from Saturday June 18th, 2011 through following Friday, June 24th, at the Mar Monte Hotel on the beach in Santa Barbara.
Mary and Barnaby Conrad,
SBWC Founders
Key players will include Monte Schulz, the new owner of the conference, Barnaby & Mary Conrad, the founders of the conference, now advisors to Monte, Nicole Starczak, Director, and others, including many of the best instructors, volunteers, and conference supporters. Monte says of Nicole, a graduate of Haas School of Business, UCB, "She's more than qualified for her position... she loves books and writing. We're lucky to have her."
Because of limitations of meeting room size, the conference will be somewhat smaller, with no more than 250 paid attendees. This represents a challenge for conference economics, but will be a boon for attendees, since it promises a more intimate community of writers.
Barnaby Conrad mentioned how much support the conference has had, historically, among the larger community of writers, many of whom started their careers at the Santa Barbara conference. Barnaby promised to make use of his extensive personal network of talented and well known writers to help assemble an outstanding list of speakers, panelists, etc.
The enthusiasm of the assembled group was impressive, and the people spoke as if many were willing to make sacrifices to see the conference up and running again. If Monte's staff and the local community can maintain the energy displayed at this initial meeting, then we can hope for a successful rebirth of one of Santa Barbara's most loved institutions.