Author Archives: raincoaster

VCon Debrief: the Shebeen Club for October 3

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VCon Poster

VCon Poster

Calling all SciFi fans… just a quick and dirty note to let you know our next Shebeen Club meeting will be this coming Monday, October 3, upstairs at the Revel Room, 238 Abbott Street just off Water in Gastown. Once again, they’re laying a special menu on for us as part of the meeting, for only $20: please pay your proprietor Ian Alexander Martin of Atomic Fez publishing. Dinner and a drink is included with your admission.

VCon, for those of you who live in the 17th Century, is the biggest event of the year for speculative fiction of all kinds. We’re hoping to coax a few special guests to overcome their shyness and share Monday with us. Given that the guests of VCon run the gamut from Larry Niven to, well, the Shebeen Club’s Fearless Leader, it’s guaranteed to be an entertaining and speculative indeed crew.

Please note: the Shebeen Club meeting is NOT officially a cosplay event. But discreet Spock ears are welcome.

6pm-9pm Monday, October 3 2011, Revel Room Upstairs lounge, 238 Abbott Street, Vancouver

$20 cash includes dinner, a drink, the VCon debrief, and our glamorous and scintillating company.

This is short notice, so while RSVPs are welcome, they’re not compulsory. Just show up with your smiling face and try not to wear a red shirt.

Jack Layton was afraid of NOTHING I tell you!

Jack Layton was afraid of NOTHING I tell you!

Apostrophe Boy For The Win!

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Apostrophe Boy FTW!!!

Apostrophe Boy FTW!!!

and you KNOW how we are about proper apostrophe use.

April Meeting Cancelled

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Sorry, y’all. Canucks game, cancelling speakers, and a double-booked venue. It was not meant to be.

Next month!

Fucking Writers’ Conferences: how do they work?

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This is our April topic. I can drop an F bomb in it because the speaker said it was okay, and that was because the speaker is me and I’m the one who puts the PRO in profanity, right? Damn straight.

This month we’re on the 4th Tuesday instead of the 3rd Monday, but oh well, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, eh? And we’ll be starting at 6pm instead of 7, and it’s all cash, $20 a head for the set meal. Everybody gets the earlybird price this month.

There’s been a bit of chaos around Shebeen Global HQ this month, but we’re finally organized. We’ll be in the Revel Room upstairs again, from 6-8 or so. This way you don’t have to grab a snack before the meeting!

I’ll be speaking about how to get the most from a writer’s conference, and having been on the board of a couple and an attendee and speaker at more than I can count without taking off my shoes, I have a lot to share. If you do too, we want to hear from you.

And don’t forget the Women&Words conference this coming Friday and Saturday. Guess who’ll be speaking there as well? [insert smiley of your choice, as I am far too bloody dignified to use them myself]

By the way, if you have a favorite conference, please do drop a link to them in the comments. The more the merrier, and it’d be great to do one grand roundup post of all the conferences within reach of BC.

Job Posting: Newsletter Marketing Consultant

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Unhappy Hours

Unhappy Hours

I got this one off Twitter, following the Hired Guns. There are an awful lot of jobs being publicized on Twitter lately.

(and if you’re wondering where/when our April Shebeen Club meeting is, it’ll probably be next Tuesday at Revel upstairs, but we’re having a bit of difficulty pinning people down for that. Stay tuned, I’ll post it as soon as I know)

The Hired Guns are seeking a seasoned Newsletter Marketing Consultant with top-notch email experience for our client, a leading education publisher. You will work to take newsletter marketing for their Teachers division to the next level by managing the strategic development and deployment of newsletters targeting educators for nursery through grade 12.

Gun Profile:

While you’ve got significant experience managing and testing email campaigns, you’ve got a true gift when it comes to newsletters. You know how to optimize them for peak performance and to significantly improve metrics through your innovative approach to newsletter marketing. But that’s because you understand list management and CRM, through and through. It’s important you have experience establishing testing plans and list segmentation, and you’ll need to be comfortable advising clients on strategy and sticking to your guns. Bottom line, you love this sub-vertical within e-marketing, and you’re comfortable and confident in your command of best practices.

Nitty Gritty:

As the Newsletter Marketing Consultant, you will be focused on reinventing the teacher newsletter. Then, you’ll manage and establish monthly deployments, deliver a test plan, and customize an advanced testing dashboard. You’ll incorporate past tests, Omniture data, hypotheses, and content strategy to decide on next actions, and you’ll set up for future testing, data reporting, and campaign management in conjunction with the larger parent organization.

You will design and build the necessary assets, including preparing strategic briefs for client approval. Expect to go through about two rounds of revisions per creative, resulting in copy and design that’s brand-friendly and encourages direct response. You’ll need to deliver creative design assets in the preferred format and make final hand-coded HTML files cross-browser ready. So diplomacy is key.

Inside Skinny:

Maybe you were once an teacher or have other experience working in or serving the education community. It’s not necessary you eat, sleep, and breathe the education market, but any familiarity you bring to the table will make your job a lot easier.

Net-Net:

It’s a fun subject, a celebrated company, and a fantastic opportunity.