Always Something New

Guest Post by Barbara Lee
MCWC Registrar

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Barbara Lee has been the MCWC Registrar since 2005 after joining the board in 2003. As well as being a writer she worked for the Polaroid Corporation, as a hotel concierge and owned an interior design business.

I’ve been the registrar for the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference for years and there’s always something new. This year, 2014, was no exception.

I got an email from a fellow asking if we would let him buy a “surprise” participation for his wife, Christi, whose birthday was a few days away. “Sure,” I said. “She can call me with her choices.” I registered her, ran the credit card charge and waited for her call. When she recovered from the shock and thrill of the gift, she did. I fairly beamed with vicarious joy as she chose her workshop: Novel led by Scott Hutchins. 

When she arrived at the start of conference, we met face-to-face. She was lovely; brunette, thirty-something, with a beaming toothy smile. I saw her in the hallways or coming from the ladies’ or at the first evening’s meet ‘n greet; she was having a wonderful time. 

The day after the conference ended I received an email in which she wrote:
 

"The conference was such a wonderful experience for me, and I'm so thankful that I was able to attend. I've been to several conferences before, but something about this one really moved me—the combination of talented and approachable faculty, supportive, aspiring writers, and warm and welcoming organizers made the whole event golden." Christi


This is why I do what I do.