Online Discussion between Regions: Border Lines

Because Kansas and Missouri SCBWI members are spread all across our huge states, we offer a two-way list-serve or electronic discussion group.  Border Lines is for SCBWI members currently served by the Missouri and Kansas chapters.  This is a chance to connect with other SCBWI members via the internet for dynamic interaction.

Border Lines allows members to assist one another to fine-tune writing or illustrating skills.  Each month we center on one topic.  Members can write in with ideas, examples from books or classes, references to good instructional chapters or articles, or whatever will help others.  This is also a place to share writing and illustration successes, frustrations, and questions.

We want our members to feel more connected, to get to know one another as individuals, as well as to be able to tap into the wealth of writing talent we have here in the Midwest.  We hope Border Lines is broad enough to accommodate beginners as well as more established writers.

The discussion group is for professional purposes only—not chit chat about kids, the state of the country, health, religion, nor include chain letters, forwards, etc.  (Members should send those kinds of messages privately to friends.)

How reading and posting works.  Members can read messages in their choice of 3 ways:

• Individual emails sent to their inbox
• Online at the group website, or
• Daily digests of the last 24 hours of messages sent as one email message.

Participants can reply to an individual or to the group.  Posting a new topic is done with a simple email to the Border Lines group.

Requirements to be involved with the group are:

• SCBWI membership (if not from Kansas or Missouri, when applying to join, members would need to give their name and region)
• A yahoo user name – it’s free.  Emails can go to any address—not just a yahoo address.

Information on good websites, conferences, classes, etc. are still shared via each region’s one way list serves (Sunflower Scoop for Kansas).  Border Lines is separate from either the Kansas or Missouri announcement list serves and requires a separate subscription.

Volunteers for this project are Sue Bradford Edwards, who manages the technical side of the yahoo group, and Charlotte Mielziner, who is the group moderator.  Thanks to both of these Missouri members for volunteering!