What is Boulder Media Women?
Boulder Media Women (BMW) is a networking group for professional women who work with words and images — primarily in the NONFICTION realm.
BMW IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A SUPPORT GROUP FOR EVERY ASPIRING NOVELIST IN COLORADO. WE ARE FOCUSED ON NONFICTION AND PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS IN THE MEDIA. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A “WRITING GROUP,” BMW IS NOT IT.
BMW members include writers, editors, photographers, journalists, filmmakers, graphic artists, web designers, TV producers, screenwriters, publishers, agents, PR specialists, and others who work in the media business. Most members live in or near Boulder, Colorado. All members are required to be residents of Colorado. BMW currently has around 400 members.
BMW has a very active email list, which is used to discuss work issues, send potluck invites, send notices of readings, request sources and do all sorts of networking in the media business. The email list, however, is just one small part of the group. BMW members get together regularly for potluck dinners, Friday morning coffee at the Laughing Goat on Pearl Street, evening schmoozes, and other events. Members are encouraged to attend some of these events and get to know other BMWers in person. Listserve lurking is not what BMW is about. Nor is joining the group just to sell your services.
BMW also periodically sponsors events for the general public, such as literary afternoons at the Boulder Bookstore. It also runs a charitable program in which bookstore gift certificates are given to literary programs and organizations that aid women and children. (To help this program, bring your used books to the Book Worm bookstore in Boulder and have the credits applied to BMW’s account.)
BMW welcomes all Colorado women who are media professionals as well as those who are seriously aspiring to a career in media. But please note this is a networking group for professionals. If you write only in your journal, this is not the group for you. If you are joining to recruit clients for an unrelated business, it is not the group for you.
How Did Boulder Media Women Get Started?
Boulder Media Women started in 1990 as a group of women writers who met for coffee on Friday mornings, originally in Pour La France, which used to be on the corner of Pearl and 10th and had cute little French-style chairs that weren’t too comfortable. We moved to Bookends Cafe, next to the bookstore, where the chairs were much more relaxing, and where you could buy your coffee ahead of time and then sit down. More recently, we moved to the Laughing Goat (1709 Pearl), because Bookends closed.
We used to meet at 8 a.m. but what with one thing and another, the time has now moved to 9:00. Some Fridays there are few of us, and some Fridays we take over several tables. Sometimes everyone arrives on time and leaves promptly an hour or so later. Other times you can drift in at 10:30 and find a few people still gabbing. Depends on the weather. We are a noisy bunch because we work on our own and this is our only chance to Talk to Other Writers. If you are new to the group, come on down to the Laughing Goat some Friday morning and introduce yourself. We’re a friendly bunch.
Once a month, we have a potluck at someone’s house. The process is simple; in December, we pass around a list so people can sign up for the month they’d like to host the potluck the following year. Hostesses used to send out snazzy invitations in the mail, but now it’s all done by email. We’ve had potlucks where everyone brought dessert and we had to order in pizza, some where six people arrived, some were forty-six showed up, special events for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween, and some outdoors in the summer. In December, we hold an Office Party, which used to be at the bar in the Boulderado Hotel or a local restaurant so we could pretend we were like Real Employed People. In recent years, we’ve had delightful holiday celebrations at people’s houses where everyone brings a small gift and we exchange presents.
So far we’ve had no president, no by-laws, no rules or regulations, no elections, no office, no staff, and no membership cards — though we did consider t-shirts at one point. We do have an advisory board (Rosemary Carstens, Sallie Greenwood, Claire Walter, Jody Berman, Corinne McKay, Evelyn Kaye, Catherine Dold, and Reed Glenn) that meets every decade or so, to make decisions when they need to be made. Evelyn Kaye is the Grand Poobah Emeritus. Catherine Dold is List Mistress and Web Manager. Jody Berman coordinates volunteer events. Jaimie Epstein coordinates the Book Worm donation program. Ellen Nordberg, Beth Hayden and Corinne McKay coordinate potlucks and schmoozes. That’s it.