Bay Area Book Festival - A Tenth-Year Reflection
During the pandemic, the Board Chair of the Bay Area Book Festival stepped down, somewhat abruptly. I’d been on the Board since the festival’s inception in 2015, and as I looked around the zoom room, it dawned on me, with no small amount of unease, that I was the only person there who’d step up to assume the interim role.
Transitioning out of that interim role never happened because we struggled building our board during the pandemic years, and then last year, right after our 9th festival, our founder left and our ED took another job. We were down to just two Board members, and we’d lost our primary fundraiser. Not an ideal place to find yourself with a 10th anniversary on the horizon.
They say it’s never too late to learn new things, and I’ve not been pushed this far outside my comfort zone in years. Asking people for help is hard, especially when you know your ask is going to involve hours and hours of their time. I’m grateful I was able to overcame those fears to grow our Board from two to five, and this team has delivered beyond my expectations.
Fundraising is even more difficult (to me, at least) than asking people to give of their time, and in years past I’ve shied away from having anything to do with it. My company gave money, and I felt I’d played my part. This year, I raised money. I made the asks. I bow down to anyone who does this as part of your regular work because talking about money and asking for money is a skill. I certainly haven’t learned to love it, but knowing I can do it has built a confidence muscle I didn’t even know I had.
Being more deeply involved in this year’s festival, in the growing the Board, fundraising, and doing more program support than in years past, too, I discovered that this festival I’ve been a part of for a full decade is way way more work than I ever knew. When we attend community events, unless we’ve been deep on the inside doing the work, it’s nearly impossible to grasp the scope. We are lucky in the Bay Area to have the Bay Area Book Festival and LitQuake, two organizations dedicated to celebrating and elevating writers, books, and our writing community. The Bay Area Book Festival has achieved something stunning this year, pulling off this anniversary event with a small but fiercely dedicated staff, a hard-working Board, and hundreds of volunteers. I am so proud today.
In order for the Bay Area Book Festival to do what it does, we need community support. Consider becoming a Friend of the Festival if you’re able to. If you don’t live locally, support something in your community that you care about. It’s a big deal to give of your time, energy, and money, and the rewards are immeasurable.
If you live locally, come to downtown Berkeley today (Sunday, June 2). We’ve got an outdoor fair from 11-5pm and programming all day!
A few memories from years past:
Oh, how I adore you & that gorgeous heart of yours! Your heart beats for all of us.
Congrats, Brooke! I was there all day Sunday representing my publishing company and it was a such a wonderful event with the so many book aficionados in attendance. Thank you for all your hard work.