SCBW(I) New England Regional Conference

Jane Yolen was the force behind the New England Region’s annual children’s literature conference from 1973 to 1981. The event included a keynote speaker, panels of authors, and a presentation by an illustrator. At lunch, each table was presided over by a published author, illustrator, or editor, so that every attendee could have a personal conversation with an established member of the publishing industry. Today, SCBWI groups all around the globe have adopted this practice, which Jane first instituted.

In 1982, with input from Jane Yolen, Masha Rudman of UMASS, Amherst’s School of Education planned the first Perspectives in Children’s Literature Conference, which was geared toward educators. The UMASS Perspectives in Children’s Literature conference continued until Masha’s retirement in 2007.

In 1987, Margaret Ribaroff and other SCBW volunteers organized an all-day conference at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. The SCBW(I) New England Conference has continued to be offered annually ever since.

By 2005, the conference had developed into a weekend-long event and organizing it was a huge task. To preserve procedural models and ensure continuity from one year to the next, the regional leaders devised a team system in which coordinators were asked to make a two-year commitment. During their first year, a co-coordinator would act as an apprentice, and during the second year, he or she would take the lead role in planning the event.

In 2011, Regional Coordinator Marilyn Salerno began serving as a third conference co-coordinator for every conference, taking on the role of advisor and comptroller. She continued in that role when she shifted into the role of Regional Co-Advisor in 2013. When Marilyn stepped down from her position in 2018, Kris Asselin, the new Regional Co-Advisor for Central New England, took over Marilyn’s conference-related responsibilities.

By 2014, the conference co-coordinators had established a range of key volunteer positions and decided that a Volunteer Coordinator was necessary. Currently, the Volunteer Coordinator is expected to move into the junior co-coordinator position the following year. As a result, by the time someone becomes the lead co-coordinator, he or she has an intimate understanding of how to plan the conference.

When the region was reorganized in 2018, the Regional Team made the difficult decision to scale back the annual conference, so that it’s more manageable to plan and organize. Despite these changes, the SCBWI-NE Regional Conference continues to serve approximately 650 attendees each year, making it the largest SCBWI conference run by volunteers.