You are invited to attend the first Office Lounge Zoom call with my Iowa Writers’ Collaborative colleagues. This new monthly tradition will begin on Friday, October 28, at noon. You only need to be a paid subscriber to one of us in the collaborative, or the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative column roundup, to participate. That said, we hope if you have the means, you support as many in our group as you can.
Blah, blah, blah. I’m so sick of money pitches too. Here’s the deal. We are trying to figure out a way to provide ad-free commentary directly to readers. So far, this platform is giving us hope that we can. It’s an experiment that seems to be working.
Each of our writers will take a minute to introduce themselves and talk about their columns and what to look forward to in the future. We will open it up to your comments and questions. Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger will emcee the discussion.
Our Monday Zoom lunch sessions will change a bit. I will be traveling around the state more, holding small potluck sessions with people involved in their communities. Later this morning, I’ll post a column about spending the day in Dubuque following U.S. Senate candidate Michael Franken. Spoiler alert: he might pull out the surprise upset of election night.
This travel schedule means I won’t always have reliable internet service to hold the Monday Zoom calls, so that I will put them on hold for a couple of weeks.
Our next Monday Zoom lunch guest is scheduled for November 14. We will have Raquel Graham of ROQ Innovation on that day, joining us from her office in Chicago. Raquel is a former member of my Vistage business group there, and she will tell us about her journey to be on the Shark Tank television show. Raquel and her business are amazing.
https://roq-innovation.com/pages/about-us
The link to our Friday Office Lounge call is below the paywall. Your support means more emerging writers and working journalists can attend the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat.
Below are the members of the Iowa Writers Collaborative in alphabetical order. There is a lot of talent here, and I’m honored to be on the list.
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
*Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
*Cheryl Tevis is our newest columnist. She is an ag journalist who lives in Boone County. The last line of her first column hints at what her column offers. Check it out! And meet her tomorrow.