This note went viral yesterday...
...and pausing the Potluck Zoom temporarily
Yesterday, I tossed off a Note on Substack that went viral—a first for me. At midnight, I had heard enough of those notifications on my iPhone—ding, ding, ding—sounds indicating someone had liked, shared, or commented on the note, that I turned off the notification sounds.
This must be what famous Substackers feel all the time. It’s a rush. Earlier today, my two-sentence post had 9,300 likes, 411 comments, and 818 restacks.
Something is Stirring, and it smells like Democracy
A phenomenon unfolds in this historic moment: we feel compelled to find each other. Every ding on my phone signals that some stranger resonated with what I had to say. We find one another. We follow each other.
We are not alone.
lives in Oelwein, and I can’t wait to see him again. He attended the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat, where he took workshops on launching a Substack column. He followed through, and now his audience is growing. Inspired to take action, he decided to support his immigrant neighbors by organizing gatherings in Latino-owned restaurants. He chose a spot in Hampton, Iowa—and people showed up.Another Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member,
drove to join him. In total, 28 people—many of them strangers—gathered to break bread, support an immigrant business owner, and, in their way, strengthen the ties of democracy.
This is Iowa, the state I love. This is what we can be. And this is an example of what just one caring person can do. Thank you, John, for putting the idea out there, and thanks to those who showed up.
In a call with John earlier this morning, he told me he had hoped 15 might come, and was thrilled to get the crowd assembled. The show of support deeply moved the restaurant owner.
Here’s John’s column:
Monday Zoom Potluck Call
Gang, I need to postpone the Monday Zoom calls for a bit. I have been 1000% focused on building the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, now at 80 members, and too many other tasks are falling through the cracks, not just the laundry and dishes in the sink.
This is the point in the project timeline when many of the mechanics of the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat need to be managed. We are already about 1/3 full regarding early participant enrollment, but I also need to reach new attendees who haven’t heard about it yet. If you are an OWR alum, I could use your help. Tell your friends about your retreat experience, and encourage them to come. Most newcomers avoid signing up because they don’t think of themselves as writers. But, as you alums know, everyone has a story, and we can help inspire them. Or, at the very least, they’ll have a great time and make new friends within our community.
I spend a lot of money advertising the retreat, but the #1 reason people say they come is that they heard about it from a friend.
Will you be that friend?
I had a lovely call with Becky Smith the other day. She’s a ‘get’ for those who have an interest in filmmaking. She is interested in staging concurrent 90-minute workshops so that those who are serious about her subject area of expertise and get an intensive, crash course in what success looks like in this field.
(Thanks Chatgpt for his summary of Becky’s career)
Becky Smith is an Emmy-nominated film and television director, writer, and educator with a rich and varied career in the entertainment industry. She has directed pilots and series for major networks such as ABC Family, Bravo, Disney Channel, Fox, Lifetime, NBC, and PBS. imdb.com+2tft.ucla.edu+2natfluence.com+2natfluence.com+1tft.ucla.edu+1
In 2004, Smith received an Emmy nomination for her work on Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," which won the Outstanding Reality Program Emmy that same year. Her feature film "16 to Life" (2009) garnered nine best feature and/or best of festival awards internationally and is available on platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. tft.ucla.edu+1womensmafia.com+1
Beyond her directing accomplishments, Smith has made significant contributions to documentary filmmaking. Her PBS Frontline episode "In the Game" was honored as the Best Television Documentary of the Year by American Women in Radio and Television. She also directed the feature documentary "The Daring Project" (2008), which chronicles the final chapter in dance for five principal dancers from renowned ballet companies. tft.ucla.edu+1natfluence.com+1
In addition to her industry work, Smith is a dedicated educator. She teaches directing and screenwriting at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, where she oversees the first-year graduate program in production, cinematography, and directing. tft.ucla.edu
Smith holds an M.A. in film from Stanford University and has been recognized as a Fellow at the MacDowell Artist's Colony. She has also received grants from Women in Film, the California Arts Council, and the American Film Institute. tft.ucla.edu
Her most recent feature film, "August in Berlin," won Best Feature at the LA Femme International Film Festival. imdb.com
Smith's dedication to storytelling, both in her creative projects and teaching, continues to inspire and influence the next generation of filmmakers.
Come to the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat! If you need a partial or full scholarship, funds are available thanks to paid subscribers of this Potluck column.
This is a mission, more than a money maker. If I cared about making money on this thing, there wouldn’t be 60 speakers on the roster.
The sheer beauty of this experience is that everyone is there to learn. We have established authors as participants, as well as hobbyists who want to start a family memoir. You will fit right in.
If you are an Iowa author, there is a discount for you to come. A support group of OWR authors is also in the making. We are committed to your success in any way that we can.
Here's one more piece of news about the retreat: this year, there will be a live auction following our sunset cruise around the lake on Tuesday night. Donations are coming in for this, and it will be amazing. Richard and I are offering a cruise around the Chesapeake Bay, in Annapolis, with dinner prepared by Chef Richard (as in Sh*t Richard Says) on the flybridge. Rekha Basu will prepare an Indian dinner for four in her Des Moines home.
Mary Shotwell is a distinguished quilter from Des Moines, Iowa, whose exceptional craftsmanship has garnered multiple accolades over the years. In 2013, her quilt "Auntie's Red Hot Garden" received the Best Longarm Workmanship Award at the AQS QuiltWeek, a testament to her skill in longarm quilting. youtube.com
Her excellence continued to shine at the Iowa State Fair, where she secured Best of Show honors in the Quilting division of the Fabric and Threads contest in both 2015 and 2019. These awards highlight her consistent dedication to quilting and her ability to captivate judges and audiences with her intricate designs. rcreader.com
We are thrilled that she is donating one of her quilts to this auction. Here, she explains what went into the project.
Thanks to playwright Peggy Engel, we have a baseball signed by Hank Aaron. Chad Elliott and Kathryn Severing Fox are offering a house concert. So is Carol Montag. And we are just getting started.
Do you have something you’d like to donate?
If you have an item to donate, thank you! The auction will be a blast, and it is a part of me setting the foundation for support of this annual event when I go to the Big Retreat in the Sky.
This website is woefully outdated, and that’s my next project. But the Early Bird enrollment button is there. Most conferences like this, with the breadth of experienced speakers can cost over $8-$9,000.
Between now and July 15, early enrollment is just $795:
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative is on the Grow
Yesterday, we had several significant announcements in the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative roundup columns. There were two editions:
Your note was poignant and everyone was thinking the same thing, at the same time, but you are the one who posted it. Great work Julie. I'm with you all the way.
Julie, this brought a tear to my eye. So humbled and honored by this, your words, the outpouring of joy and hope, all of it. Thank you.