Topics

1

General Discussion / PSi Hires New Executive Director

« on: February 05, 2013, 05:24:41 PM »

      Karrie Waarala of Ypsilanti Michigan is the new Executive Director of Poetry Slam, Inc.  The Executive Council of PSi welcomes Ms Waarala to her new position, and we are very excited to have her bring her wealth of experience to Poetry Slam, Inc.   
     Ms Waarala has degrees in Accounting and English and a Master of Library and Information Sciences degree, and most recently, an MFA in Creative Writing.  She has also performed poetry as a competitor at the National Poetry Slam in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2006, and at the Individual World Poetry Slam in 2008.  Ms. Waarala has also been on the stage as an Emcee for all three of the National tournaments over the years.   
       Ms. Waarala has been a member of Poetry Slam, Inc. since 2000, and is also a member of The Association of Writers and Writing Programs.  She has done readings and workshops in numerous states around the country and has been published in more than twenty five journals, magazines and anthologies, and has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize several times in the last two years.   
     The selection process for the new Executive Director spanned several months and included some highly qualified candidates who all expressed their visions of where PSi is and where PSi may be headed.   The EC thanks each candidate for the time and  thought that went in to discussing the future of this organization.   We are a better body because of that.   
     
Please distribute widely!!

2

General Discussion / National Poetry Slam 2013 will be in Boston/Cambridge

« on: June 11, 2012, 09:55:07 AM »

    Poetry Slam, inc, is very pleased to announce that our largest event The National Poetry Slam will be returning to Boston/Cambridge in 2013.   Simone Beaubien submitted a bid to host NPS 2013 that has been accepted by the EC.  She has met with her committee from NPS 2011 and they are committed to working on making NPS 2013 even better than the most excellent NPS 2011 that they did such an outstanding job of running from start to finish.
      Congrats and thanks to Simone and her team!!

3

General Discussion / Interested in Hosting NPS 2014?

« on: February 25, 2012, 04:15:11 PM »

Time to get your info in if you are interested in hosting NPS 2014 (actually a bit past time).
You can find the bid form in this thread of the Forums:
http://www.poetryslam.com/forum/index.php?topic=5438.msg57811#msg57811

     I am very happy to help in any way you may need.  Questions, comments, how this all works, discussions of what you are really doing by jumping in to this....
     We have a string of several very successful National Poetry Slam events in a row going here.   I'm looking forward to working with one of you to continue that run.
     Traditionally slammasters have been the ones who submit bids, but it does not need to be. 
     NPS 2012 is hosted by a group led by Bloomenthal Arts.
     NPS 2013 was originally awarded to Chicago Slam Works, another non-profit group.
     I am currently talking with a college who is interested in submitting a bid for either 2013 or 2014.
     PSI is open to hearing what you have to say.   

     Feel free to post questions or comments here, or to email me
sampsonhenry at gmail dot com

4

General Discussion / NPS 2013 Chicago bid withdrawn

« on: February 25, 2012, 04:04:08 PM »

I unfortunately need to inform you that Chicago Slam Works has withdrawn their bid to host NPS 2013.   You may recall that the bid was vetted by the EC in January of 2011, and Slammasters voted to approve Chicago NPS 2013 in March of 2011.
    Marc Smith informed me that due to other events coming to Chicago within a few weeks of the anticipated date of NPS 2013, he didn't think that Chicago Slam Works could market the event successfully.   The board of Chicago Slam Works took a vote, and informed me that they would indeed withdraw the bid.
     I have known this for some time.   I informed the EC immediately and was hoping to have someone else lined up, but that has not happened as of this date.   I have had several cities express interest, but that is not a solid bid at this point. 
     So, if you are interested in hosting NPS 2013, on an accelerated schedule, please let me know.   I will help you fill in the bid forms, and help you through the approval process with the EC.   It is now an EC decision since the SM's approved the Chicago bid on time, and this move takes us past the standard approval timeframe.   
     Someone who has hosted in recent years would be an excellent choice, either an NPS or one of the other PSI events.
Questions, thoughts, suggestions, feel free to post here, or email me at sampsonhenry at gmail dot com   
     Yes, I am bummed that this is not going to be in Chicago....

5

General Discussion / Interested in Hosting NPS 2013??

« on: December 20, 2010, 11:44:04 AM »

Morning everyone.
     Henry Sampson here writing to you as the Event Coordinator for the National Poetry Slam.
     We are very fortunate to be having the NPS 2011 in Boston/Cambridge, and NPS 2012 in Charlotte.  Very exciting on both counts, and PSI is proud to be working with both of these cities for our premier event. 

     We are at the stage in the process of deciding where we are going to get to hear all of the great poetry that will be NPS 2013!
     Here is the schedule that the EC has set out for the selection of the next host:

NPS 2013
Fill out and submit vetting form to EC no later than January 25, 2011.
EC vets and informs submitter by Febuary 14, 2011.
Approved and vetted submissions posted publicly to SMs by February 19, 2011.
SM vote on posted bids (or PSi option) at SM Meeting March 2011.

     If you are interesting in even just finding out more about the process, please email me at sampsonhenry at gmail.com
     I can send you some of the information that could help you put together a successful bid for the event. 
     You can also find most of the information that you need in this forum.  Look at the following thread:

http://www.poetryslam.com/forum/index.php?topic=5438.0

      This thread contains what the EC calls the Vetting information process.   You will learn the types of info the EC wants to see in a bid, and it also gives you some info about how to start putting togehter your team to host NPS.
      Bids may come from any source, slammasters, communities, arts organizations.
      This process will put us on the normally scheduled vote for the slammasters at this March SM meeting at WOWPS.

Looking forward to hearing from you.