Hello all you beautiful CYA people! Today it’s a magical day here in Queensland, the sun is shining, there was rain last night, and everything looks green. The sun is reflecting silver off the water outside... A photo-worthy picture surely? But looks can be deceiving, can’t they?
The Conference
We are all safe at home…. And with the current projections, we’ve decided to make the call earlier than planned, to go virtual for 2020. While we had hoped to keep the onsite days, we’ve decided to expend the experience instead and to do this, we need a little extra time to get things organised. Yes, that’s right, we’ll be running this year’s conference totally online. And, rather than run the three streams each day on one weekend, we’ve decided to run one stream per day over three weekends. Which means you won’t need to choose between sessions! You’re going to get to do it ALL! (Doesn’t that sound awesome?) And if you're interested in a Bootcamps and/or an Assessment, we're going to move those forward to the weekend of 4 & 5 July, so your conference sessions won't even be interrupted. There is definitely a silver lining to this for you. And here the delivery of our promise to you. As we don’t have to cover flights, hotel, catering etc. we have redone all the budgeting, and we have reduced the cost of your conference for 2020. Competitions We have chosen to EXTEND the CLOSING date for Hatchlings competition to 18th April, and we’ve made the cost of any U18 entries – FREE … yes, that’s correct – U18 Hatchlings will have FREE entry to the competition in 2020. So please pass this information on to your kids, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. For those hatchlings who have already paid, we will be refunding your entry fees over the coming week.
Please be aware that with our conference being online, you do not have to send us any hard copies of illustrations, as we have nowhere to display them this year. New dates to be aware of
4th April 2020 – CYA & Everything is a Genre competition close (excluding Hatchlings.) 18th April 2020 - Midnight, AEST. NEW Closing date for Hatchling Competition Entries. 15th May - Final submission date of assessment and bootcamp work 4th and 5th July – Editor assessments ONLINE And most Bootcamps ONLINE 11th, 18th, 25th July - Children’s and Young Adult Conference streams. (Limited assessments.) 12th, 19th, 26th July – Adult Conference steams. (Limited Bootcamps.) Thank you to all the editors, agents and presenters for being so accommodating. Sadly we’ve lost a couple of editors due to us going online. We will be contacting anyone whose assessment or bootcamp has been affected. We will put up the new conference timetable as soon as we can. There are a couple of presenter and time changes. So please stay with us, spread the word that we are still here, and going ahead in our online capacity. We will soon be doing the refunds for those that have already paid for the change in cost over the next week. These are each done manually and will take time, so please be patient. In anticipation for All Stars Online - what do you need to do: Check that you have a device you can use. Check you have internet you can use. Enough data… At this stage, we are looking to use Zoom for the conference sessions and bootcamp, while the assessments will probably be done using Skype. We will be offering login sessions during June for those of you who want to check out your systems before the real thing. Did you know that Telstra was giving everyone extra data if you are their customer - (Hurry offer closes 31st March) Hopefully, they will still be helping like that coming into July too!
Other awesome news Welcome to the fold: USA agent Heather Cashman, Storm Literary Agency. Heather is joining us not only for assessments but also as a presenter, so we are very excited to have her join us via the USA online! We are still finalising times with her as she’s based in USA. We’ll let you know as soon as she’s open for booking. I think you have had enough amazing news for one day… run around the kitchen screaming, raise a glass, eat the ice-cream or rock on in your chair as you draw or write, but celebrate along with us for this fantastic news in your own way. Yes, for 2020 we will have lost the amazing face to face social aspect of the conference. However, you can still see your editors and agents, see your presenters, get your workshops done, and all in the comfort of your own home. And when this is all over, we plan to hold a party to make up for it. We hope you will embrace the changes for this year, stay safe and keep writing and illustrating. The world is counting on you as a source of entertainment to help get through these challenging times. Chatter soon. Keep in touch! Beckett
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