Meeting Minutes
December 2023
AGT Monthly Meeting for December 2023
The Authors Guild of Tennessee held their monthly meeting on Thursday, December 7, 2023, at Mimi’s Café in Turkey Creek. The group arrived at 6:00 p.m. for a half hour of social time and book exchange before sitting down to order dinner.
The following members and their guests were present:
Bill Barbour, Sam and Charlene Bledsoe, Jeff Carlson and Connie White, Laura and Tom Derr, Sonja DuBois, Deana Charcalla and her dad, Russ and Sherry Fine, Linda Fitzpatrick, Kaye George, Leoma Gilley, Wes and Sandy Hibbert, Morris and Marti Hudgins, Ernie Lancaster, Jerry and Anna Morton, Cheryl and Jim Peyton, Nancy and Ron Pressley, Brenda and Ed Sellers, Art Stewart and Monty Ross, and Curt Young and his son.
Welcome – Cheryl. Introduction of newest member, Jeff Carlson and his partner Connie.
November Minutes: Minutes of the November meeting have been approved without correction.
Treasurer’s report for November: – Cheryl. Beginning balance – $2,581.13. Ending balance – $2,865.43. Income (membership dues) $300. Book Sales: Preferred Pharmacy $61.59, Tellico Family Wellness ($27.20) Cookbooks: $59.61. Payments: DII Graphics, $42.50. Payments to authors: $121.60. Pending transactions: Author payments $88.79 and Methodist Hospital Contribution (memorial for Vicki Bennett) $100.
Reports by Committee Chairs:
New committees – Cheryl.
Festival Facts is a new committee being chaired by Bobbi, with Nancy Pressley, Jeff Carlson and Jeri Weems as members. Bobbi will oversee the gathering of data on fairs across the state and send out invitations to participate in the most promising events.
Festival Setups is chaired by “Fashionista” Deana Charcalla who needs volunteers to help her. She is storing the tents, tables, and other equipment and will be in charge of setting up, taking down, will oversee scheduling and the participation in the event in general.
Fairs and Festivals. Cheryl reported that the Knoxville Christmas show, Nov. 11-12, at the Expo Center was not as well attended as previous years and AGT sales were way down.
Training –needs a chair. Members: Sam and Victoria Winifred. We need someone to determine areas where members would like training, and to set up sessions with the help of the committee.
Retail : Cheryl. More volunteers needed to visit a store near them, to oversee the displays, and to establish good rapport with the owner and staff to encourage sales. Art Stewart is our one committee member.
Christmas-themed program
Cheryl read Christmas “Greetings to the Authors Guild of Tennessee”, and a Christmas Story that were both produced by Claude AI. This AI source uses clearer language than Chat GPT, known for its flowery style and the use of many metaphors.