At a Vets Town Hall, veterans are invited to stand before their community and speak about what their service means to them. Non-veterans are encouraged to attend and listen. Originated by author Sebastian Junger, these events aim to establish a greater understanding between local veterans and the community at large.
Throughout 2020, I worked with Sebastian Junger and graphic designer Adrian Kinloch to create vetstownhall.org, a national directory of events and a resource for organizers. I now serve as a consultant for organizers, maintain the website, and am working with Sebastian and others to help build this initiative.
Teacher Liaison and Host for 800+ attendee conference founded by Rosemary Gladstar.
The International Herb Symposium is held every other year at Wheaton College campus in Norton, MA. Founded by Rosemary Gladstar in 1991, the IHS brings together plant lovers and herbalists from around the world. The Symposium is held as a fundraiser for United Plant Savers, a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of medicinal plants. The conference is being held virtually in 2021, using Teachable as a platform.
As the Teacher Liaison and Host for the Symposium, I handle communications with and hospitality for 40-50 teachers, make travel arrangements for many teachers, ensure that teachers’ class equipment needs are met, and manage an assistant and work study volunteers at the conference. I also assist the Symposium Director in tracking expenditures and calculating teacher payments, as well as in scheduling programming for the conference.
I’ve worked with former Symposium Directors, Melanie and Jeff Carpenter of Zack Woods Herb Farm, and current Director, Susan Leopold of United Plant Savers, to streamline our process for collecting information from teachers, including biographical and class info, travel plans, equipment needs, lodging needs and preferences, etc. I’ve made use of Google Forms and Sheets to collect and organize data in ways that are both easy for teachers and practical for IHS staff. I’ve adapted material from the many letters to teachers that the Symposium has sent out over the years, and worked to make it clear and easy to follow, while still honoring the character of the Symposium.
My work is informed by my training with Rosemary Gladstar at Sage Mountain, including an Intensive Herbal Apprenticeship (2011), Rosemary’s Science & Art of Herbalism Home Study Course (2011), and the Advanced Herbal Training Program (2012).
Rosemary speaking at the IHS closing circle in 2015.
State coordinator and consultant on community forums aiming to increase understanding between local veterans and civilians.
At a Vets Town Hall, veterans are invited to stand before their community and speak about what their service means to them. Non-veterans are encouraged to attend and listen.
In 2016, I read about Vets Town Halls in Sebastian Junger’s book Tribe, and attended one in Dover, NH. The next spring, I began reaching out to local veterans and VSOs. With generous help from many individuals and organizations, I spearheaded the first Vets Town Hall in Vermont, which took place at Burlington’s Contois Auditorium in November 2017, and was hosted by John Tracy.
I’ve since worked on Vets Town Halls at Contois (2018) and SMC’s McCarthy Arts Center (2019), both hosted by Jon Turner – and I’ve consulted on Rutland (2018, 2019) and St. Johnsbury (2019) events hosted by Kyle Aines and Marty McMahon of Community College of Vermont.
I manage statewide communications for all Vermont events, which includes vtvetstownhall.org, an e-newsletter, and social media. In partnership with local organizers, I work on publicity and communications with press, and outreach to veterans organizations, elected officials, and the community at large. For Chittenden County events, I also create and maintain the event budget and liaise with the venue.
Fundraising, and programming assistance, for the largest event of its kind in Vermont.
Northern Vermont University’s Veterans Summit brings veterans, their families, and veteran service organizations together to build relationships and strengthen connections. I work with Thomas Anderson, NVU’s Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, to raise funds for this event through program advertisements, in order to keep it free for attendees and exhibitors. I also assist with Summit programming and publicity as needed.
Teacher Coordinator and Host for 800+ attendee conference co-created by Gail Ulrich and Rosemary Gladstar.
Founded by Gail Ulrich in 1987, and co-created by Rosemary Gladstar, the New England Women’s Herbal Conference welcomes 800+ herbalists, healers, and plant lovers to Camp Wicosuta in Hebron, NH, each August.
Based on my work with the International Herb Symposium, I was hired for the same position – Teacher Coordinator and Host – with the NEWHC, and again worked to streamline the process for collecting data from teachers. I’ve made use of Google Forms and Sheets to collect and organize biographies, class descriptions, travel plans, and other information in ways that are both easy for teachers and practical for staff. I’ve adapted material from the many letters to teachers that the NEWHC has sent out over the years, and worked to make it clear and easy to follow, while still honoring the character of the conference.
I handle communications with and hospitality for 40-50 teachers, make travel arrangements for many teachers, ensure that teachers’ class equipment needs are met, and manage an assistant and work study volunteers at the conference. I also work with the Director in tracking expenditures and calculating teacher payments, as well as in scheduling programming for the conference.
My work at this conference is informed by my training with Rosemary Gladstar at Sage Mountain, including an Intensive Herbal Apprenticeship (2011), Rosemary’s Science & Art of Herbalism Home Study Course (2011), and the Advanced Herbal Training Program (2012).
Longtime event and publicity manager for multiple locations.
In 2008, Mike DeSanto and Renée Reiner hired me as part of the bookselling team at this local bookstore in Essex, Vermont, and was quickly promoted to Publicity Manager. In 2012, with the addition of Phoenix’s second location in Burlington, I began working as the store’s Event Manager. For seven years, I handled communications with press, authors, and publishers and coordinated a busy events schedule for two and (then three!) locations. Working with Phoenix’s managers, book buyers, and booksellers on content, I maintained the bookstore’s website and compiled a monthly e-newsletter. I also established a protocol for publicizing and preparing for each event, and ran event meetings with store managers.
As I reduced my hours at Phoenix Books in order to take on more work with conferences and community events, I trained and supervised the work of assistants at the Burlington and Rutland locations and, eventually, trained my replacement.
Staff members at Phoenix Books. That’s me at the top right.
