NWSA meets challenges in 2020
NWSA had started 2020 with a diesel engine workshop and big structural plans for membership improvement. By the middle of February we had chosen the Leadership in women's Sailing Awardee, Margaret Pommert, and had a keynote speaker for the early June conference. Dr. Shirley Cassara had taken on the big job of chairing the 19th annual Women’s Sailing Conference in Marblehead, MA. She had planned for and worked towards an event with a few adjustments to make the day fun and the learning opportunities fresh.
Then everything changed. In a short span, before the end of February a Plan B had been formed to do the best we could to keep women sailors engaged during a deepening health crisis.
Women who had agreed to teach, would not travel to the Conference. The Corenthian Yacht Club officially closed. Our plan B was then THE plan — to do a virtual conference — something we held only in our imagination. We had adopted Zoom for board meetings and saw the potential to use th e tool for an on-line event. Zoom suddenly became vital for communication and community.
We began implementing a plan by polling instructors and presenters who had already committed to the conference and working with Zoom and Qvent, a start up event management software company. We had initiated the process of adding MemberPress to our website to help manage membership and registration. NWSA began working in earnest to presenting an On-Line Expo for women sailors. We called it OLÉ!
The theme of OLÉ as the 2020 conference was previously set to be Going Green on the Deep Blue Sea focusing on the health and protection of the waters we sail. Rachael Z. Miller founder of the Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean was to be the keynote speaker. Fortunately for NWSA Miller was very adept in presenting virtually, having a great deal of experience doing so.
Two board members, vice president Amye Sinclair and Charlotte Kaufman, both offered their significant experience in management of social media and working virtually. The stars were aligning to keep women sailors engaged during a hard time to do so. Margaret Pommert, Nancy Erley, Linda Newland, Susannah Winder, Naomi Emmerson, Beth Burlingame and other presenters began planning to present live on Zoom or record videos to add as premiers over the three days of OLÉ . Women Who Sail partnered with NWSA to host an online fundraising effort for the Maiden Project to be presented during the conference. Tracy Edwards would appear as a guest. A storytelling slam, She Sailor Sea Story, offered a social element to OLÉ!. Anyone could offer up a sailing story to be told live. The conference, a bold experiment that could easily fail, would be free.
The audience during the span of three days was over three times the capacity of in-person conferences we had traditionally offered at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead. NWSA asked women attending to join the organization. They did. Our membership rose to the highest level in the association's history.
Visit NWSA's YouTube channel to see all the OLÉ! videos.
Gail Hine presents Sailing Convention for Women on the first Saturday in Feburary earned high praise
Women sailors met in mass for Gail Hine's iconic Sailing Convention for Women. There what a few sailors wrote about the event.
"This year’s Sailing Convention for Women was outstanding! Great topics, great instructors with excellent in depth materials to share, great venue, great food, and great networking opportunities to begin new friendships and build on earlier ones. Thanks again for all you and your very special team do to make this event happen! We all benefit!" — Karen
"The quality of the classes, the location and the organization that it takes to put this on are
impressive. There are so many fabulous classes it is hard to choose. It was well worth the effort to come down from Northern California to attend, I learned a great deal. It was also great to meet so many women of all ages that share the same interest." — Roxanne
Board of Directors
Debbie Huntsman,
President
Amye Sinclair,
Vice President
Barbara Robinson,
Treasurer
Joyce Hersh,
Secretary
Valli Cook
Susan Epstein
Gail Hine
Linda Newland
Charlotte Kaufman
Elise Read
Susanna Winder
NWSA and Women Who Sail form a strong partnership
Charlotte Kaufman, founder of Women Who Sail, joined the Board of Directors and helped form a mutually beneficial relationship in 2020.
The She Sailor Sea Story had its roots in NWSA's 2020 virtual conference OLÉ! when ordinary women sailors told stories before and after Charlotte Kaufman and Tracy Edwards and the Maiden Mondays with the crew of Maiden. Stories were recorded live and added to YouTube. There were dozens of stories recorded and now on Youtube.