Summary and takeaways from the ML check-in survey

Thanks so much to those of you who took a few minutes to fill out our ML October check-in survey! I summarized some of the most frequently mentioned things, added some things that I was able to do immediately and put several other things on my to-do list for post-November, and tried to clarify some subjects where there seemed to be a bit of confusion.

Since this survey is anonymous, there were a few cases where people had fairly specific questions that I was only sort of able to answer here, so please let me know if there's something you asked about that isn't clarified by this summary.  

An update on Come Write In spaces

Our Come Write In community partnership program is in a bit of a holding pattern right now because we don't currently have a staff member that's dedicated to it, but Marya has been doing some great work keeping it going in a streamlined fashion.

One of the most helpful things she's done is have all CWI spaces that want to share their information with local volunteers and participants fill out a spreadsheet that Marya has converted into map format. You can look in your area and find the contact information for any CWI spaces that you'd like to reach out to, or you can just share this map with your participants! 

Not all spaces that are signed up to host events are listed here, but it's nice to have another way to connect with interested CWI spaces in your region. Plus it's cool to see all the different locations on the map! 

ML write-in dates and polls

The overwhelming consensus last year was that people wanted the ML write-ins to happen again this year, so I've got three scheduled and am doing a poll on times for a fourth! You can find out the times and vote on the options in this thread, and it should convert the times for you if you have your time zone set correctly on the site.

I'll send out the list of times in my next email once we've set one for the final write-in! It was really fun last year to all be able to sit down and write together, and the consensus from MLs was that they really appreciated having a chance to focus on their own novels rather than hosting the event.

Quick reminders

Lightning round of things I've previously mentioned that I want to remind you about!

• We're collecting ML testimonials in this thread!
   
• You can submit any virtual events you're hosting that are open to people outside your region using this form, and we may add them to the HQ Events calendar! 
  
  (Side note on this: I know many regions are back to their pre-2020 routines, but please do keep in mind that there are a lot of reasons in-person events can be inaccessible to some. We've heard feedback from several participants this year who were disappointed to discover all the major events in their regions were in-person. I know hybrid events can be really hard to manage, but please do try to look for ways to include those who can't attend in-person events in your various community-building efforts!)
   
• In case you missed it, we recently kicked off a three year campaign around the 25th anniversary of NaNoWriMo. You can see the case statement here (which explains what this campaign is about) and read the FAQ about it here (which answers some questions you might have about it!)

We're getting into the crunch time here, so let's go over the most crucial things to do in the next week even if you can't get to everything you wanted to. It's time to triage and prioritize!

• Add any confirmed November events that you're hosting to the events tab in your region
   
• Approve all appropriate events that have been submitted to your region
   
• Remind people in the regional chat where they can find event information and community conversation
   
• Send a regional message with an overview of what to expect in November and where they can find more information about regional events and community conversation
   
• Review any ML emails that you missed

Frequently used ML links

ML Support Hub
ML Forums
Join the ML Discord
ML Facebook group
New ML Training Google Classroom
ML workshop information