The Surrey Staff

In one of the last posts about Surrey, I wanted to talk about the Surrey staff. These tireless men and woman are all volunteers, some of whom work year-round on this conference.
Without fail, they were pleased to answer any questions. They were friendly and many times stopped and asked if the conference was going well. Have you had any successes? Was there anything you needed? This goes far and above just having someone stand around in case you need help.

Some of the ladies started recognizing me and would check with me when they saw me to see if I had spoken to any agents. All of them hoped I would return next year.

I was really astounded at these remarkable people.

KC Dyer ramrods this conference and she has done an excellent job. There was some confusion with my registration. After a few emails back and forth, she got it straightened out and I had my appointments set. I’m sure her boundless energy and friendly attitude is a driving force behind the attitude of the volunteers.

As you all know, this was my first writer’s conference, but I have been to some other gatherings similar to this. The Surrey staff, was by far the most helpful and friendly I have encountered. I felt like I had made friends instead of just being herded around.

Telus donated water for the conference goers, which was a real blessing. As soon as we got done with breakfast, we grabbed a bottle of water from the table and headed to our first class. They kept the table stocked with water all day. This seems like a little thing, but as much water as a person drinks a day, $1.00-$2.00 a bottle would have been a sizable expenditure. Of course, me being cheap, I bought a couple of gallons of water before we arrived for drinking water and coffee water.

To me, this is just another instance of how well-planned this conference is. They had a large list of donors who helped make the conference possible. That doesn’t happen overnight. The staff had to be hustling to get all this together.