The SCBWI Canada East Exchange (our Google Group) offers members a way of talking to each other directly through an email distribution list or via an online forum. A lot of the chapter’s day-to-day life happens in the group because that is where online discussions among our members occur. It’s here where you’ll find peers to celebrate or commiserate with you, and more experienced members willing to answer your questions. While the big announcements are e-mailed directly to all members, some small announcements, a sneak peek, or an advance word may reach the Google Group first.
Note that members are not automatically added when they join SCBWI, but must take a few extra steps to ask to be subscribed (see below). The Google Group is open to all members of Canada East and Canada West, as well as to all Canadian members of SCBWI living abroad who may currently belong to other chapters but would like to keep up with Canadian goings-on. Follow the link to join the conversation, the sharing of knowledge, and the exchange of ideas! But first, please read through this page for some useful information.
How do I join?
The SCBWI Canada East Exchange is easy to join. Simply send an email to the SCBWI Canada East ARA. You do not need to use the same email address that you used when you joined SCBWI. However, the address you provide when signing up for the Google Group may affect how you interact with it. (See “How do I participate?” below.)
Please be sure to include your full name when you ask to join the group. We must confirm that you are an active member before approving your request, and your name may not be self-evident from your email address.
Once your membership has been confirmed, you will receive an invitation to join. Please click on the “Accept this invitation” button at the bottom of the email invitation in order to activate your membership in the group. If you don’t accept the invitation within 7 days it will expire, and you will have to request a new invitation.
How do I participate?
Once you have accepted your invitation, there are two ways to participate: by email, and via the Google Groups web interface.
● To participate by email, simply send a new email message to scbwi-canadaeast@googlegroups.com and cc yourself. The message will be sent to every member of the Google Group, except the sender. Hence the cc. The subject line for all messages coming from the group will include the prefix [SCBWI Canada East].
You can also reply to a message that you have received. When replying to a message from the group, please remove all of the previous message(s) except for any portions that are necessary for your reply.
Important: Whether sending a new email message or replying to a message that you have received, please make sure to use the email account that you used to register for the group. If email to that address is being auto-forwarded to a second email account, you will be able to receive mail at that second address, but you will not be able to send or reply using that address, as it is not a registered member of the group. To send messages or reply to messages, you must use the email address under which you registered for the group. (You also have the option of registering with the new address, instead).
● To participate via the Google Groups interface, you might consider signing up for the group with a Gmail account. Google Groups allows participation in groups using any email address, however, to log in to the web interface, a Google ID is required.
If you have signed up using a Gmail address (Google ID), once you sign in online, you can post a message by clicking on the New Conversation button or search through the message threads and click on the Reply All icon for the appropriate thread. (These appear as New Topic and Post Reply if you are still using the old interface.) If you have added our group to your favourites list, SCBWI Canada East will appear in the left-hand Google Group menu under favourites, or you can access it by clicking on the My Groups. The URL for our group is https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/scbwi-canadaeast.
How can I search earlier conversations?
If you sign up using a Gmail address, you will also be able to sign in and search previous Conversations (dating back to when the group was moved from Yahoo in Oct. 2019). This will give you access to a wealth of information and discussions.
How do I make sure I don’t have problems receiving emails?
If you wish to avoid having emails from the group land in your spam folder, please add our Google Group email address, scbwi-canadaeast@googlegroups.com, to your whitelist.
For additional information related to problems receiving SCBWI emails, head for our FAQ page and see if the steps outlined under “I don’t seem to be receiving emails from SCBWI. What should I do?” solve the problem.
As always, please contact us if you have any questions!
Who do I contact to change my email address for the group?
Contact Michelle Jodoin, ARA. Please include your current email address, as well as your new email address.