The Official SCBWI Blog: SCBWI Conference planning. What I learned as a 1st-time organizer of the SCBWI SF South Golden Gate Fest 2026

I cannot believe it’s been over a month since SCBWI San Franciso South’s Golden Gate Fest 2026. As a total newbie, I officially stepped into the role of SCBWI Translator Coordinator at the end of 2025. I was excited and overwhelmed by this daunting task and all the unknowns ahead. The first major challenge was stepping into an organizing role. There were so many documents, spreadsheets, surprises, and more “learning moments” than I can list here. Below you find the reflections of a newbie who jumped in with enthusiasm, learned on the fly, and gained a whole new appreciation for event planning and teamwork. I was pretty scared at first, but fear moves mountains, right? Being part of a fantastic leadership team made it all possible. Getting to know the team in the process made us closer, stronger, and unstoppable. You'd better watch out!

What a ride! This is how it went down. We (the Regional Team) kicked into high gear in January, working to get this fabulous event underway. Who knew December flies by like that! If you are planning an event, be aware of all celebrations and distractions; life can throw you for a loop at any time. If unexpected challenges arise, communicate with your teammates and allow them to help you. Remember to divide and conquer!

Fortunately, we secured a beautiful venue that we had successfully used for our previous one-day conference. The Farallon Room of Skyline College is located on a cliff in Pacifica, California. Its huge floor‑to‑ceiling windows offer sweeping views of the Pacific and the hills just below. Absolutely stunning and accessible, with easy and free weekend parking. The massive glass windows and high ceilings let in lots of natural light, which was invaluable and helped me avoid a migraine that day. We had quiet tables set up in one corner for people to unwind and relax during breaks.

Portfolio table set up in the morning.

Bookstore and Registration table at the entrance.

I led a Walk-and-Talk activity in the afternoon. A chance for people to get outside, move, and connect. And an opportunity to let everything settle, get a little break from the noise, and tune in with nature. There are some fun hiking trails around the college. Even though it was windy and rain was looming, we were a pretty sizable group, had fun exploring, and even saw a Banana Slug on the trail. Yes, they’re real; even for the non–Nor-Cal folks who thought we made them up. But I am getting ahead of myself…

View from outside the huge glass front window in the main room.

Love that so many kidlit creatives joined me for the little hike, even though the weather wasn’t great!

Once we found and signed our amazing faculty, featuring the legendary Marla Frazee as keynote speaker, Danielle Collins (Beach Lane Books), Esther Hernandez (Knopf Books), Sasha Illingworth (Little Brown Books), Sophie Sheumaker (BookEnds Literary), and Sarah Stephens (Red Fox Literary), we had to put together the schedule, and fine-tune the presentations, craft sessions, workshops, panel discussions, and roundtable pitch clinics.

Sophie Sheumaker, Danielle Collins, Sarah Stephens, Marla Frazee, Esther Hernandez, Sasha Illingworth

Then we developed advertising content. I have never written so much promo copy in my life, but it was fun. We built the website, wrote more content, and then spread the word to as many SF Bay Area kidlit people as possible. Advertising was crucial! Reaching out to colleges from sister regions and college students helped us make our numbers. For a while, it really was touch and go! But thanks to determination, hard work, and advertising on a few different platforms, we actually made a small profit.

There are so many minute details I wasn’t even privy to (thank goodness). Our Co-RAs Anita and Emily took care of many venue items, tech, food choices (including food sensitivities), all faculty expenses, and so much more.

I had no idea how many day-of elements there are to running a conference. Thankfully, we work well as a team. Everyone was on top of their tasks. We had many wonderful volunteers who helped with set-up, registration, writing activities, portfolio and bookstore set-up, clean-up, and more. It made this event super smooth. I stepped in to help where I could, and the conference went off without major problems.

Marla Frazee’s keynote was incredible (hire Marla if you want to experience a perfectly written and executed presentation). She made us cry, only to have us laugh right after! Genius.

Marla’s keynote and workshop were fantastic! You can read more about it next week.

During the day, I was mainly mingling and checking in with attendees to ensure everyone had a positive experience and enjoyed themselves. Catching up with quite a few write-in friends was fun, and I was super-excited to meet a fellow translator from my monthly meetups for the first time. Unfortunately, I was too busy for longer, deeper conversations, but I’ve since followed up with quite a few people. It was a long, exhausting day, and it was magical and energizing to be among all these creatives at the same time. We chose our conference theme, FINDING COURAGE: CREATING THROUGH RESISTANCE, for a reason. Feeling hopeful and accepted, and being with so many like-minded folks, is invaluable and more important than ever. It is reassuring to know so many creatives live close by. It makes getting together and catching up in person easier. Our event showed how much power and positivity in-person events offer. I will definitely meet with my new writer, translator, and illustrator friends more often and try to catch up with some old ones who could not attend the conference. We already planned some future hiking adventures.

We provided our participants with a day filled with community, creativity, hope, and many tools to overcome challenging times. The atmosphere was infectious. There was a lot of laughter, and I saw many smiles. If that’s not proof that in-person meetings, human connections, and personal exchanges are essential, I don’t know what is. Adrenaline definitely fueled me all day. Strangely, I wasn’t exhausted afterward. It was just amazing and uplifting to be in the company of all these like-minded people and learn more about our craft. I guess that’s what happens when you find your people.

The bottom line: it was a lot of work and took a village (all of us) to meet our budget constraints and pull off this wonderful event for our community. It definitely brought the team together, and I am very proud and grateful to be a part of the SCBWI SF South Regional Team.

Susan Cabael, Seina Wedlick, Karin, Anita Tran, Danielle Heitmuller, Emily Jiang, Anastasia Kleckner

My key takeaways: stay flexible, be open-minded, and surround yourself with a team that celebrates, supports, and strengthens each other and the SCBWI community.