Well hello core team of the inaugural CA '10!

We are thrilled at the response and feedback we have gotten as we launch this grassroots creative effort to gather, relax, learn, and build authentic alliances with like-minded creative women.  We have a lot of great ideas to help make this weekend in Ojai not only memorable but valuable to all who attend.

We wanted to give you the list of the core team:

Jennifer of Playgroups Are No Place for Children
Mary Ann - Stiletto Mom
Danielle - Extraordinary Mommy
Rachel of Southern Fairytale
Tiffany of SITS/Bloggy Boot Camp
Lolita Carrico of My Gloss
Esther Brady Crawford of FaintStarLite
Maggie of Okay, Fine, Dammit
Heather of The Extraordinary Ordinary
Shannon aka Mr. Lady of Whiskey in My Sippy Cup
Ann of Ann's Rants
Anna Lefler of Life Just Keeps Getting Weirder
Ciaran Blumenfeld - Momfluential
Lisa Rosenberg  - Smacksy
Deb on the Rocks
Kim Prince of House of Prince

Wow. What an awesome group representing all kinds of creativity. Don't ya think? We're psyched!

We know we all don't know each other. <em>But we will.</em> And for those of you who don't know all of us, here's a quick glance at your devoted organizers:

<strong>Lee </strong>- I'm a writer/producer in non-fiction/reality television for the past 20+ years turned mom of three turned blogger hobbyist by default.  I created a little space called <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.momswithoutblogs.com" target="_blank"><em>Moms Without Blogs</em></a> simply as a creative outlet.  Little did I know where the blogging world would lead me.....Currently, I am pursuing making a new dream of mine become a reality by trying to bring my background in video storytelling to the internets in the form of a video web magazine for the modern mom. Much more on that later....

<strong>Cyn</strong> - In my pre mom of two toddlers life, I traded stocks on the floor of the CHX for 15 years. Going from that to being a SAHM drove me to blogging. Having two design degrees (don't ask how I went from design to trading....I'm not sure I know...and I lived it:P) it was a short leap to blog design and illustration. Basically, I can be found blogging at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://napwarden.com/" target="_blank">Napwarden.com</a>, and designing at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nwdesignsit.com/" target="_blank">NW Designs</a>. I want to be known as an  innovative illustrator/designer in both blogging and business. I worship at the altar of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and I have big plans in becoming an online representative spreading the wonders of Adobe to the millions of women online...Whew...I'm tired:P

<strong>Jess -</strong> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://Bernthis.com" target="_blank">Bernthis.com</a> began as a web series and the blog was borne from that.  I have been in over 36 commercials in my life and as we all know the industry has changed and I am determined to change with it. I hope to take my experience as a spokesperson for three major companies, including, Wendy's, Amana and ACS Wireless and advocate for yet another brand but through this emerging new media market. I would also like to take my skills as a video maker &amp; ultimately work with brands to help them create funny, innovative videos. Call me crazy, but I also feel like there is a chance now that I will finally get someone to touch me.  Did we mention we hope to garner the services of a lovely massage boy?

Now for some logitistics:

"CA '10 - Creative Alliance" is slated for October 15-17th, 2010.  We hope that weekend works for you all.  Several other weekends were not good for some and the place was booked on other weekends.

Cyn, our devoted designer, will be setting up a website soon.  She thought of the brilliant idea to use the website to actually involve anyone who is interested in the actual process of putting a grassroots event like this together.  From securing the place to searching for sponsors to planning for food and entertainment and activities etc.  This way the website can be an active community site that can keep us all in the loop and perhaps educate others who are interested in this kind of gathering.

We are currently planning on capping the event off at 40 people.  That means 20-22 people will be staying off-site at a nearby hotel/bed and breakfast in the Ojai Valley.  We think that 40 sounds like a manageable group for our first event.  We will open "registration" up once we are ready.  We have no idea at this time what the "cost" will be for others who want to attend. That will depend entirely on finding sponsors who can help underwrite the cost of the space/food/rentals etc.  Our goal is to make a registration "fee" as low as possible.

As we said in our first correspondence, our intention is that the core group will pay for nothing except for travel expenses.

That being said, we are starting to assemble a basic media kit to send to potential sponsors.  And we hope it's okay to provide a list of the confirmed core group to any interested companies.

We are not experts by any means.  But we believe in being pro-active in creating an experience that can benefit all of us in our creative business pursuits. We want this core group to be active and engaged and we encourage an open dialogue on all matters.  So if anyone has ideas or leads to companies ripe for the asking to participate in this kind of event, we are all ears.

We also ask you to provide to us at your convenience the following:

• A brief bio
• Twitter ID and preferred email
• Ideas for groups/discussions that you might be interested in leading or attending
• Creative extracurricular ideas for the weekend - do you want to see a group hike, a drum circle, campfire readings?
• And most importantly - where you are at in your creative pursuits.  What would you like to see happen for YOU in your creative business pursuits?  Be bold.  If you're not already. :-)

Lee will be the point person for all written correspondence so please send all information via email to Lee at<a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:leemwob@gmail.com" target="_blank"> leemwob@gmail.com</a>.

That's it for now.

The ball is rolling people.....right. on.

Lee, Jess and Cyn