Jewish Book Festival events come to a close in March

By Gayle Dorio, Jewish Book Festival Chair

For eight years, we have been treated to an assortment of authors who spend time with us and weave their stories as if spinning straw into gold. Every year, the authors’ credentials are impressive, and they each do a fine job of enlightening us about their subject matter. This year, we scheduled 14 events with 16 authors.

March events

It’s now March and we have just three events remaining. Diane Smith will speak about her daughter’s book, “Salt in My Soul,” by Mallory Smith on Friday, March 3. Please note the time change to 9 a.m.

On Tuesday, March 14, Erica Katz will discuss her book, “Fake,” and we will end the festival on Wednesday, March 22, when both Ira Rosen and Jen Maxfield will be here to talk about their books, “Ticking Clock” and “More After the Break,” respectively.

Evolution

We’ve gone through a number of changes in the past eight years. The beginning book festivals were all in person, with several offering desserts, snacks and/or lunches. We’ve had some well-known celebrities spend time with us. Then, the pandemic forced major changes. Luckily, technology was there to assist with Zoom and webinars allowing us all to stay connected. Everyone had a front row seat and didn’t have to drive or gather with others as the virus ran rampant. Many people learned to use this technology and became comfortable with this form of programming.

As always, circumstances change. Now, we have the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center — the new home for Jewish Federation of Greater Naples! How exciting to be able to plan activities and festivals to take place there. A combination of in-person and livestreaming will allow everyone to participate in the authors’ presentations in the manner of their choosing.

With all the amenities, we are looking forward to much more! Perhaps we’ll be back offering more food? More lunches? More celebrities? How would you like the next JBF to evolve?

Teamwork makes the dream work

It’s very rewarding to bring the Jewish Book Festival to our community. Yes, the members of the JBF Committee work hard to present the festival. It is truly a labor of love. In addition to reading and reviewing lots of books, committee members help solicit sponsors, act as publicity voices and help select music, food, venues, etc. They help

with the in-person events, checking people in, greeting attendees, showing them to their seats, selling books and answering questions. Introductions and monitoring the Q&A also fall to committee members and other interested parties.

Some are “author champions,” making sure their chosen author is well cared for, and are the liaison for all things for the author. One distinct advantage committee members share is the ability to get to know the authors on a more personal level. Some have stayed in touch with their author champions! Although the festival itself spans five months, from November through March, it is a full year of planning, scheduling, changing and rescheduling.

The Jewish Book Festival of Greater Naples has gained a reputation for being excellent, extremely organized and with a large audience. We don’t just get a few people; we have large turnouts for which the authors are very grateful.

We have a “getting to know you” phone call about a week before the event with every author. The author champion who is going to introduce the author and moderate the questions is on the call, as are Reneé and myself. We go over all the details of the event. We make sure the author is comfortable and we spend time understanding how the author wishes to present. Reneé shows PowerPoint slides that will accompany the event, both before and after. We explain what our audience expects and appreciates. Many authors have told us they are surprised and delighted to have this information. We hear that other festivals don’t work to this level of detail.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the events this year and we hope these last three events will inform and entertain you — and that you’ll be signing up for next year as well! Remember, patrons are soooo important! Sponsors, too! Thank you for your support and participation!

Oops!

By the way, one friend mentioned he thought the article I wrote last month was very enjoyable; he just had one question about how Bill Gates could purchase a very expensive book in 1904 when he wasn’t even born yet?! Yup, apparently there was a typo. Bill Gates purchased the most expensive book ever in 1994 (not 1904) when he purchased the “Codex Leicester” for $30 million.