When Jack Hayes took over as chairman of the 2020 Central Florida Book Expo, he could draw on three decades of management consulting working with some of the world’s biggest companies.
“The first step is to do a needs assessment – identify the strongest and weakest point,” he says, no matter the size of the project. Following that process he identified the focus points and the resources needed.
The Book Expo is an annual project of the Writers League of The Villages (WLOV) in conjunction with The Villages Recreation and Parks Department. This year some 80 authors will take over the Eisenhower Recreation Center on Sunday, Jan. 26 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with book sales, drawings for merchandise, presentations on writing and speakers, including Pastor David Houck from the SoZo Kids organization. Book Expo is free and several thousand people are expected to attend.
The event this year has been coordinated by a seven-member committee that includes Hayes.
“I thought, ‘I’m going to find the best talent that I could spot,’” Hayes says. “I chose six people. I saw how they operated, their professionalism.”
Hayes believes in teams and team players.
“I delegated and let people really take charge of their areas,” he says. “If necessary, I would step in to assist because I didn’t want to overburden them. During my management consulting career, I often heard from people on the floor complaining that their bosses would take their ideas and get the credit for them.”
Hayes had each of the committee members give the reports to the WLOV membership so the organization could see who was doing the work and give them the recognition.
He also operates the committee on the “majority rules” principle.
“Oh, I got voted down a couple of times,” he laughs. “But that’s part of the game.”
Author/participants signed up during the summer – WLOV members got first priority before the event was opened up to the public. In addition to authors from The Villages and Florida, several out-of-state writers will also be present.
The 2020 Book Expo date means there was no 2019 event. The 2018 Book Expo was held in mid-December and competed with the Christmas Parade and several other large events in The Villages. The decision to move the event to January 2020, skipping 2019, was the subject of much discussion on the part of the WLOV Board, the Book Expo Committee and Villages Recreation and Parks Department officials.
“We met with Pam Henry and her team, talked about the changes we wanted to make, and they were fine with it,” Hayes says. “Because the event is on a Sunday, we gave consideration to the people who want to attend church and we’ll open the doors at Eisenhower Rec at 11 a.m.”
One addition this year was training seminars for authors on sales and marketing their books. Subjects include how to meet and engage visitors, delivering “elevator speeches” about their books, and help designing display materials and handouts. Members of the local Friends of the Library will be on hand to greet visitors and hand out programs and bags to hold purchases. The Florida Writers Association and the Writers League of The Villages will also be on hand to talk about their groups and sign up new members.
Several popular panel presentations will be held throughout the event. Topics include Motivation to Write, Self-Publishing and Marketing Your Book. Panelists and moderators will come from the ranks of the Writers League.
Another innovation this year was the establishment of a Facebook marketing program (Writers League of The Villages) with featurettes on participating authors and their books.
Drawings will be held throughout the event for numerous prizes including original watercolor paintings, books, appliances and luggage.
The committee held monthly meetings, usually in Hayes’ lanai overlooking the dragon boats and birds around Lake Sumter Landing.
“I was very lucky,” Hayes concludes about the members of the Book Expo Committee – Donna Beard, Peter Shianna, Lorraine Harris, Dan Kincaid, Barbara Miller and John Prince. They are all busy people who contributed time, effort and talent to making the event successful.”
Hayes’ management style sees differences between a leader and a manager.
“A team leader works with people, delegates and watches and listens closely to ensure that they do the job and meet the deadline,” Hayes says. “A manager is a person who goes out and does most of the work themselves, so that one or two people are carrying the ball. Taking on a position like heading up the Book Expo, there is a temptation to want to do everything yourself. If you want to do it right, you have to rely on your team.”
Hayes’ advice to anyone chairing such an event: “Form your plan and understand that the only way to get there is through the people on your team.”
Now that the Book Expo project is coming to an end, Hayes is looking forward. A multi-award-winning author, he is now finishing his first romance novel.
“I have an extensive investigative background (he spent years as a Washington, D.C. police detective) and I have some good cases in my mind that I could spin into fiction. We’ll see,” he smiles.
John W Prince is a writer and Villager. For more information visit www.GoMyStory.com. If you know of someone with a good story, contact John at John@GoMyStory.com.
