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Finishing Tools for the Event Itself | 257
Correspondence
Of course, you will keep all financial records, receipts, and copies of all
agreements and contracts on file. But there is a good reason for keeping all
your correspondence with poets: it can provide a good part of what will
eventually become the rich and lively history of your organization. Poets
who are not well known now may become famous in the future. When
your organization celebrates its tenth anniversary or twentieth or hundredth,
those who come after you will appreciate that you preserved such
documents.
Planning and Reimbursement for Traveling Poets
Please remember that poets as a rule earn very little. Young poets in
particular may not have extra cash on hand to pay for their travel, but heavy
out-of-pocket expenses can be a problem for a poet at any career stage. If
you are covering expenses, be prepared to book and pay for plane tickets
and hotel rooms up front. If you can, estimate and pay for other expenses
up front as well. One of our Toolkit members, Orlando White, invites poets
to remote areas on the Navajo reservation. Often, poets must drive their
own cars to get there or rent cars and drive in from the nearest airport. He
has arranged with his institution to figure mileage or rental fees and send
checks in advance of readings so poets have travel money when they are on
the road and need it.
Travel Arrangements
If poets prefer to make their own arrangements and be reimbursed for
expenses after they are incurred, make sure to let them know any limitations
(no first-class or upgradable fares, for example). In addition, it’s fine to
ask poets to check with you before finalizing tickets, etc., to avoid expensive
surprises. Still, be as flexible as you can in accommodating poets’ desires.
Don’t make them suffer multiple flights and long layovers to save only a few
dollars. If your bureaucracy requires expenses to be incurred before reimbursement
checks can be issued, cut and send checks immediately upon
receiving receipts. Make sure to know, so you can let poets know, how long
it usually takes your system to cut and send checks. Follow up to make sure
that checks reach the poets.
Whether you are making arrangements or a poet is, act on them, or
remind the poet to do so, well in advance. This will increase your chances of
having a choice of reasonably priced flights, rooms, rental cars, and what-