Monday, May 16, 2011

Conference Afterglow

If you haven't had a chance to attend a conference, and the opportunity presents itself, DEFINITELY GO!

I attended the 25th consecutive New England SCBWI conference this weekend (not MY 25th consecutive). The silver anniversary of the NESCBWI conference--though there were conferences held prior in the region--they had not been held annually.

I hung out with Heather Kelly, Laura Pauling, Jennifer Carson, Ansha Kotyk, Marissa Doyle, Alicia Gregoire and Joyce Johnson. I met new friends like Josie Cameron, Melissa Hed, Beth Gallagher and Diane Adair.

We heard keynotes from Jane Yolen (she IS a goddess), Harold Underdown, Stephen Mooser, Lin Oliver, and Tomie Dapaola. Tony Abbott (of SECRETS OF DROON fame) signed books for my daughter.

A few of us were challenged to do an impromptu live "elevator pitch" for agent Chris Richman (terrifying even though I have an agent. LOL, and not because Chris is scary. He was, in fact, very sweet and supportive of all of us.) I'll do a longer blog post on this tomorrow. It was a good learning experience.

I networked, I took notes, was inspired. I feel blessed to be a part of such a vibrant and talented community!

12 comments:

Laura Pauling said...

It truly was a blast. I blogged about that elevator pitch today. I seriously don't think I will EVER forget that. :)

Kelly Polark said...

Did each of you actually get to pitch to Chris?!
I love conferences; sounds like this one was awesome!
I adore Jane Yolen! She was at a local library speaking while I was on vacation. I was so disappointed I missed her!

Theresa Milstein said...

The conference was amazing. I'm sorry it's over! Too bad we didn't get a chance to talk more.

How'd I miss the elevator pitch? Oh well!

Julie Flanders said...

This sounds wonderful. I love reading about people's experiences at conferences, I'm looking forward to reading about your elevator pitch!

Katy Upperman said...

Sounds like a wonderful experience... now I want to go to a conference!

Alicia Gregoire said...

The conference was great. I'm still exhausted from it. LOL

Talli Roland said...

That sounds fantastic! Glad you had such a good time.

Faith E. Hough said...

I was there, too (first 2 days) and it really was amazing! I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet in person!

Natasha Sass said...

I'm still exhausted too! I had such a great time. I will never forget the elevator pitch, who knew. Well secretly I knew if I mentioned something to Joyce, SOMETHING was bound to happen. ;)

Shoshana said...

I know, wasn't it a great conference? I'm sorry I missed that elevator pitch exercise!

MTeacress said...

You're very brave to do a pitch. I LOVE writers conferences and believe all aspiring authors should attend if possible. I'm glad you had such a great time! :)

Heather Kelly said...

WOO-HOO! What fun. And proof, proof that I was there!