Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Kitlitosphere Conference Meme

MotherReader started a meme of questions for past attendees of the two Kidlitosphere conferences to encourage enthusiasm to sign up. Today is the last day to sign up for the conference to get the hotel group rate for the third annual conference in Washington D.C. on October 17.

Why did you decide to attend the KidLitosphere Conference?

The initial idea for the get-together was a fantasy potluck with blog friends discussed on Robin Brande’s blog. I decided to attend the first conference in Chicago, but then had to pull out due to financial restraints. When I found out that the second conference was going to be in Portland, Oregon (three hours away from Seattle) I decided that I could justify the expense of the train ticket. Since my freelance business is storytelling and I maintain a storytelling blog, at least part of the trip could be a business expense.

When I approached Adrienne of What Adrienne Thinks About That about sharing a hotel room, she replied that she had thought about asking me as well. We ended up meeting in Seattle a month before KidlitCon ‘08, as Adrienne had a work-related conference in Seattle. We were both glad that we got along well in person! We both arranged to head out to Portland a little early so that we could explore the city a bit.

I’ll say upfront that I am not a big fan of conferences. I find them overwhelming. I hate taking notes. I went to the seminars where I listened, doodled and laughed when appropriate, but really, I was keen to socialize with other people. I had a cold that turned into laryngitis so I was pretty miserable that weekend, but I had a good time meeting people nonetheless.

Who was most like their blog? Who was least like their blog?

I felt a little shy meeting MotherReader as she could totally take me to the cleaners with her razor-wit, and was touched when she greeted me with a big hug. I’d met both Adrienne and Sarah of Finding Wonderland prior to the conference so I could imagine their actual voices when reading their blogs. I ended up meeting a lot more bloggers I didn’t know prior to the conference, so I can’t accurately answer who was least like his/her blog.


What surprised you at the conference?


The session I enjoyed most was Just One More Book co-host Mark Blevis’ podcast seminar. I have no plans to start a podcast (because of how I am allotting my time and energy, not because of lack of interest), but I was glad of a glimpse into a form of blogging that was largely unfamiliar to me.

I was also surprised to be a multi-winner at the dinner-raffle. I gave away one of my prizes (though I kept the chocolate as it was a gift for Bede in thanks for taking care of Lucia by himself for three days).


What will you always remember about the last conference?


One-on-one and small-group conversations.

Did you blog about the conference?


Yes.

4 comments:

Sarah Stevenson said...

It was a bummer that you weren't feeling well! The time spent socializing with other bloggers WAS amazing, wasn't it? It felt like I could have spent hours talking to people about books or whatever.

Anamaria (bookstogether) said...

Oh, I so wish I could meet you in person at this year's conference in DC (or rather, Arlington--which just so happens to be exactly where I live). I hold out hope of meeting you someday, though!

Saints and Spinners said...

Anamaria: I wish we could meet this year, too. I still have connections to D.C. so it may yet happen on your coast.

A.Fortis: How often do you get to spend time talking about the books you love with a whole bunch of people? It doesn't happen enough for me. I've never gotten into book clubs. Hey though, there's an idea-- have a book club where you come together to talk about the books you've read recently and loved as opposed to everyone reading the same book.

Anonymous said...

Farida, I felt so badly for you being sick those days, but I so enjoyed that time together. I agree, too, that Mark is a great speaker. He kind of makes you think you can do anything.

And we'll hope the next time I see you, you *don't* have laryngitis. It's not so very far away now (close enough that I've started to think about that PLA presentation I'll be doing beforehand).