On Friday I flew to Portland for the Second Annual Kidlit Bloggers’ Conference and finally met the bloggers I read everyday…in person!
The conference was wonderfully organized by Laini Taylor and Jone MacCulloch.
On Friday night we went to Powell’s:
At Powell’s, Laini Taylor took this photo of Suzanne Young, Lee Wind , me Jim Di Bartolo (Laini’s husband), Kim Baker, and Pam Coughlan (aka MotherReader).
The conference started bright and early Saturday morning…
and that’s when I started meeting former workshop students! Here I am with Annette Gulati. (She has a great summary of the conference on her blog. )
April Henry and Christine Fletcher were also there – they both took my School Visits 101 Workshop. (Yes, I’m still teaching it – as a self-paced workshop.)
At dinner I sat with former student Lynn Hazen and Rosanne Parry, who I know from the Child_Lit listserv.
Kim Kasch took this photo of Zu Vincent,
Roseanne Parry, and Lisa Schroeder.
In my session for beginning bloggers I had quite a few authors who wanted to start a blog. (I also teach this as an online workshop.)
Author/artist Laini Taylor and literacy evangelist Jen Robinson had an author/blogger “conversation” session and Jen clarified the difference between an author blogger and a kidlit blogger:
An author blogger blogs about her own work, while a kidlit blogger blogs about the books of many authors.
(So my Book of the Week blog is an author blog and my Picture Book of the Day and Kid Lit Kit blogs are kidlit blogs. Children’s Book Biz News is an “industry” blog.)
Laini’s blog has some great notes about how authors can work with the kidlit bloggers. (Yes, there is a protocol, and just like editors, bloggers talk amongst themselves about authors who ignore that protocol.)
In his social networking session, Greg read his Web 2.0 poem (and Kim Kasch vlogged it, so you can see it on YouTube. While you’re there, see Fuse #8’s Portland Day One YouTube as well – she tours the children’s room at the public library.)
The day was jam-packed with information (which was wonderful!) and there are so conversations to savor! I talked to Carolyn Conahan, Deb Lund, Susan Blackaby, Matt Holm, Colleen Mondor, Jackie Parker, and the Readergirlz!
Here is a photo of everyone who attended:
Next year we’ll be in Washington, DC… and Pam Coughlan (aka MotherReader) will be our fearless leader!
We won’t wait until then to talk about children’s books. Nominations for the Third Annual CYBILS Awards start on Wednesday! (Nominations are open to the public from October 1-15.) Which books do you think should win? Let us know!
Take the Intensive Picture Book Workshop for inservice clock hours.
Always great seeing you, Anastasia. And it really is a blast to meet the bloggers you read, isn’t it? I am always struck by how well people “match up” with their blog personality (though I think I’m taller on my blog!).
Run into you soon, I hope!
Hi Anastasia! It was wonderful to meet you — thanks so much for your workshop and for taking the beginners under your wing. I hope your school visit today was wonderful; I’m sure it was. Cheers, and look forward to seeing you next year!
I was so, so, happy to meet you Anastasia! I’m even more excited to work with you on the Cybils, now!
Hi Anastasia,
Was great to see you there and have a chance to catch up.
Loved exchanging time management tips for the busy author-blogger.
I’d like to interview you on the Imaginary Blog someday!
Lynn
Hi Anastasia! It was great to see you again.I hope your day of school visits went well.
Hi Anastasia,
Great to meet a familiar “voice” from the child_lit list serve. Thanks for your workshop on starting a blog!
Rosanne
Anastasia,
It was great to hear the in person voice from the Picture Book a Day blog. Thanks for the great tips in the beginner’s blog session. I felt inspired to start a new blog.
Thanks again
Hi, Anastasia! Everything I learned in your School Visits 101 class has been SO helpful, and I was thrilled to finally meet you in person. You’re as delightful in real life as you are online!
I’m sorry that our sessions were opposite each other so I couldn’t hear your session, but it was sure great to meet you in person.
Thank you for being part of the conference. I thought it was great how you broke everyone up into groups.
It was great to meet you, Anastasia! I’m enjoying working with you on the Cybils, too. Wish I’d gotten there early enough to go to Powell’s with everyone. I’m jealous!