2009 Conferences

Wow! I get to get to be the first commenter after Dream. I'm going to RWA, but I don't think I'll make ACFW this year. We have a family trip to a wedding in Buffalo, NY, planned for the following weekend, and that might be too much traveling. Breakfast onThursday is fine for me.

Merrillee

I'd love to go to the ACFW NAtional Conference (Colorado is just next door to Nebraska, even though Denver is still 550 miles from me!).  Who is going?  Who's gone before?  Did you LOVE it?  Sounds like fun!

I've been to the ACFW conference for three years now. I always come back fired up! What I most enjoy is the encouragement of the people (soooo sweet!) and the mutli-leveled tracks so you can pick the content best suited to your level of writing. I also sneak in a meeting with my agent (also very sweet), and last year I got to hang with my Steeple Hill editor too. Fun!   All in all, it's a great time! Go, if you can! Dana

I plan to be at the RWA conference in DC even though it is expensive!  I keep wondering if it's worth it, but every time when I go I come home and think 'yes, it was' so I'm planning to be there. 

I'll be attending the RWA National Conference this year. It's my first conference ever! I'm pretty excited about it. I'd love to attend ACFW too but can't swing it financially this year. Look forward to meeting up with some of you soon!

Jill Kemerer

Great post Dream.  I want to second what you said about the ability to renew acquaintances with long distance friends and to meet new ones.  Not to mention the opportunites to network with fabulous industry professionals.  There's always something new to learn at the workshops and I always come away with new insights, but the people element is my favorite part.

Winnie

I'll be at ACFW but not RWA. I really wanted to go since it was in DC, but it was just too expensive with the plane ticket factored in (I'd be flying from coast to coast). I regret that I won't be able to meet and talk with the Steeple Hill editors and authors.

However, I'm really looking forward to ACFW. I always have lots of fun talking with people and I always meet lots of new people every time I go. I met my writing mentor at my very first conference when we were waiting in line next to each other.

I agree with Dream that I've formed my closest writing friends via conferences, because how else can you meet someone you've known online just to make sure they're not an ax murderer? Especially those suspense writers who write about killing and kidnapping and blackmail.

Camy

Has anything been decided yet?  I'm presenting a workshop at 8:30 Friday morning (don't expect much of a turnout that early-LOL) so I'm hoping it's at a time I can make

Winnie

Dream, that'll work for me - just don't let me dump any food in my lap since I'll be headed from there straight to the workshop I'm supposed to be giving :-)    Oh - did we say where?

 Winnie

Hi Kathy! It was great meeting you, too!  And the RWA was great!

It's hard to get back to real life, oh, and all the laundry.

brenda

 Hi Kathy!  Grudgingly, I guess I can admit the water was better than the pepsi!  

 Home again...already looking forward to Nashville...well, maybe after I get a little sleep!!  Itreally was so much fun meeting people. My favorite place to hang out was the lobby because I could just sit and chat with all the interesting people who came by!

Hope everyone recovers soon...

Steph, who is not here, but definitely working on that dreaded synopsis

Dream, we kinda like you, too. :-)

And I'm with Steph, the lobby was my favorite. It was the place to sit and meet new friends.

Do we have to wait a year for Nashville?

I'm back home finally. It was good to see so many LI authors there and meet a number of them for the first time. I spent Sunday and Monday with my daughter and her husband in Baltimore, although we did a little side tour on Sunday in DC. I've been to DC several times and have seen most of the the monuments, museums, White House, etc., but I had never been to the Jefferson Memorial. I had always seen it from a distance. They had pity on me and took the Metro down so I could go to the Jefferson Memorial. Then we trekked over to the WWII Memorial. Arrived home around noon to my house that is torn up while we wait for our new carpet and the tile for our shower. Tile and carpet have been back ordered for about a month. Hopefully, in another week, everything will be done, but then I have to put everything back in order.

Merrillee

Smart..very smart, Kathy!  I email my projects to myself at the end of every day, but I need a new USB drive.  I have an external hard drive, but it's a pain.

I'm jealous of  you gals who are going to get to see each other again in Denver at the ACFW conference.  I'll be deep in school stuff with my kids by then.  Is there an award for the mom who drives the most miles in a week?

Steph

I wanted to jump in and say I enjoyed seeing everyone in DC as well -- I found this conference particularly rewarding in my connections.  I'm already looking forward to Nashville, too --

Nashville will be great! I have family there, so we'll spend a few extra days seeing the sites.

And I email my manuscript to myself, and sometimes do the flash thingy in my purse, everywhere I go. What if the house burns down while I'm gone? Yes, Steph, there's a new obsession for you.

I just realized last night that it was the first day I'd been out of my house since we got home Sunday afternoon. But that isn't such a new thing for me. I can go days without leaving. And everything is a drive from my house. One town is 5 miles away, the other is 9. Ballet, 20 miles away. I'm not looking forward to school starting. Drive, drive, drive.

Home is where the coffee is.

Yup, yup, I'm going to Nashville...and I'm trying not to get too excited but it's hard with a roomful of party people like y'all.

Dream - I thought I saw the time posted for the Steeple Hill breakfast at Denver but can't find it now.

Friday breakfast sounds great or are most of us going to be there Thursday and we could get breakfast then.

Margaret 

Well, Thurs morning is out for me since Margaret put me on the 7-9 early shift at the reg'n desk.   LOL

And athough I'd love to go for tea, I'd appreciate it more on Sunday afternoon. Especially since we don't know when our editor/agent appts will be until be get there.  

So if I had my druthers, I'd love to breakfast with y'all on Friday morning.

How about both? People who can make it for breakfast Fri morning, and then if people can make it to tea, we'll go to tea. I kind of like Sun afternoon for tea, but people might be busy checking out of the hotel or catching flights. Is there any other time? The only time I can't go is Sat afternoon b/c I'm teaching a class.

Camy

Aww. I love goign to tea but I'm flying back home Sunday afternoon. Bummer! Dana

I would love to go for tea on Sunday afternoon. Last year I was gone by noon because I was heading north to visit my mom. But I wished I'd been able to stay with some of the others for 'closure'.   This year, the only thing I'm doing on the way home is going on a recon and time is my own.

You're welcome, Margaret, although I see you've only used me twice. Still, I'll hang around just in case.