105 Ways to Give a Book

Yes, More KidLitCon Austin

With the planning coming to a close, it was exciting to see this article from YAInterrobang covering the seventh year of KidLitCon so well. The emphasis on connection versus size, people versus swag, and casual versus sleek, represents my own experience of attendance at all six previous conferences.

I know my fellow organizer and best blogging friend Jen Robinson won't mind if I lift her quote:
"KidLitCon isn’t about catching a glimpse of big-name authors, or getting books signed, or scoring free books. Instead, KidLitCon is a chance for the community of children’s book bloggers and authors, many of whom interact with one another online, to meet in person. It’s about turning virtual friends into real world friends."
That's it. She nailed it. And the reminder was uplifting, because this has been a hard conference to organize. Mostly because all the people organizing it, myself included, are absolutely swamped with other conflicts. For heaven sakes, Jackie is a new mom, a working mom, and had surgery in the middle of getting the schedule together. None of us had planned on this level of involvement. Truly.

But it's a labor of love. It's too important a conference for our online community to not have it. Even if it's difficult or running behind schedule. Even if room selections fell through, leaving us wondering if maybe we could just quietly set up shop on the grounds of the capitol. Even if arranging a block of hotel rooms was more like getting an IRS audit. Even if we found that we were conflicting with another event in the morning targeting our exact potential attendees. It hasn't been easy.

But this week, I hope that I'll have a chance to turn more virtual friends into real world friends. We're keeping registration open, and I hope that you'll consider joining us. Visit the KidLitCon website for more information and register today.
Category: 1 comments

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Very well said, and I really appreciate all the work that you and the other planners put into making this happen.