This past weekend, I attended North Chicago’s Spring Fling. Got in around noon on Friday and was able to get checked in and unpacked. Registration was easy to find and the first workshop session was at 2:00. I sat in on the “Plot or Character” workshop with Patricia Rosemoor and Sherrill Bodine. It was a good workshop, but I’m afraid nothing that I didn’t know before.
There is a downside to attending a number of conferences over the years. The workshops sometimes seem repetitive. Fabulous for newbies, but for those of us who are old hands at this, not a heck of a lot of stuff to learn. Still, Patricia and Sherrill gave an informative workshop.
I then snuck into “Headlines Q&A” with Cherry Adair and Julia Quinn. Now these were two hilarious ladies. They had the entire audience in stitches throughout the entire hour long session. They also shared a lot of war stories about getting published and what happens once they are published.
After dinner was the Editor/Agent Panel with Diana Fox of Fox Literary, LLC, Selena James, editor with Kensington Publishing, agent Laurie McLean, Joanna Stempfel-Volpe of the Nancy Coffey Literary and Media Representation and Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Management, LLC. These ladies shared with us what their agencies/publishing houses were looking for.
All this happened just on Friday. Saturday was even busier. Let’s see … “Setting as a Character” with Jade Lee was good. Jade tends to go off on tangents, so that was fun. I was a bit busy hanging out in the bar for much of the remaining afternoon and stuck my head into a couple of other workshops. But like I said, a lot of the workshops wasn’t really anything new to me since I’d either attended similar past ones, or I’ve been in this business long enough to have already learned much the subject matter. However, hanging in the bar, networking and catching up with fellow authors is one of the best parts of conferences.
I did have a pitch session with Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Management. The bad thing was it was at 4:00, so I’m sure she was pretty tired. Still, she was very gracious, listened to my spiel and requested a synopsis and the first two chapters.
All in all, North Chicago puts on a great conference. They do them every two years, so I’m already looking forward to the next one in 2012.
Anyone else doing conferences? And what (if anything) do you get out of it? Particularly if you’ve attended numerous conferences in the past.
Liz, it was great seeing you at Spring Fling. Loved the wonderful speeches by Cherry Adair and Julia Quinn. But my favorite part is always meeting up with all the attendees. I learn so much from them.
I noticed at the last few conferences I’ve been to that the workshops on the whole didn’t do a lot for me. But there’s always the chance that the one I miss will be the fabulous one. lol It’s amazing how many great workshops we’ve had this year at our monthly meetings.
Like you, for me the best part of conferences is hanging with writer friends and getting to know new ones.
Hey Liz, sounds like you had a blast in Chicago! Like you, I pick and choose those workshops carefully. Years ago, I attended them all day, every day, and didn’t miss much. Like you commented, once you learn a few things on your own and via networking, the fun stuff is always hanging in the bar and chattin’ it up with old and new friends! Just love that part.
Paige W. is a sweetie too; just loved pitching to her a few years ago. Crossing fingers for you too!
when it comes to conferences i don’t go to the workshops. i always seem to be too busy! there have been a few fabulous ones at national i’ve wanted to attend, but those are early in the morning and i like my sleep. But you can always find me at the bar!
Same here, Barb. As far as I’m concerned, the bonus is hooking up with friends and making new ones.
One of the other things I noticed at Spring Fling was that a lot of the workshops overlapped. Don’t know if that was good or not. Could be they did that so if an attendee decides that the initial workshop she attended wasn’t for her, then perhaps she can sneak into another going on at the same time. Don’t know. All I know is that there were usually two workshops going simultaneously that I was interested in going to.
Thanx, LaD. I’m with you. When I first began doing conferences, I was bound and determined to make the most out of each and every hour. The only thing that really did was exhaust me.
Now, I’ll pick and chose and make sure I get some rest during the day.
A woman after my own heart, Karin.
Some of the best conferences are spent in the bar. I can’t tell you how many times I’d gotten all dressed up to attend a party or somethin’ and then ended up in the bar schmoozing with everyone.
I’ve been to Chicago spring fling twice. I think its one of the better conferences because its not overwhelming yet they have excellent authors/agents/editors. Plus, when i went, the hotel and everything wasn’t too bad of a price. Anything to share about Joanna Stempfel-Volpe? I was curious about her but can’t find much online.
Since I’ve moved South, I will be attending the Georgia conference. Attended last fall and it was pretty good. Not sure if I’m going to Nationals yet. Its so expensive!