Tuesday, June 2, 2009

BEA Highlights #1: Meet the Bloggers

I realize it is has been quite some time since my last post - and while it would be easy for me to feel guilty for such a long delay, I know that it simply could not be helped. Last Thursday morning ( early morning - as in left the house at 5:30am) my husband and I left for a trip to New York City. The primary purpose of the trip was for me to attend my first ever Book Expo of America (BEA) - but we also combined business with pleasure (well.....ok....it was really combining pleasure with pleasure). We used this opportunity to visit old friends and belatedly celebrate Geoff's 50th birthday. It was a phenomenal trip on all accounts!

I normally post in chronological order (my highly organized, logical brain oftentimes does not see any other way), but this time I thought I would write 4 different posts about this amazing trip. The greatest highlight for me was to meet the bloggers whom I follow on a regular basis, so that will be the focus of today's post. I will also write entries on the wonderful authors I met, a few of the Village independent bookstores that I visited, and then finally a post on the NYC restaurants at which we ate in the off-hours.

I was filled with many pre-BEA jitters on Friday morning as I boarded the M34 crosstown bus. We stayed with family friends on 30th and 1st Avenue and the Expo was held at the Javits Center on 34th and 11th Avenue. It was a rather drizzly Friday morning and the bus was very crowded. The entire trip up 34th Street I allowed all my doubts and fears to surface: will they have my registration; will I get lost; will I be asked a lot of bookish questions that I will not know the answers; will be so overwhelmed that I will choose to leave rather than persevere. Fortunately the ride was only about 20 minutes, as who knows what other questions I would have developed.

Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word

Come to find out - every single one of those questions was totally unfounded. I arrived at the Center, went straight to the Express Registration Booth, showed them my email with barcode, received my Registration Badge and was set to go in less than 5 minutes! Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word called me to say that she was waiting in line to get into the exhibit hall, so I was able to meet up with her. What an absolute joy she is! We were able to get acquainted in line before entering the "bedlam" and she is such a delightful, upbeat woman of character. Come to find out she is a trained pastry chef - which is exactly what my daughter is interested in pursuing! We had lots to talk about.

Amy of My Friend Amy

The exhibit hall is a bit overwhelming at first. There are booths EVERYWHERE with thousands of people darting in and out. I am glad that I had a partner to navigate the aisles. We basically wandered around and "oohed" and "ahhed" over everything. We just tried to soak it all in and get the lay of the land. I must say that by the end of my two day stay, I had learned the setup of the exhibit hall, and I could easily navigate between the two floors. I had a blast looking at all the free ARCs and galleys and will know better how to pick and choose which ones to bring home (yes...I WILL return to BEA next year!) I did not do much networking, but hopefully, with another year of blogging experience I will feel more comfortable approaching the publicists in person.

The first day I was also able to meet Dawn of She is Too Fond of Books, Kathy of Bermuda Onion, Amy of My Friend Amy, and Julie of Booking Mama. We met outside the Convention Center (the rainy morning had transformed into an absolutely gorgeous sunny day) and ate "dirty water dogs" and pretzels in the sunshine. On Saturday I was also able to meet Candace of Beth Fish Reads, Nicole of Linus's Blanket, Trish of Hey Lady Whatcha Readin', Lenore of Presenting Lenore, and Steph of Reviewer X. How I wish I could have met all the bloggers in attendance, but with nearly 30,000 people at the Expo, it was near impossible.

Candace of Beth Fish Reads

Now my own children make fun of me because I can always find an educational experience in just about any activity, and the meeting of fellow bloggers is no exception. I teach high school English and I use the 6 Trait Writing curriculum. The one trait that is the most difficult to explain is Voice. I tell students that Voice is like personality. Each person has a unique personality and each writer has a unique style. That was clearly evident when meeting these wonderful bloggers! The personality of the blog is exactly the personality of the writer. I would recognize them ANYWHERE - and in many cases, we did not even have to be introduced. The blogs are genuine - they come from the heart - and that is what makes them so uniquely wonderful.

Jennifer of Book Club Girl

The Book Blogger Panel was quite simply - amazing! Jennifer of Book Club Girl was the organizer of this event and it was one of the most professional break out sessions I have attended. The questions were pertinent, the conversation lively and concise, and the Jennifer did a great job of keeping the discussion on track. The break out was nearly full - with not only fellow bloggers but also booksellers, book publicists and authors. The audience was riveted by what the bloggers had to say and asked very specific, detailed questions. In fact, the session could have easily lasted another hour based on the audience interest, and when the discussion ended the panelists were swarmed with book industry professionals asking questions and requesting business cards (I had hoped to take a great photo of everyone, but I did not want to interrupt the amazing networking opportunity, so these "candid" shots will have to suffice). ALL seemed to recognize the impact that book bloggers can have on the industry and they were receptive to learn how this can be a mutually beneficial relationship. I left the session so proud to be acquainted with the 6 who represented us, and also proud that I am a part of this wonderful, essential community.

If you are interested in reading more detail about this panel discussion, please visit Dawn's posting here or to hear the recorded session visit here.

21 comments:

  1. What a great post full of color! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved your description of walking into the exhibit hall. It sounds so exciting and full of energy! Thanks for telling us some of these great stories.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What an absolutely wonderful post Molly!! I loved reading about your experiences, your feelings and perceptions and wish that I could have been there! I'm considering attending next year. I appreciated reading your thoughts about Voice and relating it to Personality. That is a wonderful analogy and comparison to bloggers personalities. Thanks SO much for sharing this with us.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow Molly! Can I just say right off how jealous I am! What fun! Not only did you get to visit book heaven,but you got to meet all those incredible bloggers. You are running with the big guys now. ;)

    I look forward to hearing your next installments so I can vicariously through you. Oh, and just wanted to say that I missed seeing you around this week.
    *smiles*
    Kim

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think it's great that you decided to split your update posts up. It gives us a better chance to absorb and focus which is always my intent when I come to read a post but since I am reading from work I sometimes get a bit distracted :)

    Thanks for including the pics too. I was lucky to meet a few bloggers at the Festival of Books in April but there are still so many that I have yet to meet.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wasn't it amazing how everyone was exactly how you thought they would be. I agree that everyone I met was totally honest in their blogging and tweets. It felt more like a reunion than a first meeting.

    I sure wish we had had more time to meet everyone.

    I so pleased that you felt represented by the panel. I think that as a group we did a good job.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks, Molly! Reading this post was the next best thing to being there. Maybe next year...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your post was awesome! I haven't tackled mine yet except for the first day!!!! I agree that book bloggers are just incredible people, and everyone is just like I thought they'd be -- only better. It is funny how well we got to know each other through our blogs, twitter, and comments. I just wish we could have spent more time together!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Molly, this is a wonderful post! I have never been to a book expo and can only imagine the grandeur scale of this event. I'm glad you've got to meet so many book bloggers! It's a huge book party!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Reading your post brought back the excitement of meeting my friends for the first time! Yes, we all knew each other truly from blog posts and tweets. Easy to talk to, joke with, etc. No stodgy handshakes for us, it was hugs all around from the start :)

    So great to meet you, Molly! I have pics of those swampy dogs. I'm breaking my posts into chunks, too, and laughed because, like you, I'm usually all about chronological order.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a great post. Meeting you and other bloggers was the highlight of BEA for me too. It was like meeting old, familiar friends - there were no awkward moments.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I sure was fun walking around with you and chatting about your daughter and her culinary aspirations. Can't wait to meet at the next BEA!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great post!

    I agree with Kathy. Everyone came together so naturally and it was really like getting together with old friends. I can't say enough how quickly it went and how little time there was. I can't wait for us to all have the opportunity to do it again.

    You're onto something by breaking these up. I started a draft but it is really hard to get everything to come together.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great post Molly! I'm only sorry that I didn't get a chance to say hello. I was looking for you after the blogger panel and asked Kathy to point you out, but you were already gone. :(

    Ah well, I'm planning on 2010 too! I'm sure it will be even bigger and more fun, blogger-wise!

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a fantastic post - thanks for sharing. I want to go to this next year...it looks so fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  16. There just wasn't enough time! I felt like I barely got to see you, but thank you for your support of our panel!

    Next year, we need to plan a day of just book blogger hang out!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great to read of your trip. It sounds so exciting to get to meet all your favorite bloggers. Thanks for sharing their pictures with us.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sounds like a lovely time was had by all! I wish I could have been there!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wonderful post! I was happy to hear about your experiences. I'm a fairly new book blogger too but your post has made me want to attend next year ... perhaps I will try. NYC isn't too far away from me. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Can't wait to read more!

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a great post! Thank you for sharing your experiences, and for posting the pictures of the bloggers you met.

    ReplyDelete
  21. How fun! I am glad you were able to meet up with some of our fellow bloggers, Molly. :-) I wish I could have gone, but New York is just too far away for a weekend trip. I get to live vicariously through you and others who were able to go though.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails