Book Blogger Convention 2010

Imagine you’ve been isolated from your species, unable to communicate except by means of technology. Twitter, blog comments, e-mail…it’s all we’ve had.  And then all the sudden you are all in a room together. People you have built professional relationships or even friendships with over the years suddenly have faces and personalities.  What a wonderful thing…that in essence was the very first Book Blogger Convention. A time to get together and share, learn and grow as a group of individuals who are all very different and yet still the same in our love of books. We are a community and the biggest message I got from our day is that…it’s up to us what we can do as a group. The sky is the limit. Things are changing and book bloggers are on the cusp of a new world where we have a very integral part in the publishing industry. What a fantastic feeling!

It’s all about community. The more we work together and support one another…the more we can accomplish. As Maureen Johnson so accurately said “Book bloggers are activists for books.” How true that is, it’s why I became one and also why I became a librarian. We are experts….as Ron Hogan classified us: we are the ultimate experts in the subject of “Books I Love.” No one knows that better or ever could.

Fabulous Panel on "Writing and Building Content"

(Panel: Rebecca [Book Lady’s Blog] – moderator, Kim [Sophisticated Dorkiness], Christina [Stacked], Betsy Bird [A Fuse 8 Production], Amanda [The Zen Leaf])

So what was Book Blogger Convention like? Meetings of people who felt they already knew one another, meetings with people you have wished to know for some time, stimulating conversation about books and the industry, hilarious keynote speaker Maureen Johnson, the monster of convention center making himself known, panels and lectures on meaningful topics of interest to us…to sum it up…it was pretty GREAT. I cannot wait until next year. My only regret is that I did not get to meet as many people as I had wished. It was often hard to find one another in the sea of name tags…next year I think we should make t-shirts! T-shirts about our blog with our name is giant letters…we may look like the high school seniors on the last day of school entering the convention center…but who cares…we’re book bloggers and we are cool! (Side note: Bedazzlers and puff paint encouraged!)

Ron Hogan of Beatrice.com speaking about "Ethics in Blogging"

Keynote Speak: Young Adult Author Maureen Johnson

A Writer's Inspiration Can Come in Many Forms