conferences
Conference: MAME 2009
I will be leaving for Traverse City this week for the Michigan Association for Media in Education conference at the Grand Traverse Resort. I will be presenting a 3 hour Understanding Graphic Novels workshop for teachers and media specialists, as well as a shorter Graphic Novel breakout session. The presentation is useful for any educator that wants to encorporate comics into their lessons, or for librarians who want to learn more about how to shelve them. The idea is to open up dialog and answer questions about a form of literature that many grown-ups want to better understand for their students.
SCBWI-MI 2009
Wow, I just got back from an amazing and inspiring conference at the Yarrow Golf and Conference Center in Augusta, MI...a beautiful, scenic wooded lodge was just the place to begin a brisk Autumn weekend.
The conference - in a word - was fantastic. I met some wonderful contacts, heard some terrific speakers, met new friends, and reconnected with old ones. Another great connection was meeting people I sort of know - people I know only from the SCBWI-MI ListServ, and was great to put faces to names and turn imaginary friends into real friends.
I had a manuscript critique with an industry giant editor - the author of "the Complete Idiot's Guide to Children's Book Publishing", Harold Underdown. In short, he told me exactly what I needed to hear to make my writing better, and I am going to make all of his suggestions happen. Editing and revision is the most important part of any manuscript.
My favorite session? Was definitely meeting, interacting, and making a new friend in author-illustrator Matt Faulkner. Matt was a down-to-earth guy and gave a session on the ins-and-outs of puting together a picture book (extremely helpful) as well as cautionary experiences with protecting your rights in a bunny-eat-bunny business of kids book publishing.
I also met a slew of industry art directors, editors, and agents, who all shared the same message of encouragement and hope.
Awesome weekend.
Next: I will be speaking at MAME 2009 in Traverse City.
