SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

October 8, 2007 by Betsy Bird

What is the Sound of 40+ Bloggers Blogging?

October 8, 2007 by Betsy Bird   7 comments


Well, the first official conference of the children and YA literary bloggers has come to a close and it was, not to put too fine a point on it, a roaring success.

Now we hit our dilemma.

I am now blogging about a conference on blogging.  And others, I’ve little doubt, are blogging about blogging, and so on and such and around and around it goes…  Like a snake eating its own tail, it’s hard to know where to stop. 

My person problem is that I shouldn’t be blogging about the conference at all.  I should be blogging about the Eric Carle Museum reception I attended last week and how cool that little event was.  Still and all, I’ll say a couple words about this past week-end first.  I feel obligated to do is to ply you with random pieces of information too, though.  Things like:

Did you know that Kelly Herold bears a striking resemblance to a young Judy Blume?
Did you know that at times Robin Brande sounds like Jennifer Aniston?
Did you know that they sell wine in Target stores in Illinois?

And so it goes.

My week-end began with flying into Chicago on Friday and having dinner with author Elizabeth Fama and her family that night.  Note to the General Public: I highly recommend having dinner with Elizabeth Fama and her children.  Wry, witty kids, great food, even better conversation, and I happened to be wearing a t-shirt sporting her teenage son’s now terribly famous Hippo character.  Ms. Fama’s house was directly across the street from Chasing Vermeer author Blue Balliett‘s home, which was cool.  Plus we discussed, amongst other things, the possibility of fellow Chicago resident Amy Timberlake (of "That Girl Lucy Moon" fame) and her adaptation of her book (done with Adam Rex) "The Dirty Cowboy" into a musical.  I am THERE, babies!

What I learned during my time in Chicago was that it is best to stay in the hotel where the conference is taking place.  Fail to do that and you run the risk of coming into the 7:45 a.m. *shudder* opening ceremonies late.  Which I did.  The CTA (Chicago Transit A-word) runs super duper slow on Saturday mornings and my 5:45 a.m. wake-up call was pretty much for naught. 

So I walk into the Radisson and lo and behold there’s the conference room, front and center, and there are 500 people present.  Do I exaggerate?  Of course.  But it feels like 500 people, and there’s organizer and author Robin Brande front and center handing me my name tag and allowing me to scoot in while Tasha Saeker of Kids Lit (the children’s literary blog that got me started in the first place) was discussing Kidlit Blogging, Part 1.  I lurked quite happily for much of the time.  I’m a lurker by nature.  If I’m on a listserv, a Yahoo or Google Group, or a classroom I tend to keep completely silent.  

Class act on the conference room too.  I’m new to all this stuff so I was blown away by the bowls of peppermints, food in the hallway (continuous and throughout the day), and copious amounts of water.  I’d show you how cool it all was… but the batteries in my camera died and I wasn’t able to replace them until 4 p.m. or so.  So here is how Mark Blevis saw it.

But this is not what you want to hear.  You want to hear about the conference attendees themselves, yes?  You want to hear what it is like to step into a room and see face-to-face the people of whom you have, until now, only gotten the slightest inkling of lookwise.  You know what I wanted?  I wanted to walk into that room and have it be like I was playing a game of The Sims.  I wanted to see, floating above each person’s head, a small spinning box containing the front page of their blog/podcast/website.  And for authors I wanted their book covers to be spinning there as well.  How hard would that have been?  It’ll happen someday, mark my words.  Later on, people would discuss whether or not each blogger looked and sounded like their online "voice".  Not all did.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

(CONTINUED IN PART TWO)

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Announcing the Stinetinglers Winner! The Kettle's Dark Secret by Clara J.

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Bologna Presentations: IBBY Doing the Good Work That Needs to Be Done, Worldwide

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Sydney Taylor Book Blog Award Tour Interview: Featuring Mari Lowe of Aviva Vs. the Dybbuk!

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

The Top Ten Most Disappointing Edibles and Potables of Children's Literature

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Announcing the 2023 Newbery/Caldecott/YMA Pre-Game Show!

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

2023 Caldecott Jump

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Cover Reveal: This Book Is Banned – The Latest from Raj Haldar (With a Helpful Q&A for Spice)

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Recent Graphic Novel Deals, Early Mar 2023 | News

by Johanna

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Love, Family, and Mental Health, a guest post by Rajani LaRocca

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Full Steam Ahead with Labo Lado's 'Brick Train'

Top Trendsetting Podcasts from 2020 | Kidcasts

18 Films for Young Viewers About Pollution, Native American History, and More

Sports-Forward Books for Fans of the Movie "Space Jam: A New Legacy" | Read-Alikes

47 Titles Not to Miss, Including Music and the Latest by Raúl the Third & Karen M. McManus| Starred Reviews, September 2022

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. KELLY HEROLD says

    October 8, 2007 at 4:58 am

    Judy Blume? Well, I can’t complain about that comparison! I have no idea what I look like, but she’s nice looking 🙂

  2. KELLY HEROLD says

    October 8, 2007 at 4:59 am

    P.S. It was FABULOUS to meet you, Betsy!

    Sorry…still drinking coffee…

  3. hope says

    October 8, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Kelly Herold and Robin Brande sell wine in a Target? They work together?

    *is soooo surprised****

  4. Fuse #8 says

    October 8, 2007 at 8:07 am

    The Target line is explained later in the piece. And Kelly, Judy Blume is GORGEOUS. Just FYI.

  5. Elizabeth Fama says

    October 8, 2007 at 10:30 am

    B: You won the kids over, and you more than kept up with their frenetic pop-culture/Internet/gaming banter — proving that you’re not just a bookish librarian…you’re a HIP bookish librarian! And, self-centered as she is, Hippo always appreciates a good plug. Thanks.

  6. Laini Taylor says

    October 8, 2007 at 11:49 am

    Great to see you, Betsy! Now I can be SLIGHTLY less jealous of kidlit drinks night! You know, after the Target excursion. . .

  7. Camille says

    October 9, 2007 at 10:18 pm

    It was terrific to meet you in person. A good time was, indeed, had by all.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023