LA SCBWI Conference?

[Nikki Katz]

Hi everyone!  Is anyone going to the SCBWI conference in Los Angeles this summer?  I thought we could get a group together to chat about the event!  Need a roommate?  Not sure which panels to attend?  Not sure what to wear on Saturday night?!?! 

I'm excited, can you tell?

[Jessica Love]

I'll be there! :-) It looks like YALITCHAT will have some good representation.

[Christine Fonseca]

As of right now...I might be going. I'll know for certain in the next few weeks.

[Lisa Green]

Hello all! I'm going too. It's expensive, but I hear it's completely worth it. I look forward to meeting some of you in person. I need to check in on these boards more often...

[Heather Strum]

Anyone still looking for a roommate?

I'm new to YA Lit chat but heard about it through my critique group. Am going to the conference but would like to share costs of a room at the Hyatt. I'm female and a non-smoker. hcouthaud at gmail dot com

Heather

[Georgia McBride]

OMG. I love that you guys are all like meeting and sharing rooms and what not. LOVE that. Gotta get you guys t-shirts or something.

[Heather Strum]

I love it, too. I've heard of other groups wearing special markers on their badges to recognize each other. You might think I'm crazy, but when my writer's brain sees "yalitchat" I start to vocalize it as "yellow" (silently, of course). "Yal" ... "Yel" Whatever.

Anyway, how about wearing a yellow something, sticker, X-mark, on our badges so we'll know to say hi?

[Heather Zenzen]

Yes! I remember last year, a bunch of illustrators were getting together. They all had a special sticker on their badges. I have no idea how they all got a hold of these special stickers, though!

I think we should do a combination ... arrange a meet-up at a specific location, plus have a sticker of some sort (or even a hand-drawn symbol) on our badges.

Who's excited? I heard Krista Marino, the Delacorte editor who's leading the YA Voice Intensive, speak at a local conference last weekend. She seems SO cool; I can't wait to be in those sessions.

Back to plotting so I actually have a project to work on come July!


Heather Strum said:

I love it, too. I've heard of other groups wearing special markers on their badges to recognize each other. You might think I'm crazy, but when my writer's brain sees "yalitchat" I start to vocalize it as "yellow" (silently, of course). "Yal" ... "Yel" Whatever.

Anyway, how about wearing a yellow something, sticker, X-mark, on our badges so we'll know to say hi?

[Georgia McBride]

I recommend you guys get yellow smiley face stickers. You can get them anywhere. Nice conversation piece and of course, you can use them for anything once the conversation is over. DO NOT PUT THE WORDS YALITCHAT on your badges. Putting the name of another organization on your badge is bad form.

Good luck and have fun.

xoxo

[Leah Odze Epstein]

I'm going too! It'll be my first LA conference. My sister & her stepdaughter might come & share my room, so I don't think I'll need a roommate. I'm excited, but I signed up for a one on one ms. consultation for my YA and I'm nervous. Working on the synopsis and it's hard, but helpful. I may even change a plot point or two based on what I wrote in the synopsis. I look forward to meeting everyone. Maybe we can all meet up somewhere--Georgia (McBride) said something about people wearing smiley faces?

[Heather Strum]

Well, I'll put a smiley face on my badge, but I don't know of a good place to meet up; this is my first LA conference too. Good luck on your synopsis, Leah.


Leah said:

I'm going too! It'll be my first LA conference. My sister & her stepdaughter might come & share my room, so I don't think I'll need a roommate. I'm excited, but I signed up for a one on one ms. consultation for my YA and I'm nervous. Working on the synopsis and it's hard, but helpful. I may even change a plot point or two based on what I wrote in the synopsis. I look forward to meeting everyone. Maybe we can all meet up somewhere--Georgia (McBride) said something about people wearing smiley faces?

[Heather Zenzen]

I was there last year. The lobby/bar area gets really crowded, but I managed to meet up with a group of people there last year. I think as long as we have a designated time and area of the lobby, it shouldn't be a problem. We met on the side closest to the Starbucks (located inside the hotel) and stood a little removed from the actual seating area.

[Georgia McBride]

To everyone going--please, please be sure to get your materials in shape before you go. Take advantage of First Pages, Pimp My Scene, Query Kick Around and the teen beta readers in the Teen Review Board.

Good luck.

xoxo