ALA Weekend 2012

4 simple words: ALA was a blast.

and 2 more: librarians rock!

last weekend i attended my first ALA conference.

here are some bulletpoints from the weekend.

• you know it's going to be a good time when you run into lisa yee in the parking garage on the first day. she's like a good luck charm (except when it comes to electronic equipments, she's crashed the internet on several occasions. it's true. just ask her. :)
• my immediate impression of ALA? it's "comic-con" for librarians. (if you know comic-con, then you know what i'm talking about :)
• took in a graphic novel panel featuring some good buddies of mine- dan santat, bob boyle, james burks and tom warburton. the panel was insightful and funny. next time you see dan, ask him the story about the 8 lb. burrito. 
• was especially thrilled to meet betsy bird. she is the librarian/blogger at the NYC public library. it was also nice to have a chance to thank her for the lovely review she wrote for the 'roti' book.
• i even met my picture book illustration idol- william joyce. i thought, "do i tell him he's my idol?" i didn't want to sound like some gushing teenager, but, well, what the hey, right? so i did. even told him that i referenced him in my acceptance speech at the APALA ceremony. how one of his books, "george shrinks", changed my life and inspired me to want to illustrate for the children's market. he was such a nice guy, too. told me that the book that inspired him to illustrating was, "where the wild things are". we definitely had a nice chat.
• speaking of speeches, i think the APALA award ceremony went over well. at least a trap door didn't open up below me cause i blathered on or went long. no one from the wing had a long, hooked cane to drag me off stage. i think it went fine. no one threw tomatoes at me. so i count that as a win.
• met the creative duo behind the book- "reed gunther". chris and shane are really fine fellows and you really should read their book. it's great fun!!! (extra exclamation points for added emphasis)
• another fun aspect was seeing some local friends, who i started out on this road to illustrating children's books, also participate in some book signings. it's nice to see us all moving forward in our careers, doing books and making progress, and hopefully onto even more opportunities.
• but i guess the best aspect of the weekend- meeting up with some old friends and making new ones. it's such an open and loving community of people and publishers. i'm glad i get to be a part of it.

 thanks for a lovely weekend.

oh, yeah- my book has a sticker on it now!

Comments

[Kristi Valiant]

Congrats on the APALA award! When my book won that award a couple years ago, my baby was outside screaming her lil' head off right before I had to get up to speak. Luckily, she calmed down right as I was walking up, so my husband got to come back to the room for my few words. Sounds like you had a fabulous weekend.

[ken]

thanks for sharing your experience at ALA. sorry i'm so late in writing a reply. this is one of those occasions where the email notification failed me. just saw this now.

hope you are well. :)