Monday, July 16, 2007
Conference Head
As you know if you're a regular reader of my blog, last week I was in Dallas for the RWA National Conference. Many times in the past, I've heard other writers speak of the phenomenon known affectionately as "Conference Head." This term refers to the state of near brain death that seizes conference attendees by the end of conference. I thought I understood what that term meant before. I was wrong.
Conference Head comes about due to an excess of input and stimulation. With writers, who tend to spend most of their days alone, sitting in front of their computers and typing, spending multiple days surrounded by other people, networking and socializing and otherwise being "on" all day, is exhausting. I've definitely felt that exhaustion before, but I wasn't prepared for how much worse it would be this year.
This year was the first time I'd gone to conference and a) had a book out, b) had a second publisher--specifically, a second publisher who is big enough to hold events at the conference, and c) was actually speaking myself. I was booked within an inch of my life! One of my friends laughed at me for having printed out a calendar from MySpace with all my appointments on it, but there was no way I could remember everything otherwise.
I had a fantastic time. I will blog more about it in the days to come. But right now, I'm going to succumb to Conference Head and just let myself relax/veg for a while. I'll post the weekly "what if" question and announce last week's winner later this week. (I'll aim for tomorrow, but since I have a dentist appointment and a severe case of dentist-phobia, it might not be until Wednesday.)
Labels: conference, conference head, RWA
posted by Jenna Black @ 11:37 AM
10
comments
10 Comments:
Hah! Two of my roommates made fun of me for creating an Excel spreadsheet of what I was doing each day--and then they both stole it and created their own.
Oh, and I'm sorry we never got the chance to meet up--I passed you on the escalator once, and saw you at a distance a few times...
Sorry I missed you! I meant to go look for you at the literacy signing but my butt was glued to the chair practically the whole time. On the plus side, I didn't end up with 20,000 more books for my TBR pile.
Hey Jenna, it was great to see you again in Dallas!
I know what you mean by Conference Head. Part of me wants to do nothing all week but curl up with Harry Potter.
The Harry Potter books, I mean.
Jenna, it was great to catch up to you last week. I'm suffering as well now, although for me it's a cold. I'm off to read and have a cup of tea.
*waving*
Hi Jenna!!! It was awesome meeting you (and watching you try to eat a slice of cake as big as your head!) *g*
I feel I must remind you that I didn't eat the whole slice of cake that was as large as my head. I found the remains a good home!
Nice to meet you, too. I'm reading your book as we speak. Is it hot in here, or is it just me?
They laugh at outbursts of intelligence? ;-)
Have a lovely day! :-)
LMAO @ the reminder that you didn't eat the head-sized cake. Which still makes me laugh. Man, that was HUGE!!!!!
And I'm now terrified at the idea that you're reading RTS.
Ignore how the heroine's eyes change color halfway through the book... *g*
Hi Jenna. Sounds like you were super busy at the conference. Wish I could have gone this year. Last year was my first conference and I enjoyed every minute! I'm just a bookseller, not a writer but I went to several of the classes and met lots of wonderful people.
Hope to see you there one of these day!
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