Pam tagged me for this meme on the kidlitosphere conference and I'm happy to take part, even though like a lot of others I rarely do the meme thing. Here we go!

Why did you decide to attend the KidLitosphere Conference?

I attended last year's conference in Portland as it was such a short distance away by very cheap train and I knew I had several friends (who I had never met) who would be attending. At that time also we had just gotten Guys Lit Wire up and running and I was looking for some feedback.

Who was most like their blog? Who was least like their blog?

You know it's funny but everyone seemed to be exactly as I expected them to be. Jen was Jen, Sarah was Sarah, Pam was so totally Mother Reader that Jackie and I recognized her instantly. Betsy was totally super organized Betsy. I didn't really make friends at the conference - I saw them and talked to them and knew them and continued to be the friends we had already become online. We are who we are both online and off.

What surprised you at the conference?

I did not expect it to have such a personal impact on me. As I said above, I went with fairly low expectations but on every level, at every meeting, something significant happened. I got enormously good advice on Guys Lit Wire from Greg and Lee, bonded with the Readergirlz in a major way and ended up building a plan to work with them on TBD (which led directly to GLW doing the Book Fair for Boys on our own), got a ton of insight into writing from Sara Zarr and Sara Ryan (both of whom I had reviewed and corresponded with prior but had never met) and on and on. It was an important conference for me professionally, not just as social gathering.

What will you always remember about the last conference?

This is the friendship part - several folks have blogged already in response to this question about the friends they made and that is certainly true of me. Lee Wind, without a doubt, was a delight from beginning to end and he continues to be a true friend. The same was true of Sarah (who co-created GLW with me), Jen, Holly, Lorie Ann & DIa, Pam, Greg, the fabulous Philip Lee, and so many more. I knew the people online were my friends but after the conference I realized they were all dear friends and I'm sure that feeling will extend to other folks I have a similar email relationship with but have yet to meet (Jenny D., Gwenda, Doret, Susan, Tanita, Erin, Little Willow and on and on.)

Did you blog about the conference?

Yep - Jackie and I worked on this on the train on the way home and it is, I say modestly, funny as hell. One of my better posts.

And now a final note on the upcoming kidlitosphere conference in DC which, alas, I will not be attending. I had hoped to go but due to my grandfather's deteriorating condition I had a feeling it would not be possible as two trips back east were not in the financial cards this fall. Rhode Island was beautiful last week and we laid my Pepere to rest as he would have wished. It was what I needed to do and next year I will be attending the conference again.

But that's just me.

If you are an author or blogger on the east coast sitting on the fence about attending, I can not stress enough how you need to go. There were so many authors who had so many questions last year and honestly, you need to be in a room with bloggers and have them explain to you what they do (which is always different from everyone else) so you can understand what you as an author need to do for your book and what you as a blogger want to do for your site. You will not agree with everyone but without meeting these folks you aren't going to have much of an idea as to where square one even exists. Authors in particular will not find a better organized more welcoming atmosphere for all of their cares and concerns. You will get idea as to what blogs are out there, who reviews where and in what ways you can fit yourself into the blogosphere. I can't imagine being a writer today without a web presence (unless you are really really really famous - like JK Rowling famous). This is part of how to forge a successful career and you will get so much helpful advice it is amazing.

You write for kids or teens? You need to be attending this conference. It's as simple as that.

See also Jen's thoughts and Betsy's and Sarah's.