What I'll Be Doing

Today is my last day in the office before RWA, which means in between wrapping up some mindless projects here at work, I'm running through my head what I need to do, and need to get done before picking Rosie up on Tuesday morning and heading to San Francisco.

This got me thinking about what librarians actually do at conferences like RWA, because honestly it is incredibly varied. In the past I've done everything from the bare minimum to the whole shebang. This year it's going to be more in the middle, although I do have some specific tasks before me.

For one thing I'm going to try to be more diligent about is passing out my business cards, especially to any editor/publisher types. Mostly because I'm hoping they'll pass my information on to any library reps they may have, and also to get on mailing lists for things like catalogs and promotional items. Whether the publisher sends them via snail mail or electronically - my business card gives them either option. Plus, this year, I'm thinking I'll print up my blog address on return address labels and slap them on the back of my business cards. Two cards for the price of one, which should be handy.

My dance card isn't completely full, but it's also not completely empty. Wednesday is my Shot All To Hell day between the Librarian Event, the Literacy Signing, and a blogger gathering happening afterwards. Thursday night finds me with a dinner invitation, and Saturday is another invitation and the RITA ceremony. Any down time I have (ha!) will be spent at workshops, book signings and the bar.

Also this year I find myself having to work - well more so than usual. I've talked before about my library's annual Literary Event. Well, we're in the planning stages for our third annual to be held in April 2009. This year it wasn't just "Wendy find us some romance authors," but "Wendy find us some romance and mystery authors." In what is sure to be one of the greatest ironies of our time, I've got the mystery authors totally nailed down. The romance authors? Yeah, not so much - although the lovely Christie Ridgway has been confirmed. So it looks like I'll be spending some time at RWA trying to sway a "maybe" romance author into the "definitely yes" column, and scrounging up a third author to round out our panel. This sounds easy, right? Yeah, it would be if we had any money to offer for things like travel expenses. Which we don't. Which means I tend to throw myself at the feet of local authors. I've got some people in mind, and hopefully I'll be able to get one step closer to finalizing. After all, I'm probably going to be the one moderating the romance panel again this next year - so it's in my best interest to get this thing set in stone.

In between all of this, I have plans to scare up some goodies for friends and coworkers. Autographed books by favorite authors, and also promo items like bookmarks and pens. I love giving gifts, and surprises, so I'm hoping I can keep my greedy streak in check and share a bunch of the goodies I haul back with me.

Whew! It sure does sound like I'm doing a lot - but honestly, this is a lot more mellow than last year. The trick will be finding time to blog, although those following me on Twitter will likely be disappointed. I suspect I won't be Tweeting all that much....