The C3 Conference ended last Sunday, a little before noon. The panelists were heading home, the hotel was quiet and the board members were exhausted.
The drive home was spent in reflection.
Had everyone enjoyed themselves? Was it what I wanted it to be? Did I do a good job moderating my panels? Did everyone think I was funny, stupid or just an annoyance? Did my shoes photograph well?
I know people enjoyed themselves and I know that although there weren't that many fans there, I think the authors had a great time.
Look, we (the board members) tried our hardest to get the fans involved but we didn't have costumes, movie stars or TV stars and we didn't have a game room that stayed open all night. We didn't have the 8-3-1 rule (for those that don't know it is...sleep for at least 8 hours, eat at least 3 times and take at least 1 shower) Apparently at some 'fan' based conferences they have to state that rule up front. Well we didn't have that rule although a lot of us ended up in the bar, we still managed to get enough rest that we didn't look like we were zombies. (hint: +visine is your friend at a conference)
What we did have was panels that were informative, authors that were accessible and volunteers that were helpful. We thought we wouldn't get a lot of feedback but you know what; we did and all of the feedback has been positive.
Were there problems, sure, just like any conference but those problems were so small we could swat them away. (for those of you at the conference, you know what I am talking about) Hey, that was a good problem to have. Not every first time conference can say that they had almost 80 people there, the food was great and the entertainment was fantastic!
We Can!
All that to say, hopefully next year fans will want to come even if we don't have those silly rules and no game room. If not, the writers and their friends, who have now become fans, will have a blast. Just like they did this year.
If you were there and took pictures of our marketing director and her shoes, please send them to our shoe diva so she can post them here and on her blog; aptly called "Shoes On Tour 2013"
Next year's conference is scheduled for October 10-12 and will have more great authors, more great panelists and the cutest shoes our marketing director can find. You don't want to miss it!
Submitted by: Sandra Bowman
S.D.Skye is a native of S.D. Skye is a former Senior Intelligence/Operations Analyst for the FBI Counter other 3-letter agencies. She is a highly opinionated blogger on National Security and Intelligence Community Topics. She is also a romantic mystery novelist. She is also a proud member of the MWA and Romance Writers. She is also a member of the International Thriller Writers Association.