Like most authors I try to attend a minimum of three conferences each year, money and time allowing of course.
This year I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the bi-annual Desert Dreams Conference presented by none other than my local RWA Chapter, Desert Rose. Although small compared to Nationals this three day event packs one heck of a punch and can compete with any of the big ones. Silvia Day and Christie Craig were merely two of the great surprises this conference delivered. Ms. Craig had me laughing so hard I was in tears when she dumped a suitcase full of rejection letters on the ground, inspiring us on with her “never give up,” speech. There was plenty of food, drink, workshops, agents and editors to go around while others mingled in the social hub of the hospitality suite. The 2016 Desert Dreams Writer’s Conference will extend to four days and will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona, April 7-10. Mark your calendars and be sure and book your rooms and conference early as soon as the links are up–you don’t want to miss this one!
The second conference I had the pleasure of attending was actually two separate yet combined events held back-to-back. Building the Dream, a writer’s event and Arizona Dreamin’, a reader’s event. I was thrilled be an active part of this fun filled four day expo this year. I presented a sprinting workshop during the Building the Dream writer’s event then was blessed with the opportunity to be one of the many guest authors during Arizona Dreamin’ where readers have the opportunity to spend quality time with their favorite authors and get to know many others. Pricing for these two events is well worth the buck and I’m not saying that because I was a presenter. I’ve been attending this one-of-a-kind event since its infancy and will continue to regardless if I’m asked to present a workshop or not. It definitely has more bang for the buck where conferences are concerned. http://www.arizonadreaminevent.com/
I was undecided about my third conference of the year for quite some time. My eyes were cast towards San Antonio and RWA Nationals until I was asked to return to Las Vegas, Nevada and present a workshop for RNC. As many of you know, I was married during the 2013 event. Although I was not thrilled with the 2013 confernece , I did have a great time, visited with tons of friends and it did have potential as far as conferences go. I say that because all conferences during their infancy go through a learning curve just like anything else. 2014 advertisements proudly proclaimed the bugs had been worked out, they had hired a professional organization to present the conference; they were scheduling a minimum of 100 workshops , the Rone’ Awards presented by InD’tale Magazine, a costume ball, a book sale/signing and lots more. Together with the all exclusive plan where drinks and food are covered it seemed like the best of two deals. Sadly, for this author it was much less than I anticipated and most of the promises were nothing but that – an fulfilled promise. I’ve never been one to bad mouth anyone or anything publically, but personally, I feel I need to step up to the plate and state what this conference did and didn’t deliver then allow others to make an informed choice on wither or not they should attend the 2015 event. Here are my findings.
No professional event coordinator was on site and it was evident from my arrival this conference was in trouble. Enrollment/attendance was down from 2013. Registration was a fiasco. From what I was told the days leading up to the conference were no better. Too many workshops were scheduled at the same time, leaving some with little or no attending participants. There were no breaks scheduled between workshops. Where one ended at 11:15, another one started giving attendees no time to get from one place to another. No mention of lunch breaks or special events on the final print out for Friday’s workshops, leaving things like the Ind’Tale free luncheon nearly empty. I should mention at this time that there was only one printed schedule for Wednesday on the registration desk when I arrived. (They ran out of paper- I mean really?) Then on Thursday morning authors and presenters had to rush up to the registration desk to grab a schedule for the next two days which still had errors on them. I personally was scheduled to be in two places at once. I’m good but I’ve never mastered being in two places at once. There were less volunteers in 2014 than 2013 to run this event which was suppose to be bigger and better. I want to applaud those volunteers who took it upon themselves to work endless hours trying to make things right. They deserve it and much more!
All in all I had a wonderful time visiting with my many friends and taking part in the workshops, having lunch with TJ and her crew from Ind’Tale and doing what people do in Vegas.