In the past, I’ve always tried to get at least half, if not a full day of conference recap into each of my blog posts.  I’m going to be doing something a little bit different this time.  I’m going to keep each entry a little bit shorter.  This means that I’ll be writing about the conference slower than most people, but for me, this needs to be savored and relived without rushing–it was special.

Of course, no conference can start without a warm welcome from the official mom and dad of SCBWI–Stephen Mooser and Lin Oliver.

We also must begin with some of Lin’s stats for the conference.

There were…
*1,342 people in attendance.  (A record number.)
*The men broke the 150 mark. (But we still commandeered their bathroom.)
*42% of those attending were published. (Woot!)
*49 out of 50 states were in attendance. (South Dakota needs to get their act together.)
*There were representatives from 20 countries. (70 people from outside the United States.)
*The Children’s Book Market is doing better than the Real Estate Market. (Fist pump!!)

I also would like to show you what the California Ballroom looked like.  I loved the tiers in this room and how they allowed so many more people to have a wonderful view of the podium.

On Friday morning we were introduced to the faculty which had the effect of blowing on an ember.  I couldn’t wait to get started after this spark was lit. (Sorry, the picture is a little blurry.)  Each person on the faculty was tasked with giving a sentence with “40” in it, to celebrate 40 years of SCBWI.  The responses ranged from hilarious to inspirational.  So much fun.

I took tons of pictures of everyone (because that’s what I do) but I’ll pick one to highlight.  As we all know, we’ve arrived not only at the end of the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, but also the movies. *sniff*  The least we can do is send a cyber hug to the man who was instrumental in our happiness.  He is perhaps best known as the American editor for for the Harry Potter Books, Arthur A. Levine, the Vice President of Scholastic and the Publisher of his own imprint, Arthur A. Levine Books.  I really wanted to meet him, but this was the closest I got, without falling over and melting into fan-girl gushy puddles.  

As if being JK Rowling’s go-to guy isn’t enough, he is also the editor for the wonderful, fantastic, debut author Mike Jung.  His middle grade novel Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities, comes out in the fall of 2012.  I can’t wait to mug Mike and run away with an ARC of this book.

Hmmm…I told you I was going to keep this short.  Lets get moving!

The first Keynote Speaker was someone I have been dying to meet and listen to.  I was not disappointed.

*Don’t start with a message, start with your own heart…You can not know the effect of your words.

*I can’t help but think that we reach a very special, lasting place in a kid’s soul.

*Leave an unfinished chord…