YPulse Mashup: Are You Going?

Where will you be on July 14?

Alas, since I live in NJ and have already spent my personal professional conference/travel budget,* I cannot attend the YPulse National Mashup Publishing Preconference. Click thru; it's amazing, isn't it?

But, for those of you who live closer to San Francisco, Anastasia at YPulse has this to share:**

"Finally, for you or any of your readers who can make it out to San Francisco, we are offering a special $100 rate for librarians. All you have to is register for the Ypulse Books pre-conference only (the rate doesn't apply to the entire Mashup event), and enter the code "BookDeal" -- that's it! Our conferences are extremely interactive, so the more YA librarians who attend, the more your voices will end up being an integral part of the discussion. Hope to see you there!"

A hundred dollars is a spectacular rate; if it weren't for the airfare/hotel issue, I'd be telling work I need some vacation days.

So, who is going? Who will report back?

*ALA, ALA Midwinter, YA Lit Symposium, Kidlit Bloggers Conference

** Anastasia left this on my post about age banding, where I did a mini rant about how children's and YA librarians should look for forums outside the library world to speak up. Just as we need to look outside in terms of presenting/writing, it's also good to attend non-library events in order to get fresh ideas and new perspectives.

2008 Kidlit Bloggers Conference

The 2008 Kidlit Bloggers Conference will be held on September 27 in Portland, Oregon. Full details are at the Portland Kidlit blog, started just for the conference. If you think you can make, please go to the Portland Kidlit blog and leave your name; they need a rough headcount for planning purposes. This isn't a now or never, signed in blood sign up; it's a give us an idea for planning purposes whether we need a place that is small, medium, or big.

Here are my posts reporting on last year's conference, which was fabulous.

YA Literature Symposium

YALSA's YA Literature Symposium is a biannual event, with the first one ever being held this year.

Topic: "How We Read Now."

Dates: November 7–9, 2008

Location: Nashville, Tennessee at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel.

Here is the list of programs, including preconference. I point your particular attention to this one:

Explaining and Exploring Fandom, Fan Life, and Participatory Culture, presented by Liz Burns and Carlie Kraft Webber. Yep, that's me and Carlie! (Carlie and I? how about, that's us!)

I'm excited; excited about the presentation, and excited about the YA Lit Symposium, excited to see other bloggers on the program list (hi, Mitali! hi Goddess of YA Literature!)

The event is conveniently located during a weekend; tho, if you're like me and just cannot say no to anything YA Lit, you'll also want to be there for the preconference on Friday.

Register before September 1 for the early bird rates for this event. (True confessions; I still have to register. I also still have to make airline reservations. I have, however, made hotel reservations.)

YALSA members get a discount; but here's the thing. If you join YALSA at the same time as you register, the total paid is the same as non YALSA members. (NonYALSA registeration rate = (YALSA registration rate + ALA/YALSA membership).

If you're going to pay the higher fee as a non-YALSA member, why not join at this point and get the benefits of YALSA membership?

Don't work in a library? There is a category for non-library types: it's the Trustee/Associate rate. This application (warning, it is a PDF) has the specifics.

As the conference gets closer, I'll post more; including, hopefully, having some kind of blogger get together.

If you think you're going, let us know; and if you have any questions/comments/thoughts on our fannish program, let us know.

Edited to add: The Program is up, in a PDF, with a full description of all programs and presentations along with times.

Our presentation:

A teen's experience with a book doesn't just begin on page one and finish with the book's conclusion. From birthday parties and proms to fanfiction and role-playing games, teens find many ways to recreate a book's universe in their lives, forming fandoms. Avid fandomers Liz Burns and Carlie Webber will demystify the weird and wonderful world of fandom and show you how to use the elements of participatory culture to plan interactive, teen-friendly programs for your libraries and classrooms. Included on the panel will be a representative from Narrate Conferences, Inc., an organization that plans Harry Potter symposia.

Liz & Carlie are presenting at the YA Lit Symposium!

YALSA is holding its first YA literature symposium in Nashville from November 7-9, 2008, and the theme is "How We Read Now." During the infamous weekend where I introduced Liz to her TV boyfriend, Don Eppes, we put together a proposal for the symposium. We thought that with the popularity of teen participation in book worlds (check out the Twilight fandom and/or Stephenie Meyer's website for a shining example of this), this conference would be a great time to discuss fandom, fan life, and what Henry Jenkins calls "participatory culture." We wrote up a proposal and it was accepted. We're very excited and honored, because YALSA only chose 14 of the 40 proposals they received.

The plan (subject to change as the date of the conference draws closer) is: At the symposium, Liz and I will talk about what fandom is, who writes fanfiction and why, and how librarians can do easy, fun fandom programming at their libraries that will encourage teens to participate in a book's world. Our third panelist will be Amy Tenbrink of Narrate Conferences, Inc., who will talk about planning Harry Potter conferences and how they encourage participatory culture. Who knows, we might even have a drabble contest.

(And of course, we already know what we're wearing.)

1st Annual Kidlitosphere Conference

So, want to get together and talk?

Then come to the 1st Annual Kidlitosphere Conference!

Details:

What: First annual Kidlitosphere Conference

When: Saturday, October 6, 2007

Where: Chicago, IL, Radisson Hotel Chicago O’Hare, 1450 E. Touhy Ave., 1-847-296-8866. (To get the room discount, tell them you’re with “Kidlit.”)

Cost: $40

Robin Brande is organizing this; go to here to get the full details including the current RSVP list. Click here for all the posts at Robin's blog that give info on the conference.

Yes, I'll be there! I'm really looking forward to sitting down with everyone and chatting and sharing ideas and talking books and blogs. The couple of times I've met people from the blogosphere has been great, but usually rushed because it's after a long day at BEA, or in between appointments for ALA. How cool that there will be just a day for kidlit bloggers to connect and network and be energized!

ALA DC

Are you going to the ALA Annual Conference in DC in June? I will be going, but I haven't registered yet. If you're going and interested in getting together for dinner or lunch, let me know; also, are you going to any of the "extras", either preconferences or awards? I'm trying to figure where to stay & what to include in my budget. And, you know, wondering what the cool kids are doing.

Thanks!