From Thursday to Sunday, I will be in Denver, CO, attending the annual conference and bookfair for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.
When I attended last year’s conference in Chicago, I could hardly believe how many people still support and believe in print as a medium, despite all the hype about print’s impending death.
In my blog entry about last year’s conference, I wrote:
If you have ever worried about the death of print, you should have attended the bookfair, which was a smorgasbord of literary journals and publishing houses dedicated to literary fiction and poetry. The exhibition rooms smelled of glossy covers and freshly printed ink on paper.
This year, I’m curious to see how many publishing houses and literary magazines have recently adopted social media marketing strategies, and I’m also eager to learn about new or interesting ideas regarding publishing and new media.
Will attendees be carrying their iPads? Will exhibitors talk about printing and reading alternatives?
As I observed last year, the literary magazines and publishers that attend this conference cater to writers hungry to be published, win writing contests, and gain exposures. Most writers dream of seeing their names in print, right?
I hope to attend panels about writing for and seeking publishing opportunities in new media, and I’m curious to observe attitudes regarding new alternatives.
I have noticed that writers within academia (major sponsors of this conference include universities and non-profit arts foundations) tend to be slow to adapt technological advances.
I plan to take a lot of notes, and I’ll be tweeting about everything I observe. For your convenience and my own sanity, I’ll be tagging my tweets with #AWP10, the official conference hashtag. If you want general conference updates, follow @awpwriter.
I will report my observations on Monday! I’m also taking requests for souvenirs – leave suggestions in the comments below!
(Photo by janetmck)