Romance Writers of America Conference - San Francisco, Part I

I'll be blogging in three daily installments of my experience at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference held at the San Francisco Downtown Marriott, 55 4th Street, on July 30-August 2, 2008.

I'm on the board of this illustrious organization and, therefore, had to come in on July 26 to participate at the board meeting on Sunday, July 27 and Monday, 28.

Yes, I was celebrating my birthday while sitting at a board table for the entire day.

Board meetings began at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast and then we went into work mode from 8 a.m. We conducted substantive business through the day and would break for dinner around 4:30-5:00 p.m. On the second day, we went into the evening, eating dinner at the board table so that we wouldn't have to meet on Tuesday.

As a board member, you are there to be of service to the members throughout the conference. Your only off-time is in your room. Otherwise, you have mandatory appearances and need to be helpful and engaging with members. After all, this is the finale of a productive year, organizationally, and a time to educate fellow writers and celebrate the members' accomplishments.

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY

On Tuesday, I managed to set aside an hour to meet with my publicist - Leena Hyatt, Sound Author Relations. She is located in Washington, so having the chance for an in-person meeting was great. I'm ramping up my publicity and being a bit more strategic. I'm looking forward to continuing my business relationship with Leena.

Later I had to meet, for the last time, with the RWR advisory group. RWR is the magazine that RWA produces on a monthly basis. I was the board liaison for this group. It has been a great pleasure working on improving this magazine and bringing it more into line as a professional
trade journal.

Considering the long, tiring trip to San Francisco and the rigor of the conference, I scheduled a hot stone massage for Tuesday evening. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't one of my best experiences. The masseuse did everything right, but there are some people who just have the right touch. And unfortunately you don't know that until you're on the table having the massage. Also most spas have you separate from other activity. I had to wait in the dressing room area that also served women using the gym. So you didn't relax and get into the mood. And then when you're finished, it was back into that harsh environment. They had a steam room, but I had no desire to stay any longer than necessary.

I finished up the evening having dinner with Beverly Jenkins. She's a dynamite woman with so much experience. I unofficially call her the tribal elder of our writing community.

Wednesday, the day was packed. From 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., I attended the published authors network strategic brainstorming. In the middle of this, I popped over to the Chapter Leadership seminar that was a meeting for chapter presidents and other chapter leaders. Most of the board have served in their local chapters in various leadership positions. So meeting these future leaders at the national level is important.

The evening ended with the large author (520 - wow!!!) booksigning that RWA hosts to raise money for literacy (donations go to Proliteracy Worldwide). The organization has given almost $600 million to date and this year, we hit a record with over $58K dollars raised at this function. The books are donated by the publishers, authors sign, and the public buys. Every penny goes to literacy. I was happy to have several readers stop by to purchase my book and many said that they have read my other books, naming characters that they like. It's nice to know that a fan base is growing.

The long day didn't end there. My friends and I went to E&O Trading Co. 314 Sutter Street. The food was Asian fusion. We ordered several meals and shared. Our grand feast consisted of:

Peanut chicken satay (skewered chicken) with peanut sauce
Spicy sweet potato naan (sweet potato stuffed between flatbread) with mango chutney
Indonesian Corn fritters (corn kernels in an egg batter fried crispy and light) with chili soy dipping sauce
Crispy shrimp in a lime and ginger crust with sweet chili dipping sauce
Pad Thai (rice noodles) with shrimp (the lime flavor was too strong in this dish; it was our least favorite)
Steamed Jasmine Rice

We were pleasantly full. I was, by now, exhausted. The evening ended with me skipping the bar scene in the lobby and heading to bed.

Stop by tomorrow, for the next installment of my conference experience on Thursday and Friday. I hope to have a few photos posted at the end of the week.

Michelle