SCBWI Annual Winter Conference in New York: A Roundup of Roundups

I think I've finally recovered from my eight days in New York for Digital Book World and the 2011 SCBWI Annual Winter Conference. After sleeping in beds in two different hotels, toting a 47-pound suitcase and a heavy laptop, tons of tweeting, boatloads of blogging, a few too many cocktails and conversations, and so not enough sleep I needed a chiropractic adjustment, a massage, a manicure, a facial, two yoga classes and a few days not involving alarm clocks.

Now that that's all taken care of, I've been enjoying clicking around reading blog posts about the Winter Conference. It's enlightening to hear other people's perspectives and learn what they take away from events. After all, a conference is a different experience for each and every one the attendees--and with 1100-ish people in the audience for the NYC event, there are a lot of perspective to be shared.

Below is a roundup of Winter Conference roundups--including recaps, a tweet roundup, takeaway lists, and even some photos. Whether you attended the event or not, there's plenty to learn from these bloggers.


I've included a snippet of each post. Click on the titles to read the full reports.  

And if you haven't checked it out, please be sure to visit the Official SCBWI Conference Blog and read through the complete coverage of the event courtesy of TEAM BLOG. (While you're there, check out the video interviews with conference goers to hear even more perspectives.)


Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference (PW)
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Winter Conference in New York City is one of my favorite writerly events of the year. After all, what writer could resist the opportunity to hear legends of the children’s book world speak about writing? And then there’s the energy. When you fill a room with over one thousand writers, illustrators and industry professionals who are passionate about children’s books, you can feel the sizzle and excitement in the air. Here are some of the highlights.

SCBWI 2011, Part II: Beyond Picture Books, to New Media! (Walking in Public blog)
Everyone – and I mean, EVERYONE (that’s right, NPR) – is talking about e-books and new media. While adult e-readers are already a major part of consumer culture, childrens’ apps and e-books are still in their infancy (pun intended). People seem to have a special concern and defensiveness reserved for the future of kids’ books – after all, who wants their kids’ future reduced to bedtime stories curled up with an IPad?

SCBWI winter conference, NY (Tina Burke's blog)
I've just returned from a fantastic trip to New York, where I finally made it to the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) annual winter conference. I'd been wanting to attend one of these since we moved to Toronto.
This one enticed me for three main reasons:
A) The Friday, full-day Illustrator's Intensive focused on "Books and Beyond" (particularly ebooks and apps); something that's of interest to all of us. (I know there's info and discussions all over the internet about this stuff, but sometimes it's more fun to be told in person.)
B) Mo Willems was speaking
C) I ♡ NY
So I booked my ticket.

Gems from the SCBWI Winter Conference 2011 (Amy Writes...) (A Tweet Roundup!)
Huge discovery this weekend: Twitter isn’t only for organizing revolutions. It’s also good for keeping tabs on what’s happening at that awesome conference across the country you weren’t able to attend.
Who knew?
OK, in all honesty, I did know that. But the coolness of Twitter hit home this weekend while I was here in Arizona and a slew of my writer friends were cavorting at the SCBWI conference in New York.

A Conference in Pictures: SCBWI NY 2011 (Suzanne Young's blog)
Another excellent SCBWI conference has finished, but if you missed any of the action, hop on over to the TEAM BLOG official conference blog to catch up on EVERYTHING!! It was a great time, it was crazy weather, and there were even some shenanigans. Here are my pics from behind the scenes!

Notable moments from SCBWI's Winter Conference (Red Room)
Recently, I attended the 2011 SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC. It's always interesting to hear about trends, publishing shifts, new editors and art directors, and learn from the veterans, such as illustrator and writer, Jules Fieffer, and editor, Patricia Lee Gauch. I love running into other writers I know, as well as meeting new ones. Since I tend to remember things in bullet points, I created a list. I hope some of these will amuse and inspire you too.

#NY11SCBWI: My Top 16 Things (Lee Wind's blog)
Okay, I tried to make this a "Top 10" list about my take-aways from the 2011 SCBWI Winter Conference, but there was just too much good stuff to share!