The Secret Power Of The Hashtag

ILA. ALA. BEA. Digital Book World. Bologna. Frankfort. London. SCBWI Florida. SCBWI New England. SCBWI Western Washington. SCBWI Europolitan. SCBWI Summer Conference. SCBWI Winter Conference. And all the local book fairs and festivals and school librarian conferences and school counselor conferences and on and on and on...

Unless you own your own plane and have nothing but free time, its just not possible to attend every conference with a kid lit and teen lit focus that might be packed with great information, colleagues, and opportunities. So you choose the ones that make sense to attend, and the rest, you feel a bit wistful about missing out on, right?

BEA is happening in Chicago as I write this, and yup, I'm not there. I'm in Los Angeles.

But there's a secret way to get a taste of what's going on across the continent, or the world... Use the hashtag.

On twitter, #BEA16 reveals photos, great quotes, anecdotes, and some of the buzz and enthusiasm of the event.

It's a bit magical.

Only have 5 minutes free?

Drop in on the hashtag, and get that virtual taste... Here are five tweets that caught my eye from this morning:

It's no substitute for the full experience of attending, but it's an excellent "live" way to dip in to a conference that otherwise, you'd just be reading about afterwards.

It works across social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram...

Now you, too, have the secret power of the hashtag. Use it well.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee