It’s no secret that I’m trekking off to RWA in a week and a half. Although if my personal blog is the barometer, you might be wondering. That, however, is a post for another day. This year I’d planned to stay home. The theory being I’d go every other year. Uh, yeah, that was before I found out Linda Howard was going to be one of the keynote speakers. That put an end to that rationale in a hurry.

Last year was my first venture to the RWA conference. As a reader I had a slew of questions about going. Not the least of my concerns was whether or not readers should attend the RWA shindig and whether or not we (readers) would be, or are, welcome. In addition to that I had all the usual logistical practicalities that had to be addressed as well.

Like any red-blooded romance reader, I girded my loins and did some research. There were almost no limits to who, or where or when I’d ask my questions. Some stuff is easy and straight forward. Finding out where it is, cost, etc. like you’d do for any trip. However, the stuff I really wanted to know required a little more digging.

This is where web sites of writers, bloggers and publishers helped immensely. Who doesn’t get excited about a trip? Fortunately, most people are willing to share this information. In 2007 RWA was in Dallas. I was riveted to my desk chair each evening after work jumping from post to post reading about about the day’s events and looking at pictures. That experience is what convinced me to go to in 2008 to San Francisco. I started saving my money while everyone was still in Dallas.

Now that I’ve gone to the convention once myself, I’ve sort of condensed the experience down to what I call THE THREE ESSENTIAL E’S.

E number 1 - Expectations.

What are yours and are they realistic? As I mentioned previously there’s plenty out there to read about RWA. There are entire blogs that exist just to link to posts about RWA. So you can read and find out a lot. My biggest expectation was to meet favorite authors, of course. Consequently I was able to talk to, email and post about this and get enough feedback to allay my fears. There are times and places where this is possible, appropriate and even welcomed.

Maybe you are wondering what to expect from the writers themselves? In the professional setting of the conference they are wonderful for the most part. They are, after all, just people like everyone else. At the Literacy Signing where they are expecting the public the interaction is great. However, you might want to re-think your plans if your expectations include “hanging out” with a particular author. To be sure this happens, but they are usually well established relationships that were made prior to the conference.

Expectations are also important when deciding what you are going to do at the conference. Again, RWA is good about updating their site and letting you know who will be speaking, and what some of the forums are going to be. It’s worth gathering all this information, because even as a reader I found a couple of the forums informative and interesting.

It all goes back to the old saying, “You can only get out of something as much as you put into it.” My observation has been that the people who go to RWA with open arms and are ready to learn, play and embrace the experience have a wonderful time. Heck I can’t wait to go to see my blogger buddies. Being able to meet and see some of my favorite writers and maybe get a few signed books is just icing on the cake.

E number 3 - Energy.

You need all of this you can get. Don’t laugh, it’s true. It may have been an aberration of a newbie, but most people I met and spoke with all said the same thing. You go, go, go like the energizer bunny the whole time. I know I did. Sleep! Who needs it? You’re at RWA! You could miss something! It’s a whirlwind and can be so much fun spending time with other readers, friends, taking in the conference and the city you are visiting. I’m going to suggest you pace yourself, but the better advice is to tell you to be sure you take the day after you return off from work so you can recover.

So that’s it. I’m off to reorganize a closet all in an effort to figure out what I’m taking on the trip. You can never start these things too soon. I might need to shop and buy something before I leave. You never know.

Have you been to RWA? What was memorable for you? What advice would you give a reader who is attending. Do you have a question about RWA? Ask away.

This entry was posted by Rosie on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 6:01 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.