So, this is likely my last post about my experience at RT 2010. I will still try to recap 3 of the panels I went to in the near future; however, I was going through my notes on Friday (yes, I took notes...) and realized it might me too late ^_^; For the YA panels, my notes weren't very complete, especially the first one, and I don't remember everything that was said. Still, I'll try to do it. In the meantime,I'm going to try to sum up my experience :)
I've been wanting to go to a convention for a few years already. I've seen other bloggers go and enjoy themselves so much that it just confirmed my wishes to go :) I have to admit that at first, I was leaning towards RWA. Next year, RWA is held in New York City and I'm definitively planning to go. However, I thought that since RWA would be in NY City, it would be like huge... so it'd be nice to attend RWA in a "smaller" city and experience the usual atmosphere :P
Then, Jill and I started talking and Jill was determined to go to RT 2010... I was a bit wary of the RT convention, because of all the brouhaha that occurred about 2 years ago in Pittsburgh. So while I was hesitating, we got an email from Kristie who has just found out that she had enough money to go to both RT and RWA this year... So it just seems like a sign for me to attend RT 2010 :)
Overall, I'm really glad I went to the RT convention. I think it was a good experience and if you are a book lover and have the chance to, try to attend it at least once. It's wonderful because you're surrounded with people who loves reading books just like you and everyone is so open and friendly. This is also a great opportunity to meet authors and talk to them or listen to what they have to say :) Like I mentioned many times, I really enjoyed the workshops and panels and I like that readers can attend to the writer track as well. There is not real segregation between readers and aspiring authors or published authors.
While I had a good time and enjoyed the experience, I'm simply not sure whether the RT convention really suits me or not. Basically, it has to do with the party atmosphere at the convention. I'm not a party girl. Going to a convention, attending workshops, meeting authors and getting free books, that's my fun. That's how I relax and basically, it makes me happy and that's all I need. I understand that for other attendees however, this is their escape from reality, from their every day life and they want to enjoy it... and that's great for them, but it's just not me. The Mr. Romance competition, the Fairy Ball, Ellora Cave party, etc. those are activities that I didn't care for. As for the Mr Romance, I have nothing against it... but sometimes, I thought that the behaviors that it brought out from certain persons really didn't reflect well on romance readers...
Otherwise, the rest was fine and I had a great time :D I loved having Jill and Kristie as roommates :) And I think we were extremely lucky that RT took place in Columbus this year and we got to meet Mollie :D Meeting Mary, Linda, Delilah Marville, CJ and Lisabea was another plus :D The bookfair signing was great and like a dream, LOL, and most of the activities organized for the readers were a lot of fun :D
