rhcrayon: The Blog! - August 8th, 2008

08:24 pm - The SCBWI 2008 Summer Conference Post--With Photos!!

Woo hoo!! SCBWI 2008 Summer Conference pictures are up!!

Click here to see 127 photo highlights from this year's SCBWI Summer Conference—with captions and links!!

If those aren't enough for you, click here for more treasures. (This second set is just as great, but I edited in order to keep the first album moving.) You should especially check these out if you're looking for more pics for your own blogs.

Everyone is free to use the photos however you like. Please credit Rita Crayon Huang if you do (and let me know, too! I appreciate the feedback).

Everyone I talked to had a "great" conference this year, myself included. Once again, I met awesome people, bonded even more with friends, and now have even funnier conference stories to tell (Cynthea), if that's possible. And I would tell, but, honestly . . . I just want to get back to work.

A few notes and one plea:

1. No, I did not wear my high school prom dress to the Saturday Night gala, but thank you to everyone who asked and let me know you've been reading!! I seriously almost did it because of you (and especially you, Stephanie Blake!).

In the end, I just wanted to dance. I wore the red vinyl/spandex/"leather" pants from my Buffy the Vampire Slayer outfit from Halloween 2000, and busted out the penguin heads from my March of the Penguins Halloween group outfit from 2005!! And recruited six friends to wear the others, making us seven penguins in all. This year's Summer Conference brochure was covered in gorgeous illustrations of penguins partying in red, which everyone loved. Leslie Muir inspired me to do this group costume as a tribute to Brian Gerrity's stunning work. (He is the nicest guy ever!)

(Why didn't we win????)

I felt very odd when I realized I'd managed to dress up as two of my major obsessions—Buffy and penguins—at the same time.

2. Thank you so much to fellow penguins Leslie Muir, Gregory K., Lee Wind, Sara Wilson Etienne, Jennifer Pitts, Maria P. Johnson, and—when it turned out Jennifer and Maria had to leave before costume judging—to our super-game, last-minute recruits, Charlie Cohen and Paula Yoo!!!! You guys were amazing, what with the dancing, and waddling . . . and attacking of the judges . . .

Does anyone have a group photo of us as penguins?? I forgot to change my camera settings before handing it off, so mine came out blurry. I would especially love the one of us grouped around Brian Gerrity.

3. Thank you, as always, to my carpool buddy Gregory K for the rides, inspiration, and comraderie. Greg, you are awesome, and I owe you lots of money.

4. And this is where I get tempted to namecheck everyone else I had fun with, that I haven't done already. But you know what? I just spent hours doing that in the captions already, with links and everything. I'm especially bummed not to have photos of David LaRochelle and the illustrious messrs. Ken Min and Mac McCool, however, because we spent such a lovely amount of time hanging out. (Congrats again, Ken, on your portfolio win!! And to David, for your Golden Kite Honor on picture book text!) We'll always have our memories, and this shout-out in this blog . . .


Happy journeying, everyone! Let's hang out again soon. I mean it.

Rita

P.S.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Thank you also to Emmie, who didn't attend the conference this year but totally went shopping with me the day before, and lent me her own clothes!

And thank you to Damon, who, of his own volition, stayed home from a weekend camping trip just so he could send me funny text messages throughout the four days. What can I say?? I feel like a whole support crew helped get me through this conference. It is like that, you know?

:D :D :D
r

P.P.S.
I sorted these photos while listening to sappy music. Put on your own favorite tunes and tell me if you feel it, too.