I’ll be appearing at the Midnight Ink Booth from 12:30 to 1:30 on Saturday, and in the craft rooms with my friend Angela Daniels from Fiskars at 11:30 and 4:30. On Friday night, I’ll be doing a signing at the crop at Scrapbook Territories in Berkeley, CA.
If you’ve never been to a large conference before, or even if you have, these are great tips from Sunny Frazier.
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Wear comfortable shoes, clothes that travel, and layer clothes.
Be ready to exchange business cards and have plenty handy.
Ask people to attend your panel as you chat them up. They will love the fact you’ve asked them to come! You get to sign books afterward.
Plant a few copies of your book in the give-away section. This assures you of a few people in your signing line.
Bring a camera, take lots of photos for your website. Pose with the big names. When people ask to pose with you for their website, comply.
Don’t try to hit a panel every hour. You will exhaust yourself and you’ll hurt from sitting so much.
Get to the humor panel early. It fills up fast. Same with the bar.
Don’t spend all your time bonding with the guys. Women are the ones who buy books.
Always be on your best behavior–especially in the elevator.
Stare at people’s chest and read their nametags. It’s the only time this practice is acceptable.
Rest. It will seem like the longest long weekend of your life. Slip upstairs and crash for a bit during the day. Stay hydrated.
Bring something “nice” to wear to the banquet. Most of the time dress is casual. This is California, but it IS San Francisco.
Find the hospitality room immediately. See what they have up there to munch on. Sometimes this is the only time you get to eat.
Scope out the entire conference set up ahead of time. Study the conference book and try to memorize faces in the book and a bit about each author. I start weeks ahead using the names listed online.
Smile until your cheeks hurt. You’ll feel like you’re running for Miss America.
Most of all, enjoy the experience. It’s the BIG one!
See you there,
Sunny Frazier
http://www.sunnyfrazier.com/