by Charlotte Hinger
The recent Left Coast Crime Conference wasn't boggled. I messed up my planning.
The conference was great. There were outstanding panels and I'm always surprised by the friendliness of the whole writer community.
Here's where I went wrong: I dithered about attending in the first place. The conference was in Denver and I live in Fort Collins and it seemed silly to ignore a conference that was so close. But conferences are expensive and I was reluctant to spend the money. It's not a good idea to run back and forth between FOCO and Denver every day. It's better to stay in the conference hotel.
But by the time I decided to go, hotel reservations were closed at the conference rate. No problem, I thought. I'll book a hotel nearby. Wrong!!! There was a major problem. A third party reservation system (Reservations.com) highjacked the website and I ended up with a reservation in Thornton Colorado. Rather than finding parking close to the Westin, I relied on Uber. At least it was just for one night.
I caught a break. The price of Westin's regular rate dropped. And the hotel had on-site parking. At a price, of course. A really wicked price. But I ended up at the conference hotel for the remaining two nights. The rooms were lovely and it's very restful to have a retreat from all the activity.
Nevertheless, I should have made up my mind far enough in advance to participate on panels and volunteer for the various tasks required for organization. At the very minimum I should have had books there.
It was great to reconnect with friends and listen to fine mystery writers talk about their craft. Conferences are always inspirational. At the beginning is a photo of myself and a fellow Type M'er, Catherine Dilts who sponsored a table at the Lefty Awards banquet. Above this paragraph is photo of our fellow diners admiring the favors included with our place settings.
The Colorado chapters of Sisters In Crime did an outstanding job of promoting the organization. They had a carnival night with a lot of games and photo opportunities.
I've learned from this experience. Next time I'll plan far in advance.
