Kidlit08 (less quickly-like)

There truly have been so many great recaps of the conference (go here for a master list) that I'm gonna avoid doing a full recap. I'd have little to add that hadn't been said about the various sessions, and I already did my quickie look. Instead, I'll be more reflective and specific. Like...

My trip to the conference started with meeting Lee Wind in the airport and getting go fly up to Portland with him. We couldn't get seats next to each other (small plane and tall people on the aisle who didn't want either of our window seats) but we talked anyway, in a way that was kinda like passing notes. A great way to start, and knowing Lee would be around meant I knew there'd always be someone interesting to talk to.

That wasn't a problem, of course, because I didn't actually meet anyone there who WASN'T interesting to talk to. Go read all their blogs, and you'll see what I mean.

But one person I would've loved to talk more with... about anything... was Mark Blevis, half of Just One More Book. This post of his about the conference is thought provoking and spot on in my opinion. And it saved me from having to type up big thoughts like that! Thanks, Mark (and thanks for the tech support, too).

Chatting with the Readergirlz (as represented in this case by Dia, Lorie, and newest diva Holly) was fantastic, as what they're doing online is wonderful and remarkable. And talking with Colleen Mondor about everything from Alaska to her Summer and Winter blog blast tours to Guys Lit Wire was fun and invigorating both. Again, the potential of the web is just being scratched... but these are some of the people scratching it.

I'm always inspired by what Jen Robinson has done and continues to do for children's literature, and getting to hang with Mother Reader and Fuse8 is always a treat.

But beyond the fun and information (and there was great fun and great information), my overall thoughts go towards what Mark Blevis was driving at... something bigger picture. We really are still learning the power of the net... of connectedness... of community... of how collectively we are greater than the sum of our parts (and individually there are some utterly stellar, remarkable parts). As we learn more and more... as we work harder and harder to understand and examine and act... then more and more becomes possible for us collectively and individually. The children's literature community online is just starting to flex its muscle, so to speak. And I look forward to being part of the community as we continue to push ahead in the years to come.