Comments on: Writing Conference Wisdom: A Whirlwind of Speed Dating

By: jamesr403

jamesr403 — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 20:33:47 +0000

Jtailele -- two and 1/2 minutes per writer should be perfect! Keep 'em moving! Let me know how it works out. Ja***@***********on.com.

By: jamesr403

jamesr403 — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 20:27:56 +0000

You're welcome, Orly. It's always a treat to write for WITS. Author Speed Dating was quite an experience. I recommend it if you ever have the opportunity; not only do you get to talk to a lot of people, you are also forced to respond quickly to questions, and I found that I actually learned about my own work while doing it. And I never once said, "Hey, baby, what's your sign?"

By: jtailele

jtailele — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 20:26:41 +0000

We will do the five minutes, but that is really 21/2 minutes per author.

By: Orly Konig Lopez

Orly Konig Lopez — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 19:57:20 +0000

Speed dating for authors. Interesting idea. 🙂
Thanks for posting with us, James!

By: jamesr403

jamesr403 — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 19:23:28 +0000

I think you'll find it not only valuable, but fun! One suggestion, as a veteran: five minutes may be too long. We moved from table to table in pairs (a good thing, too) and we each had two minutes. That seemed fine and it kept the pace brisk. And yes, the moderators rang a bell at two minutes for writer #1, and again at four minutes. Yes, I'd like to hear how it works out.

By: jtailele

jtailele — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 18:53:43 +0000

In reply to jamesr403. Our writer's group here on Marco Island have played with the idea of speed dating for a group activity. It has grown so fast that many of the writers don't know each other. So we thought we would "speed date" and give each person five minutes to tell the other person about themselves, i.e. what they write, books they've written, there reason they are in the writers group in the first place. I'll let you know how it worked out.

By: jamesr403

jamesr403 — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 18:51:02 +0000

I hate auto complete! I meant "saying something like." Sheesh! (Sheesh, with a bow to jtailele.)

By: jamesr403

jamesr403 — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 18:48:50 +0000

Jenny, that's great! The restroom, huh? Personally, I can't imagine walking u p to a table of ladies and saying so etching like, "Hey,baby, what's your sign?" Or the reverse thing that I've seen on TV, the backwards compliment, "Those are great earrings. My grandmother had some just like them." Followed by, "Put down the knife!" All kidding aside, it was one of the highlights of the conference for me. It's vitally important to have a good partner, and Allison Brennan was wonderful. Also, you need to have a tiny speech ready to go -- and you need to be ready to drop it at a moment's notice if somebody gives you an opening. (Side note: by the time we got to Table 50, we could swap. I said, "Hi, I'm Allison Brennan . . . ") Also, guys don't talk in the restroom.

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 18:18:16 +0000

James, I have speed dated...BOY have I speed dated, and it's a fascinating process. First of all, you really find out quickly who you have chemistry with and who you don't. Two minutes is a REALLY long time when there is no chemistry!

Also, the action all happens in the restroom. At the events that I went to, you got to find out as much about the dating candidates talking to other people as you did the candidates themselves. I formed friendships with the other women at the event in the restroom and met more of them than I ever did of the nice men.

It was a learning experience for sure. 🙂

By: jamesr403

jamesr403 — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 17:32:25 +0000

Laura, thanks for "sleep!" Wow, did I miss that one! By Sunday I could hardly take my shoes off. And thanks for the commiseration on empty seats. With 600 authors, the competition was fierce. Hey, there's a blog topic in there. The changing ratio of authors to readers at events. I will volunteer you to talk about it.