2007 Convention
Friday April 20
7-8:30 am Friday Morning Pre-Convention Breakfast (hosted by Sonora)
Cost $20, (Opal Room) (Advanced Registration required; details found on Convention Registration Form here. )
9:00 am Registration opens (in lobby by the Blue Topaz Room)
Chair Massages by Dakota Walker will be available during the day at the Registration Table as a fund raiser for Trident Literacy Association.
Guests on their own to explore Charleston. There are some options open to them (which require pre-registration with the vendor and there may be a cost attached. See this page for some options.
3-4 pm Garden Tea with Artist Mary Whyte
Free, (79 Church St, downtown), (Advanced Registration required; details here.)
8-10 pm The Opening Chapter
Dessert Reception for BookCrossers and Guests (included in Registration) (Blue Topaz Room and patio) Come meet your fellow BookCrossers, put faces to the names you know on line and meet new folks as well. Bring your sweet tooth, a smile and of course, books to help wish BookCrossing a happy 6th birthday.
Saturday April 20
8 am Registration opens (in lobby by Emerald Ball Room)
Chair Massages by Dakota Walker will be available during the day as a fund raiser for Trident Literacy
A Tombola and Raffles to help towards costs of the 2007 and 2008 Conventions will go on today as long as the prizes last!
8:30 am BookCrossing Central Resource Room Opens (Opal Room)
Come browse the books contributed by BookCrossers from all over the world, visit our Vendor Tables, find a quiet spot to connect to the Internet (wireless connection available), browse the Barnes and Noble Table (sales to benefit Trident Literacy), shop the BookCrossing Supply Store. Note: The room will remain open throughout the entire Convention for book browsing, though vendors and the Supply Store will only be open during the daytime.
9:00 am Convention program Begins (Emerald Ball Room)Welcome to Charleston and the BC Convention/Good Lowcountry Morning BookCrossing!
Charleston BookCrossers and Harriet McLeod
Charleston’s Good Morning Lowcountry column has filled the top half of Page 2B in The Post and Courier every day since its inception in 2000. GMLc celebrates life in a particular place (the South Carolina Lowcountry) with a particular voice and a particular perspective: That the world is a fascinating place, but not until after we’ve had our coffee. Check out the GMLc column and the GMLc blog.
9:30 am A New Chapter in BookCrossing
BookCrossing Management Team
We’ve been hearing big things are coming for BookCrossing. Come find out what’s in store for our favorite site, as well as the results of the recent user survey. And yes, there’ll be time for questions, both today and tomorrow!
10:30 am Break (snacks in lobby)
10:40 am Grits, Pluff Mud and Carolina Gold
Douglas W. Bostick
Doug Bostick is a sleuth of an historian who has spent more than two decades actively collecting and piecing together histories of the South. He is the author of several books and has written numerous articles that have appeared in historical journals, magazines and national newsletters. Doug’s most recent book The Boathouse: Tales and Recipes from a Southern Kitchen is a cultural and food history of the Lowcountry and western North Carolina mountains. His knowledge of history is enhanced by a raconteur’s gift for storytelling. Come join Doug as he gives us glimpse of South Carolina, through her literature, culture and beauty. Doug’s most recent book The Boathouse: Tales and Recipes from a Southern Kitchen is a cultural and food history of the Lowcountry and western North Carolina mountains. Doug is also editor at Joggling Board Press. Featured during Doug’s presentation will be some of the work local photographers including Stewart Young, who also was part of The Boathouse project.
11:30 am Living a Creative Life
Mary Whyte
Mary Whyte has earned national recognition as an artist for both her watercolors and oils. And, her artwork can be seen on a BookCrossing limited edition Book Plate! In 1991, Mary Whyte and her husband Smith Coleman, moved to an island on the South Carolina coast and developed close friendships within the African-American community. Soon after her arrival and quite by accident, she met Alfreda LaBoard, and her intrepid group of senior citizens who gather weekly to make quilts and socialize in a small rural church. Long time residents of Johns Island and descendants of slaves, these women would change her life and her paintings in astonishing and unexpected ways. Mary Whyte’s book, Alfreda’s World (Wyrick & Company, 2003), is about the shared experiences and values that deepened the friendship between the two remarkable women. Mary will use both her exceptional abilities as an artist and author to explore living a creative life.
12:15 pm Lunch Buffet (included in Registration) (Topaz Room)
1:30 pm BC “Cousins”: Where’s George, Geocache, and Markeroni
June Rodham and Linda Gentile
You sometimes hear that Where’s George was part of the inspiration for creating BookCrossing, but what exactly is it? And all those books you see caught in Geocahces? Huh? Where’s Georger and Geocacher June Rodham (Georgefayne71)a high school English Teacher in real life) will give us a glimpse of these two “cousins” of BookCrossing. Then Linda Gentile, our own WhiteRaven13, motorcyclist author and creator of Markeroni will give us a glimpse into the world of Markeroni. And maybe she’ll let us all in on exactly what snarfing is!
2:15 pm Breakout Groups
Want to find other Live Journalers? Eager to meet some other folks who frolic on Flickr? Want to get hints from other OBCZ managers, scratch heads with other newbies, giggle with Fun and Gamers? Now’s your chance to wander the room and join in with different special interest groups to gab, share and get to know each other in person!
2:30 pm Afternoon on own with loads of options to explore the Holy City. But if you need hints, how about a Scavenger Hunt- Charleston Style, Charleston Cooks! Taste of Charleston Class, one of the many tours available in town or Dakota Walker’s Writer’s Muse Workshop?
2:30-5 pm Writer’s Muse Workshop with Dakota Walker ($20 for Convention Attendees– may sign up on site the day of workshop) (Emerald Ball Room) (Another benefit program for Trident Literacy)
This will be an abbreviated version of Dakota’s workshop “Unleashing the Muse”. Through fun and interactive exercises you will experience the lift of writer’s block to find an extraordinary imagination filled with words and stories. This workshop will undoubtedly make you laugh, make you cry, least of all make you think. You do not need to be novelist to enjoy this workshop, you simply need to enjoy the moments of life to love this workshop! The workshop will consist of exercises both individual and group that will jump start your writing. You will learn tools to use on your own when experiencing writers block, or need that extra push to get you started.
8 pm Trivia Night
Match your wits or be at wits end! Join other BookCrossers at Rising High Bakery and Cafe. Gather your team in advance as our space is limited, then head on over to the cafe. Admission is free. Food, wine and beer will be for sale.(480 East Bay St) About a $4 cab ride from the hotel.
Sunday April 22
8:00 am Breakfast with BookCrossers (Emerald Ball Room)
8:30 BookCrossing Central Opens for Vendors and Supply Store (hours may vary for individual displays)
9:00 am Have your say!
Open mic time to discuss BookCrossing plans, hopes, wishes, dreams with the Founders. We will be taking email questions from BookCrossers not at the convention as well, if possible.
10:00am Break
10:15am Business of the future
Time to hear about the plans for the 2008 Convention in loverly London and to vote on the location for the 2009 Anniversary Convention
11am The nuts and bolts of BookCrossing
A time to brainstorm with others to make your BookCrossing experience the best it can be! Ask the experts how to improve your catch rate, etc
Open discussion
11:45am Lunch on own
1:45pm Where Do Books Come From? Inside the Creative Process
Richard N Côté
Dick Côté is the nationally known, award-winning author of books that focus on extraordinary women and the richness of Southern history and culture. His most recent book is City of Heroes: The Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886. He is working on his next novel, The Jailer’s Wife. Dick is also Editor in chief at Corinthian Books. Today he will take us inside the creative process of writing.
2:30pm Break- snacks in lobby
2:40pm Just a ‘little’ murder
Carolyn Cousins
What happens when two sisters and a cousin team up together to pen stories set in the Carolina Lowcountry? Just a ‘little’ murder, of course. Join sisters Meg Herndon and Gail Greer and their 1 1/2 times first cousin Nancy Pate, reporter, critic and editor and former Orlando Sentinel book critic (their mothers are sisters and their fathers are first cousins), to find out who put the “cozy” in cozy mystery. These three ladies have penned two (soon to be three) mysteries under the name of Caroline Cousins.
3:20 pm That’s all, she wrote
Prizes, Wrap Ups, Evaluations and Farewells
Page updated March 4, 2007