Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference - Portland, OR - Part 6

Mother Reader had a wealth of wisdom to share with all of us beginning and seasoned bloggers.

She gave tips, hints and suggestions on how to "Be a 'B' List Blogger." And one of the best things she said was if you don't want to be a highly committed blogger, "That's okay."

She also said, "Simplest is best." And, "You don't want text, text, text."

As writers, we might want to sit in our rooms and write but she says to get out there and, "Comment, comment, comment." But make sure it's adding value and not just some random post. Otherwise, it will lead to blog dumps.

She also said, it might be a good idea to set goals. One goal could be to read three blogs a day and make two comment posts. Remember to keep it simple.

Another bit of good advice was to have three reasons why you're blogging and to remember those core values when you post.

Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference - Portland, OR - Part 5

Greg Pincus a/k/a Marketing Mentor to Wanna be Writers of the World read his poem Web 2.0 at the conference. And, admittedly, the quality of this podcast is not the best but the poem is. So, if nothing else, play the video and close your eyes and listen. I promise this one is worth it.

Kidlitosphere: Mark Blevis of Just One More Book

Mark was a great speaker, full of energy and entertaining but that doesn't even begin to describe all the information he was sharing with all us newbie and senior writers.

You'll have to listen for yourself to hear a bit of what he had to share. One of his main points, though, that I really enjoyed hearing was that growing a community takes patience and, maybe, a little sunlight.

Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference - Portland, OR - Part 3

Lisa Schroeder of I Heart You, You Haunt me and a member of the Class of 2K8 was talking about Group Blogging and reaching out rather than reflecting back in toward yourself.

Day 2- Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference in Portland, Oregon

I have so much information I want to share with all of you. I can't possibly get it into one or even two posts. I feel like I was bombarded with information - which is GREAT but there's so much. I want to start by sharing just a few photos and then I will begin uploading podcasts I took of the guest speakers, who were all amazing!

Here is Newberry Prize winning author Kirby Larson, check out Newbery Honor Book, Hattie Big Sky. Kirby Larson is pictured with Michele Kophs.




I've also included a few other photos. Author Eric Kimmel, is shown.









Here is Lisa Schroeder of I Heart You, You Haunt Me, with Lisa Madigan and another photo of
Roseanne Parry, Lisa Schroeder and Zu Vincent.










Mother Reader was there too.

And these are only a few of the photos I took. I'll post more later. But there was Mark Blevis of Just One More Book, Alice Pope of CWIM, Dia Calhoun, Lori Ann Grover and Betsy Bird. You'll have to check out Readergirlz. But that's just the beginning. Jackie Parker, Colleen Mondor, Anastasia Suen Laini Taylor, Jen Robinson, and Sara Zarr were all there.

Now, that I've bombarded you with photos and links to check out, I'm sure you'll be busy for a bit but pop back over later and check out more.

It was an amazing conference and I still have more to go.

Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference - Portland, OR

I went to the blogging conference at the Sheraton Hotel at the airport in Portland, Oregon, on Friday night. It wasn't far for me to go, about 10 minutes from my home. It was a perfect night for us to meet at the hotel and head downtown to Powell's Books. We mulled around chatting and checking out the books. Maureen Kearney was here from California, she's a children's librarian. Visit her at Confessions of a Bibliovore. Alma Alexander rode with us to Powell's. Then everyone was going to go on over to The Deschutes Brew Pub for dinner and a drink. Tomorrow the actual conference begins. I can hardly wait. Jone MacCulloch and Laina Taylor (author of Faeries of Dreamdark) put this entire conference together. Laini's husband, Jim Di Bartolo, was there too. He did the cover art for her book.

Earth-Friendly Friday!!! Green Roof Gardens

ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S BLOG QUESTION: Because there are more ducks in that line.

Okay, that was cheap - but it's funny. And tomorrow I'm hoping to post some pictures and maybe even a podcast of the blogging conference here in Portland, Oregon to make it up to you writer friends. Check it out here.



So you say you want to be sustainable...Try a "Green" roof garden.

My friend, Diane Cooper, is a certified master gardener. This is what she has to say:

"My new roof will hold rainwater and let it evaporate back into the sky. The water it can’t hold will be clean when it hits the gutter and our streams. The roof will keep my building 20 degrees cooler in the summer; will lower sound inside by 8 decibels, and will attract living creatures. It will erase the building’s footprint. Most of all, it will last three times longer than a conventional roof. We know all of this because homes in Europe have had beautiful green roofs for decades."