Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sunday Salon- @BostonBookFest #bbf09

First of all, congratulations to all the #ReadAThon participants. I tried to be a cheerleader and participate a little bit in between this and that- yesterday was crazy busy for me but I didn't read at all. I'm going to do my own ReadAThon on the blog on Wednesday so come by if you'd like to see that. I'll do probably no more than three updates over the course of the day.

A couple of you were sweet enough to leave me some cheers yesterday; I'm going to put those in my pocket for Wednesday. Thank you!

Yesterday was all about the Boston Book Fest, the first (hopefully annual) big public event focusing on books and reading, bringing together something like 90 authors for 30-odd events over the course of one day, culminating in a reading by Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk.

Unfortunately that was one event I missed. I was a volunteer for the festival, and worked for the first half of the 10-6 event in the Old South Church, a beautiful and historic building that served as venue for about 1/3 of the events, including the packed-to-the-gills Tom Perrotta/John Hodgman conversation and Pamuk's keynote address. And actually, between working the book room to help coordinate the signings for the first half of the day, checking out exhibitors and then just being tired, I didn't get to anything. The most time I spent in an event was when I had run up the hall to pass a note from a building manager to an event manager.

But you know what? That's okay, because sometimes being that behind-the-scenes person is what I do best anyway, and it gave me the opportunity to say hi to friends like Dawn of She is Too Fond of Books, who I was delighted to meet and found as charming in person as she is on her wonderful blog, and Lauren, a Boston literary agent who tweets as @BostonBookGirl, who I met at the Boston BEA Tweetup last spring, and Harvard Book Store event manager Heather, who I'd met at China Mieville's reading, and others, and make new friends, too. I met a book collector, a finance guy, a creative-writing student at Emerson who is a skilled moonwalker and lots of other great folks. And I got to spend the day helping people meet and greet their favorite authors (and get my own book signed by the really charming and gentlemanly John Hodgman) and see one of my favorite book stores do a ton of business at a great community-building event. And the turnout was great. Sounds pretty okay to me!

And today? Today can be summed up in two words: Margaret. Atwood. More on that later!

You can read more Sunday Salon posts here.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I did my own read-a-thon on Friday, so good luck!!! :D

Nicole (Linus's Blanket) said...

Glad you had a great time. Dawn is awesome! Margaret Atwood is a runner-up, so I can't wait to hear about her.

rhapsodyinbooks said...

It sounds like you had a wonderful time. And how cool is that to volunteer in the Old South Church?!!! Can't wait to hear the details!

Care said...

YIPPEE! I thought the entire event was tremendous - the authors, the coordinators, the orange-tees, everything. It sounds like the afternoon events were all packed. We got turned away for the Obama one and so went home at 4 pm ish. And got lost somewhere near Northeastern but only in HOw to get out of there! all good. Loved it. I'll do a post soon and will definitely be back Wed to cheer for you. :)

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

You are totally forgiven for missing the readathon. Who could pass up a book festival?!

I'm headed to the Texas Book Festival next weekend. I am as excited about going as if it were my birthday....and, of course, it IS my birthday, also, so it is a double-fun weekend coming up.

Vasilly said...

Have fun! I'll be cheering you on Wednesday.

Esme said...

Wow-sounds like you had your own fun book day yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a blast! I would LOVE to see/hear Orhan Pamuk. I miss being in Boston around this time of year and this makes that longing worse!

bermudaonion said...

Sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday! I can't wait to read about Margaret Atwood.

Florinda said...

I may go the DIY Read-a-thon route in the future myself :-). I'll check in w/you on Wednesday!

I'm kind of surprised that a literary hotbed like Boston didn't already have a book festival - the LA Times Festival of Books is one of the highlights of my year! I've never worked at it, though - it might be very interesting to be behind the scenes. Sounds like you enjoyed that!

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks said...

I just posted my recap of the events I attended - only four, but the day was packed!

So great to see you in person, I recognized you even without the graphic bookcase behind you :)

I'll have another short post about meeting some imaginary friends at #bbf09 (and a blooper reel of attempted video with Care)

Lovely pic of you and Margaret Atwood today - where was your orange tee?

Anonymous said...

That sounds so fun! I cant wait to meet other bloggers.... I feel alone here in Minnesota. I know there are some around but we have not connected beyond Book Blogs.

Anonymous said...

That sounds so fun! I cant wait to meet other bloggers.... I feel alone here in Minnesota. I know there are some around but we have not connected beyond Book Blogs.

ImageNations said...

thanks for this. this is good.

Zibilee said...

So, so cool that you got to meet John Hodgman! It sounds like even though you didn't get to wander much that you still had a really eventful day. And also, Margaret Atwood? I'm curious, and will be checking back!

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I am just catching up on some 300++ posts...LOL

Michelle said...

As wonderful as these events are it really is (for me anyway) more about being able to meet the people and spend time with new friends.

Sounds like you were able to get something out of both sides!

Serena said...

Sounds like you had a great time at the Book Fest even if you were behind the scenes. I hope your own read-a-thon goes well. I read just three books.