“Git along, little dogies” and “Moo,” were some of the thoughts flitting through my mind as we were herded towards our timed-to-the-minute Client Connections appointments during the May 5 Member’s Day of the ASJA NYC conference. Yet in spite of the potential for chaos, the meetings ran like clockwork with people showing up and leaving per their designated schedule. In fact—with an eye to the Saturday’s “Writing About Parenting: Editors Tell All” panel—the expression “smooth as a baby’s bottom” pretty sums up how the conference went for the entire two days.
Attendance was up over 38 percent from last year, according to ASJA President Sherry Beck Paprocki.
In addition to all-around kudos for the hard work and dedication of chair Estelle Erasmus, innovations and add-ons such as the “early risers” programs, and the “multiple keynotes” received great reviews. Along with an emphasis on diversity in panels and keynotes, this year also saw a large number of students (aka future ASJA members), many of whom were spurred to attendance by participating faculty panelists. Book sales also increased more than 10 percent, another bottom-line boost to members and speakers with titles at the conference bookstore.
“Although I’ve been the editor-in-chief of five national consumer publications and I’m used to curating excellent content, putting together a conference of this size, magnitude and success is truly a transformative experience,” said Erasmus. “I appreciated all the volunteers, moderators and session leaders involved, and enjoyed working with ASJA Board President Sherry Paprocki and Executive Director Holly Koenig, who led the ASJA staff.”
Additional raves included the full breakfast on both days and the steak and tapas buffet on Friday. The well-organized, lively, red-carpeted awards ceremony on Friday also won praise. “Over the years, I have attended many Awards ceremonies,” remarked Susan J. Gordon, 2017 winner for memoir/autobiography for Because of Eva: A Jewish Genealogical Journey.
“Being judged by the amazing writers who belong to ASJA always seemed daunting to me, but not completely out of reach. Now Because Of Eva has received the honor of their praise. As writers, and as speakers, we must keep telling our stories, even if we rarely know for sure if our words have any impact.”
Attendees came away with deep-dive takeaways and some participants unearthed other tasty nuggets. “During the food writing pitch slam, I had a wonderful reminder of just how big and varied and creative the freelancing world is,” observes member Kristin Baird Rattini. “The nine of us who pitched had wildly different ideas. Yes, we’re all technically food writers, and some might view that with a competitive mindset. But the experience reinforced the message: It is a big market. We each bring something different.”
Equally important is what member attendee Jennifer Fink calls the “community of colleagues.” “I’ve been in a work slump, and was feeling pretty down about it,” she admits. “Today I am completely upbeat and have started work on a new assignment that a fellow ASJA member sent my way. Another ASJAer sent me a lead this morning and connected me with a potential client. I’ve already got an ‘I’m interested. Tell me more’ response to a query I sent while in NYC; yet another ASJA member shared that editor’s contact info and encouraged me to reach out to him. I have at least a dozen more leads to follow up on.”
“When I hear people say, ‘Oh, I can’t afford to go to the XY conference,’ I always answer: Actually, you cannot afford not to,” sums up member Wendy Helfenbaum, who oversaw Client Connections at the conference. “I would venture to say that the vast majority of attendees—if they leverage their new contacts, etc., properly—will earn more than double what they paid in conference, travel and hotel fees within the year. And many of the contacts you make—both writers and editors—will pay off for years to come.”
Nonmembers who attended Saturday’s sessions were specifically interested in learning from ASJA members and other moderators, as well as learning how to get into the organization. A new panel hosted by Membership Growth and Renewal Chair Jennifer Goforth Gregory gave tips and hints about how one can best gain entry into the association, by accumulating the necessary bylines required of all applicants. Her blog post “5 Things I Learned at the 2017 ASJA 46th Annual Writers Conference” provides additional insights to aspirants and members alike.
“Overall, this conference was a big success,” says Paprocki. “That’s due to the cumulative volunteer efforts of about 200 people who made it happen. From the big breakfasts to the interesting panels to the star-studded Awards ceremony, ASJA’s 2017 New York conference was a hit.” Even—or perhaps especially—if one is herding cats, er, writers.
Did you miss out on a session? Recordings will be available for purchase next week. You can find handouts for some of the sessions here. And don’t forget to register for the Spotlight on Ghostwriting workshop and the Content Marketing conference in Chicago on November 17 & 18.