Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, North America, Canada
When Elaine Petrocelli conceived the idea for the first Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference 20 years ago, she didn't know what she was getting into. "All I really knew was that I loved great travel writing and photography, and I thought it would be fascinating to bring the best writers and photographers together for a few days to talk with aspiring writers and photographers about what they do and how they do it," says the co-owner of Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera, California, where the conference is held for four days each August. To help realize her dream, Petrocelli contacted the then travel editor at the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle - who, as luck would have it, was me -- and I contacted legendary travel writer Jan Morris, who agreed to be the first guest of honor, and the Book Passage conference was born.
That was 20 summers ago. We certainly didn't imagine then that two decades later conference alumni would have published hundreds of articles and photographs in national magazines and newspapers, and dozens of books that directly resulted from contacts made and lessons learned at the conference. We didn't think that some alumni would be so successful that they would return in future years as members of the conference faculty. And we didn't dream that we would be celebrating in 2011 with the most ambitious Book Passage Travel, Food and Photography Conference yet.
We've learned a lot over the past 20 years and the conference has evolved to embrace those lessons. We've added food writing and photography to the menu and focused more and more on writing for the web, blogging and self-publishing. We've included in-the-field workshops and one-on-one evaluations, expanded the faculty and fine-tuned the panels and events. And we've added karaoke!
Most importantly of all, we've learned from the successes of our participants what it takes to get the most out of attending a conference -- whether it's Book Passage or other creative conferences around the country. Thinking ahead to TBEX in June and to the many other summer gatherings now offered, I thought it would be helpful to share the top tips I've learned from successful students.
Fittingly enough, as I've put these together, I've realized that these tips can equally be applied to getting the most out of any journey:
Top tips for TBEX and other writers' conferences: What I've learned from 20 years of success stories at Book Passage originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 19 May 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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