The Schedule

Still ironing out some details and there may be some additions, but this where we’re at right now for Saturday. (Presenters) are in parentheses; suggested interest groups are in italics.

(See most recent schedule post.)

I’m very looking forward to a great day of discussion. And don’t forget Friday night's festivities.

The Schedule...

It's almost here, really. I'm just trying to confirm a couple more presenters and get all the stars properly aligned. Thanks for your enduring patience.

I can, however, announce a couple of special items of note for your scheduling pleasure. First, as you all know, our keynote is Maggie Stiefvater, and she'll be the first speaker at the con on Saturday morning. She's also graciously agreed to do a talk on Friday night for the general public. And she's bringing two friends. It will be at the conference site, and it will be free for conference attendees. And there will be a reception beforehand, exclusively for attendees. The talk will be at 7:00 and the wine and cheese at 6:00.

Open Book, the conference, site is easy walking distance from the hotel, and both are a simple ride on the light rail from the airport. If you're on a later flight into town, bringing small luggage directly to Open Book won't be a problem. You can check in after the festivities if need be.

We're also very pleased to announce that HarperCollins Children's Books and its The Page Turn blog are sponsoring a catered lunch on Saturday, so attendees won't have to scatter to find food. Thanks very much to the school and library marketing team at HarperCollins Children’s Books, Patty Rosati, Laura Lutz, and Robin Tordinis.

More soon!

Of interest

Hello all!

We appreciate your patience as we finalize the details for the Con's programming. Turns out this is a bit more work intensive than we thought. We were very pleased with the number of submissions and the gamut of topics proposed. I think you'll be pleased once we get it all settled and up on the blog. We're up to 61 attendees now (all those lovely people in blue along the right hand side of the blog). If you know someone who has pre-registered (the people in red) but hasn't registered yet, give 'em a poke and tell them how cool it's going to be.


In the meantime, I thought I'd mention an event of note that will be happening in the Twin Cities during your stay. The renowned Guthrie Theatre is producing the world premiere of THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB, based on the novel by MN author Louise Erdrich and adapted for the stage by Tony award-winning playwright Marsha Norman ('NIGHT MOTHER, THE SECRET GARDEN).


The Guthrie is located one block over and one block down from Open Book, where the conference will be held (easily within walking distance of the hotel). You can learn more about the show (including cast information, ticket prices, run times, etc.) at the link above. If you feel you have the time and interest, consider getting tickets. You only need 15 people to get a group rate so if you're on a budget, ask around to see who else might be interested. The weekend of the conference, they have both a Sunday matinee and Sunday evening performance.


Stay tuned for conference programming news very, very soon!