The First Ever Completely Subjective Best Business Card At A Children's Literature Conference Award, and a Conference Tip

So, if you've been following along, I've been in New York City at the remarkable 2011 Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators Winter Conference, participating in the writer's intensive, blogging as part of SCBWI Team Blog, and Moderating the GLBTQ in SCBWI Chat. One of the best things about the conference is meeting TONS of people - everyone there as passionate about great children's literature as I am!

I exchanged business cards with people I met by the hotel fountain.

I swapped business cards with people I met in sessions.

I traded cards like kids trade silly bands, and I ended up with a huge assortment of postcards, business cards, flyers and brochures!

I got cards from writers, illustrators, editors, agents, art directors, regional advisors, and even a brochure from the pizza place in the food court in grand central, but I'm not counting that.

Here's what my spread out pile looks like (I did this in the hotel lobby... and since it was New York, no one even seemed to notice!)



So many cards. So many people - all of whom I'm delighted to have met.

Here's my tip: I'm writing on the back of each card when I met that person in the conference, and anything I can recall our talking about. Just a few words, but that little note will help me connect the card to the person in the future. After all, there are more conferences I'll be going to!

And with all these cards, I found myself building my own mental scale - kind of like Linda Sue Park's chocolate chip cookie tip. And I decided that I would share what I very subjectively thought was the BEST of all these cards. The most memorable. The one that made me literally burst into laughter. My favorite.

And so, I'm delighted to announce that the winner of The First Ever Completely Subjective Best Business Card At A Children's Literature Conference Award is... (cue your mental drumroll)...

Josh Adams!

*cymbal crash*

(cue the HUGE virtual applause!)

Now something Josh and I were talking about was that he and his wife (and fellow literary agent) Tracey are black belts in Taekwondo. And then Josh gave me his card. (Yes, those are my finger smudges on it - see how real this is?)

The front reads: "MY AGENT IS A NINJA"

The back reads: ADAMS LITERARY. You have been warned.

www.adamsliterary.com

Brilliant!

Congratulations, Josh! Your prize is, well... um, bragging rights. And dude, it IS a great card!

Thanks everyone for building community with me, and for being part of this amazing experience!

Namaste,
Lee