I went to the Writer's Institute and it was Ok

The annual UW-Madison Writer’s Institute just wrapped up a three day run April 12-14.  The number attending swelled by over 100 from last year, which forced a move to the Concourse Hotel downtown.  For three days I questioned why the attendance grew so substantially.  In previous years attendees had the opportunity to pitch their work to agents in 8 minute sessions for a meager $15.  This year editors and local publishers were available for pitches also.  It was the opportunity to pitch, not the quality of the conference that attracted the masses.

The Concourse proved totally inadequate as a venue. Four previous suites were converted into ‘conference rooms.”  Every session I attended in one of these conference rooms overcrowded with people sitting on the floor and standing throughout the presentation and breaking the firecode for number of people in a room creating a safety risk.

Another traditional conference room had doors that clanged shut and as people came and went to their pitch sessions the speaker’s were interrupted and the constant noise was a distraction.  The food at lunch on Friday was cold and I was one of the first to go through the line.  There was only one choice for lunch, pasta with a choice of a red or white sauce and mystery sausage.  The food was a real disappointment.

The speakers,well, with the exception of one professor from UW-Madison were forgettable.  I’ve forgotten them already.  I did have one surprise.  I was talking with the President of a small publication house in Rice Lake and shared by story of woe with the micro-publisher I dumped in February.  I was asked what my book what about and I rattled off my previous pitch automatically.  The President asked me to send her my manuscript.  I think I will.