Life as a Minion
Greetings and salutations! I spent the last week in my alternate personality, Chief Minion of the Catholic Writers Conference. Several other lovely people have posted about the conference, with pictures. Read the blogs of Ellen, Erin, and Iris, as well as the Guild blog which has pictures including me.
My conference adventures began when Ann Lewis picked me up on Monday to begin the trek towards Chicago. We picked up the second minion, Amy, and arrived in Schaumburg, Illinois, mid-afternoon. I enjoyed my first experience of deep-dish pizza, Chicago-style! It's like upside down pizza with about an inch of cheese...very different, but good. We checked into the gorgeous Renaissance hotel and conference center, and prepared for Tuesday's set up day. Oh yeah - the hotel had a tv screen in the bathroom. Yes, the bathroom. 1984, anybody?!
My duties as Minion involved fetching and carrying, setting up the trade show booth and registration desk, preparing nametags, unpacking boxes and bins...and that was just the first day. I think I'll have to narrow this down to bullet-point highlights, a full narrative just isn't feasible.
1) Hanging out with my lovely fellow minions, Amy, Iris, and Sydney. We bonded well over Catholic writer nerdiness, mutual affection for our new role models in the CWG, and volunteer fatigue!
2) Reconnecting with CWG friends from last year, and finding my little niche within the Guild. There are so many amazing people in the CWG! I am so grateful for the warm welcome that I always receive, even though I'm a little unusual (being both young, and an aspiring editor rather than a writer).
3) Meeting new people, like Gene Wolfe, the master of science fiction!
4) Running my feet off between the hotel rooms, conference rooms, and trade show floor. My role on the flowchart is somewhere between gofer and secretary, plus a little bit of information dispenser and jack of all trades. Next year I'm in for promotion, although the pay doesn't really increase! What can I say? Volunteering is in my blood! I've earned my title of Minion.
5) Making all sorts of useful contacts in the publishing world. I've got a handful of editors to send resumes too, and pray frantically to St. Joseph that I manage to get a job after graduation.
6) Wearing our awesome "One in a Minion" t-shirts on breakdown day.
7) Receiving the opportunity to venerate a first-class relic of St. John Paul II!
8) Acquiring lots of free books. I have a large stack, all signed by the authors! Due to this fact, I will at some point stop petting the shiny covers and actually write book reviews. There are a few that I owe, and a few that I want to write whenever I get the chance. I'll do my part in spreading the news about the great Catholic fiction that's out there!
9) Adding to my to-do list. I've got several proposals to make to the Guild board! I have the funny position of being right in between the adult professional Guild members and the young student writers. I plan to make the best of this position in the next couple of years.
10) Attending daily Mass, thanks to the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show, which the writers conference partners with. I miss daily Mass, a regular part of my life at Christendom! That was a blessing.
That's all for now, until I get pictures to add. As always, the conference was a wonderful experience!
My conference adventures began when Ann Lewis picked me up on Monday to begin the trek towards Chicago. We picked up the second minion, Amy, and arrived in Schaumburg, Illinois, mid-afternoon. I enjoyed my first experience of deep-dish pizza, Chicago-style! It's like upside down pizza with about an inch of cheese...very different, but good. We checked into the gorgeous Renaissance hotel and conference center, and prepared for Tuesday's set up day. Oh yeah - the hotel had a tv screen in the bathroom. Yes, the bathroom. 1984, anybody?!
My duties as Minion involved fetching and carrying, setting up the trade show booth and registration desk, preparing nametags, unpacking boxes and bins...and that was just the first day. I think I'll have to narrow this down to bullet-point highlights, a full narrative just isn't feasible.
The Chief Minion's Conference Highlights!
1) Hanging out with my lovely fellow minions, Amy, Iris, and Sydney. We bonded well over Catholic writer nerdiness, mutual affection for our new role models in the CWG, and volunteer fatigue!
2) Reconnecting with CWG friends from last year, and finding my little niche within the Guild. There are so many amazing people in the CWG! I am so grateful for the warm welcome that I always receive, even though I'm a little unusual (being both young, and an aspiring editor rather than a writer).
3) Meeting new people, like Gene Wolfe, the master of science fiction!
4) Running my feet off between the hotel rooms, conference rooms, and trade show floor. My role on the flowchart is somewhere between gofer and secretary, plus a little bit of information dispenser and jack of all trades. Next year I'm in for promotion, although the pay doesn't really increase! What can I say? Volunteering is in my blood! I've earned my title of Minion.
5) Making all sorts of useful contacts in the publishing world. I've got a handful of editors to send resumes too, and pray frantically to St. Joseph that I manage to get a job after graduation.
6) Wearing our awesome "One in a Minion" t-shirts on breakdown day.
7) Receiving the opportunity to venerate a first-class relic of St. John Paul II!
8) Acquiring lots of free books. I have a large stack, all signed by the authors! Due to this fact, I will at some point stop petting the shiny covers and actually write book reviews. There are a few that I owe, and a few that I want to write whenever I get the chance. I'll do my part in spreading the news about the great Catholic fiction that's out there!
9) Adding to my to-do list. I've got several proposals to make to the Guild board! I have the funny position of being right in between the adult professional Guild members and the young student writers. I plan to make the best of this position in the next couple of years.
10) Attending daily Mass, thanks to the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show, which the writers conference partners with. I miss daily Mass, a regular part of my life at Christendom! That was a blessing.
That's all for now, until I get pictures to add. As always, the conference was a wonderful experience!
Rebecca, I am so thrilled that I finally got to meet you IN PERSON, and spend the week surrounded by so many wonderful nerds. Count me in for next year, if I didn't scare you off. ;) I'll have to see if I can get you and Anne onto the radio to talk about the next conference when it starts coming closer to the date. Eh?
ReplyDeleteThe Starving Inspired
The Starving Inspired
It was wonderful to meet you as well!! I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself and we didn't work you too hard. :) Definitely, we'd love to spread the conference via radio! And you are most emphatically requested to return next year. There's talk of asking you to be social media minion next year, what do you think?
ReplyDelete