Thursday, November 9, 2017

AASL17 - Day One


The day dawned clear and beautiful here in Phoenix. I opened my curtains to take in the view and found that my little quiet corner room has none. I face a wall. If I crane my neck to look right, I can see some blue sky. Funny. I did think about upgrading to a high floor and panoramic views of the city for $20 a night but decided not to. I don't spend that much time in my hotel room at conference. Was it worth $80 more?



Headed out to register and then wait for my tour - the Desert Botanical Garden. It was beautiful and our docent was entertaining and informative. I took way too many pictures of cacti and other succulents. I just love the textures. 



Once we got back to town, I grabbed a quick bite before heading to another hotel for an "Authors in the Afternoon" panel. I forgot that it was lunch, so I grabbed my sandwich and boxed it for another time. Silly me. 


                    


Christian Robinson spoke about his creative process. His presence is a joyful as his art.





Jordan Sonnenblick made me tear up with the story behind his last two books, Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade and Falling Over Sideways.



And Sarah Dessen entertained with her tales from high school and her inspiration for her latest book. 

Next up was the General Session with all sorts of welcoming remarks and thanking of sponsors, etc.

The Keynote speech was given by Jaime Casap, Google Evangelist. He was warm and funny and thought-provoking. I jotted down a lot of tweetable quotes and wish I had the time to parse through them now, but I have a dinner to attend. 

One that stuck was, "Instead of asking a child what do you want to be when you grow up, ask, what problem do you want to solve."

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