Lest you think I did everything fabulously well based on my first blog post, I thought I'd take a moment and share a few of my oopses...the things that I did that I would not do again, and that I'd recommend you consider not doing either. They are:
1. Don't miss the most important meeting of the conference. I did this. I really did. I had a special meeting set up for me as a Second-Rounder in the contest, with directors, producers, and the like, and I missed it. No, it wasn't my fault. But in the long run it didn't matter, because, well, I missed it. So, if you get a meeting, get there, no matter what.
2. I was asked for writing samples, and I didn't have any online. Argh. Why? Why? (You can now find my sample work here: http://screenwriteher.weebly.com/sample-work.html.
3. Because I didn't have my writing samples online, the cards I had printed to pass out were kinda useless. Sure, I had my contact info on them, but did anyone contact me afterwards? (No.) Waste o' moolah.
4. I packed extremely badly. We're not just talking I forgot my toothpaste (I did). I imagined Texas as warm; the weather report confirmed my imaginings. As a Northlandic polar bear, I thrive in Seattle's cooler temps; however, I completely forgot that buildings in the South strive to maintain our frosty temps indoors.
I brought one (1) sweater. One, people. And I wore that sweater all four days I was there. I'm sure people were thinking, oh, look, there's that chick in the turquoise (!) sweater again.
6. Another whoops--I didn't pre-register for the Second-Rounder panels that AFF offered, and they filled before the conference started. In fact, I missed one with the Pixar rep. So, yeah. That happened.
7. Finally, I should have gone a day earlier. I would have been less tired for the conference itself, I could have settled in and seen more of Austin.
So, there you have it. The seven things I shouldacouldawoulda done. Have you been to a conference yet? What were your successes?