Bouchercon 2024 was held in Nashville, TN at Gaylord
Opryland Resort. Yes, one must resort to calling that place a resort. It was so
much bigger than a hotel. When I said I wanted to go outside to see the water
and light show my husband had to remind me that there was “no” outside, per se.
The whole place is enclosed in more glass than the British Museum. It was a
huge hot house for thousands of exotic plant specimens. Water flowed throughout:
from a meandering river with waterfalls coursing down walls of
rock, to shooting up out of a pool and made to dance to music, the sound of
moving water was everywhere.
With maps in hand, we eventually got acquainted with
our section of the immense place and found the meeting rooms for our panel
discussions and the ballrooms for the larger events. We writers and readers had
the place pretty much to ourselves from Wednesday till the young dancers, and
their families, showed up, en masse, on Saturday. I can tell you that tap shoes
make a lot of noise on indoor cement walkways.
That is all background atmosphere to the serious
business of “Murder and Mayhem in Music City,” the official title for this
conference. There was a chosen theme song for each panel. Dan’s was “How Deep
is Your Love.” Mine was “Taking Care of Business.” Prizes were given away to
those who could answer questions about each song. Prizes meaning books. Books
and more books were given away at every opportunity. It was heaven for avid
readers and retired librarians.
I explained in blog posts on https://marydavidsaver.blogspot.com/
what my three main promotional objectives were: being on a panel; make an
attractive donation for the silent auction; and advertise for The Discovery
Zone, a new event on Friday night.
The panel went well. I don’t think I embarrassed
myself. My prize packet, Jodie Toohey’s book of marketing basics and a pad of
invoices, went to a very appreciative young woman.
My collection of Bishop Hill related foodie items
found a good home with a woman from central Illinois who had been to Bishop
Hill. She wanted the cookbook and the Lingonberries. The Gevalia coffee would
be a no brainer. I hated to part with Lori Morressey’s handmade basket, but it
was the perfect size for the presentation. Same with the “Just here for the
Pie” T-shirt. I will have to look for another on my next visit, which will be
Ag Days at the end of September.
That leaves the Discovery Zone adventure of being
walking billboards for three days. At least two people had the courage to admit
that they were influenced by our spectacular customized T-shirts. Everyone
else, and there was a good size crowd, probably didn’t realize they had been
influenced by our promotion. They were too busy enjoying the free food. We got
eleven dollars in cash donations, which was a minor miracle in a cashless
environment. I think the indoor river held most of the available spare change
as people made their personal wishes. I had promised to match donations up to
the first one hundred dollars. I kept that promise and rounded the total up for
the Nashville Public Library Foundation.
Like most shy people I’ve needed time to decompress,
relax, and recharge after getting back from a busy six days. I’ve been sitting
outside, the real outside, surveying my backyard and appreciating being home.
All in all, it’s like the Swedish saying:
Borta är bra. Hemmet är bäst.
Away is good. Home is best.
