Thursday, September 5, 2024

Bouchercon 2024 Recap

 

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.


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