Just returned from The 2nd Annual Kidlit Bloggers’ Conference in Portland, OR and my head is swimming with great ideas and plenty of inspiration.  What a joy is was to spend a day with people who love children’s books so, and to meet some folks I’ve admired from afar.  People like Phillip Lee, the founder of Lee & Low Books and now a podcasting wizard, Alice Pope, the unstoppable force behind the essential 2009 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market , Mark Blevis, half of the team that brings the world the delightful Just One More Book podcasts,  the our old friend Anastasia Suen, one of the best and most prolific authors in all of children’s lit and… well, the list could go on and on.

I’ve barely begun to internalize all the juicy info, but a few things stand out:

* The future belongs to those who band together.  Group blogs and strategic alliances between writers, librarians, booksellers, educators, parents and publishers are the way to cut through the clutter and get the word out.

* Podcasting and video blogging will become as important as text-only blogs.  And soon.  And I intend to be all over it.

* The days of experts sitting on the mountaintop and proclaiming how things will be are over.  Everyone has a voice in what will come next.

I’ll have more to say as I settle back in.  For now, head over to http://kidlit08.blogspot.com/2008/09/posts-about-conference.html and see what other attendees are saying….