What Not To Do At An Event

Life, Writing , , , , 4 Comments

I want to thank everyone who took the time to stop by the Ankeny Authors Fair. Getting to chat with you made my day.

Things not to do at an event.

1)      Don’t trust Siri to find the venue the day of the event. Make sure you figure it out before you leave the house.

2)      Don’t forget your name when you greet the organizer. Hopefully, she didn’t notice the deer-in-the-headlights moment brought on by caffeine deficiency.

3)      Don’t stare at your tablemate in awe, no matter how fantastic you think they are. You are just going to make them question their judgement in agreeing to share a table with you.

4)      Don’t drop your jaw in utter disbelief when someone asks you to sign their e-reader. Play it cool and professional, no matter how much you want to jump up and do the Snoopy dance.

5)      Don’t slip into fangirl mode when a writer, you admire takes the time to stop by and chat with you.

6)      Don’t down sell yourself when a writer, you admire wants to purchase your books. Act as though you do this every day and move on.

7)      Don’t say yes to having lunch with the writer you admire and then forget to check your phone. (By the way, you really should have your phone number memorized, so when said admired writer asks for it you don’t have to ask a friend to call your phone to make sure you have it right. Yes, I know the number is in phone info. Chalk it up to another brain fart. Trust me it won’t be the last.)

8)      Don’t ramble when the writer at the adjacent table engages you in conversation. Trust me, you won’t remember a third of what you said and most of it is probably embarrassing. That the writer side of your brain caught fire and you want to continue to study this person is not an excuse. It’s creepy. Don’t do it, or get better at faking a conversation.

9)      Don’t run out of gas before the event is over. Make sure you get plenty of sleep the night before and pace your caffeine intake to the length of the event. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a great tablemate who will poke you if you’re looking a little more dazed than normal.

10)   Don’t forget to thank your host. Believe it or not, I did not forget to do this!