Romance Slam Jam 2023 - a pleasant reunion of writers and readers

 

The family reunion we didn’t know we needed.

That's what some attendees called the 2023 virtual Romance Slam Jam conference held last month.

I agree.

As I wrote in my post last month, just before the 2023 convention began, I had not been to a conference of any kind since before the days of covid. And while I am an introvert, there are a few group activities I enjoyed. Hanging around with other writers was one of them. Thus, I decided to give this virtual conference a try. 

Romance Slam Jam gave me three days focused on page-turning romance and women's fiction books showcasing multicultural characters. Things started off early with a bonus session that brought us RomCom Screenwriting Comedy Expert, Steve Kaplan to discuss writing romantic comedy. Although I do not write in that genre, I found the information in that hour-long session extremely helpful in the work I do write. 

That also highlighted one of the issues with the main congerence. Three eight hour plus days of back to back sessions is not easy on my brain. The conference began at noon Eastern Time for three days in a row, with back to back sessions lasting until after eight PM. With no lunch, snack or dinner breaks.  The virtual format meant attendees from multiple time zones. I understand that having attendees in multiple time zones required some compromises. But for me, having to chose between skipping a session (and giving my brain a break) or gobbling food in front of the zoom screen while my butt ached from long hours in the chair, made this a negative. 

I couldn't help contrasting the back-to-back sessions with the way the conference was run in prior, in-person years. Sessions that started early in the morning, nine or even eight am, but which allowed time for lunch and networking breaks, and often included a dinner as part of the conference. And since they added in things like a games night after the last sessions, there was no official time for a dinner break either.  

 Organizers attempted to provide networking opportunities.  There were the games session, a scavenger hunt, and the Pajama Cafe Cliffhanger Night that included readings of steamy passages from some books,  during the evenings, to help simulate the networking available at in-person events. On several occassions, attendees were randomly assigned to small groups for discussion and more networking. Unfortuatly, at least in the groups I was placed in, there was always someone who hogged the limited time available.  

As I said, I am an introvert. At person events I might have managed even less networking. So I give them a B+ for effort. While there was no way to replace the dinner and dance sessions from in-person conferences, and something was lost by not being able to whisper a comment to the person seated next of you, we still laughed and enjoyed being with each other.

Past conferences included tours of the city where the conference was being held, historic information and visits to museums and other landmarks. Yes, that was balanced by not having to travel or stay in a hotel, but I missed those tours. I also missed the meet and greet opportunities with individual authors and their fans. No online bookselling event will ever be the same as walking up to an author’s table to chat and give that author the opportunity to persuade you to buy their book. 

I have spent the time since the conference weighing the good and the less good (I really can't say anything about the conference was totally bad). So ask me if I would do this again, knowing what I know about the cponference now.

Absolutely.  I have already signed up for the 2024 conference.  The craft and business information we got was good. The opportunities to meet with agents and editors at no additional cost, were excellent. At the end, I closed my Zoom window feeling energized, and knowing more than I did when I walked in.