Survey Says: What You're Thinking About Writers Conferences (Part 1)

ACFW 2010: Wokshops, sure! But loads of fun too!

I decided to take a little survey earlier in August. Thirty-two people responded to my seven question survey about writers conferences. Thank you, one and all!

The respondents represent all corners of the USA--and even Bermuda! (Waving at you, Cathy!) Home states include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

The first question asked on the survey was: Why do you attend writers conferences? Possible answers included:

• To learn more about the writing craft and to improve my writing
• To pitch my book idea(s) and/or article(s) to editors/agents
• To network with other writers
• Other

(Don't you just love the "Other" answer on surveys? I do!)

All 32 participants answered the question. Their top reason for going to writers conferences: To learn more about the writing craft and to improve my writing. (71.9% or 23 respondents)


Coming in at as a ve-ery close secondary reason for going to writers conferences: To network with other writers. (68.8% or 22 respondents) 

Note: Before somebody tells me my math is whacky, you were allowed to mark all the answers that applied. 


My take: I always sign up for a writers conference with every intention of attending workshops and continuing sessions. I almost drool over some of the sessions offered. Consider the upcoming ACFW conference:

• Fried Brains and Ham (j/k): Unclogging that Writer's Block by Jenny B. Jones
• Blogging, Branding, Marketing and Publicity by Shannon Vannatter
• All Glammed Up! by Susan May Warren
• How to Write a Bestseller by DiAnn Mills
• Sometimes It's Better to Tell than Show by Erin Healy

The funny thing is, I rarely make it to those sessions. Why? I'm usually caught up networking with other writers. I'm brainstorming elevator pitches. Praying with friends before they head off for their 15 minute appointments. Having coffee (well, tea for me) with friends that were merely smiling faces in avatars on my computer screen. One way I deal with missing workshops: I invest in the conference recordings so I can listen to them back home.

Three respondents said the reasons listed for attending writers conferences--learning, pitching, networking--were equally important. I think that's one of the challenges of a conference: competing values. You can't do it all because, contrary to popular belief, you do have to sleep sometime. 

In Your Words: Why do you attend writers conferences? Do you have a favorite not-to-be-missed conference? Or is there a conference you're hoping to get to soon? Any fun memories of writers conferences past?

Let Me Ask You a Question: A Quick Survey for Writers About Conferences

With the annual ACFW conference only five weeks away, writers are asking a lot of questions. Are you going? Where are you staying? What workshops are you taking? What are you pitching? 
It got me thinking about all-things conference related--and I came up with a few questions of my own. Seven, to be exact--and the last three are super-simple. (How hard is it to remember your name?)
At this point, I'm going to depart from regular blog protocol and ask you to please take a brief survey about writers conferences.
Why?
Well, I'm curious about your answers.
And besides that, your answers will guide upcoming blog posts here at In Others' Words.

And to make it fun, if you take the survey, you have the chance to win a $10 Starbucks card. Tweet about the survey or post about it on your Facebook page, and I'll enter your name into the drawing twice.

Let the Q&A begin!


Click here to take survey

Survey: What Teen Boys Think About Sex

Photo by adamci/StockXchange.com

Moms, you might be surprised by a new survey about what guys think about sex.

That's What He Said, a new survey Seventeen and The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, revealed some interesting insights into what guys 15-22 years old think about sex. Twelve hundred (1,200) boys and men were interviewed. Key insights included:

1. More than three-quarters (78%) agree that there is "way too much pressure" from society to have sex.

2. Two-thirds (66%) say they would rather have a girlfriend but no sex compared to only one-third (34%) who say they would prefer to have sex but no girlfriend.

Nearly three out of four (73%) say they have more respect for girls who say no to sex.

3. More than half (56%) say they are "relieved" when their female partner wants to wait to have sex.

4. Nearly 8 in 10 guys (78%) say their girlfriend influences their decisions about sex, and half (51%) say she has a lot of influence.

5. Two-thirds of guys (65%) who have talked to their parents about preventing pregnancy say it was helpful—unfortunately only slightly more than half (53%) report having had such conversations.

This last statistic should be a wake up call for parents. Don't buy into the lie that we don't have influence with our sons (and daughters.) We do. Unfornately, parents can miss--or avoid--the opportunity to talk to their kids about the tough, but oh-so-needed topics like sexual intimacy, choices, dating relationships, pornography and sexting.

What are you doing to make sure that you don't skip the important conversations with your teens?