Thursday at the C's

Thursday was a busy, busy day . . . a day on which I could only get to one session (and that was one better than Friday). The session was Doug Hesse's talk, so it was a good one to get to.

The WPA Breakfast

I got lost walking to this breakfast because I assumed that the breakfast location at the Bank of America Building on California St. and Third Ave. would be near the Moscone Center North. It wasn't all that far, from the Moscone, but when I walked to the breakfast from the Clift Hotel at Taylor and Geary and turned right on Third to get to the Moscone, I should have turned left.

So . . . I took a cab.

I like this breakfast, but don't often get to attend. The WPA attracts a diverse lot, and it's a good place to learn about upcoming conferences and initiatives that members have planned. Among the highlights were seeing people I like to run into, learning that the WAC conference will be hosted at Clemson next year under the leadership of Art Young, and getting a preview of workshops planned for the WPA conference in Anchorage.

One of the highlights of the breakfast was the thanks bestowed -- much to his surprise -- on Chet Pryor for all the work he's done as a WPA member. I hadn't seen Chet in serveral C's, and so it was good to say hello to him again.

I also learned of an important new initiative that Linda Adler Kassner of Eastern Michigan University is playing a leadership role in: A WPA Media Relations Initiative. The idea is for those who sign up to keep track of local stories about writing and writing related issues, and to respond to those stories by writing letters, by writing reporters. The idea also is to be proactive, to write adn talk about writing in the media to help set the agenda. You'll be able to learn more about this soon, when the new WPA WWW site is up.

David Blakesley of Purdue reported that new WPA WWW site, hosted in Drupal, will be live soon. David described a dynamic site, rich in content, but more importanly providing a method for interactivity and site personalization. I can't wait to see it.

Next Post: Doug Hesse's Talk . . .