Getting More Than I Paid For

This week, I have been spending time at the Catholic Writers Conference and I am loving it! My friend Laurie told me about it last year, and I registered, but missed it because I never managed to find the time to figure out how it worked. Not a huge financial loss (it's free!), but boy was I missing a lot!

Turns out it's very simple, and incredibly convenient. The workshops are all posted online, and you can go to as many as you want, at whatever time of day works for you (you can even attend in your pjs and no one will be the wiser!) I try to check in at lunch if I go somewhere with Internet access; otherwise, I visit for an hour or so after dinner. I'm following four workshops (I don't want to completely ignore my family or stay up until the wee hours of the morning) and learning new things, reinforcing old skills and making new connections, including at least one contender for my remaining Stylish Blogger Awards! Best of all, I don't have to worry about whether or not two workshops I want to take are being offered at the same time because they're all available 24/7!

For those of you who prefer live and in-person conferences, the Catholic Writers Guild is offering a traditional conference in Valley Forge, PA the first weekend in August. I've already put it on my calendar. I figure if I can manage to navigate an online conference, a live one will be a breeze! Of course, I might have to actually choose between workshops....