Now that I’m home from NEIBA’s annual trade show, I have a few thoughts and some photos.

First off, I am always amazed how much fun it is to spend time with all my bookselling colleagues from New England. I look forward to each panel as much for the friends as I do for the education. Ideas are born over sharing a meal and a drink, or two. I leave the show floor exhausted but full of energy for the selling season that’s coming up.

Hartford… well, what can I say? Not the most exciting city in New England. I loved the Convention Center, although the singular lack of real food options was shocking. In fact, my biggest quip with having the show in Hartford again is the food: there is none. Nowhere within walking distance can a sandwich be purchased; you can’t even get a hot dog on the trade show floor. There was no easy protein anywhere. I was shocked at this, and hungry much of Saturday. Thank goodness for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt lunch or we’d all have starved and gotten headaches. The Marriott was lovely and couldn’t have been more convenient, and it wasn’t too expensive, which was nice.

Now that I’m not paying per minute for computer time, and I can upload the photos from the children’s dinner.

This is the lovely Vicky Uminowicz and Kenny Brechner (Man of NECBA and star of his own calendar) at the end of the dinner. Kenny is already wistful about the good old days of being NECBA Co-chair. Vicky looks downright thrilled to have moved on.

The same can’t be said of speaker Shannon Hale. Acutally, I’m not sure why she’s strangling herself: her speech was lovely.  

I am eager to hear about trade shows this weekend. If you’d like to share a highlight, please feel free to add a comment. I’m already looking forward to the Winter Institute so I can see all my friends again.