Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Armchair BEA: It's So Nice To Attend From My "Armchair"

Actually, I'm in bed working on my laptop.

I just came from the doctor's office for a recheck on my bronchitis. Unfortunately, I'm still in pretty bad shape: 101.5 fever, trouble breathing, coughing. I had to have a breathing treatment, a shot of steroids, and more meds yet.

My son's also been ill all week. I couldn't leave him in this condition.

Despite all this, I can still attend BEA.



I love the Internet, Twitter, and blogging. I love Skype.

Even if I hadn't been ill, I didn't have the money to trek to NYC much as I'd love to go.

The Internet and the nifty media that comes with it, opens the world to us. We can chat with a roomful of people from many different countries all at once. We were able to plan events, interview each other, and coordinate blogging.

My son's been seeing a counselor in our local area. He told me this weekend that she's moving to Georgia. I thought he'd have to find a new counselor. No. Instead, they'll hold their meetings through Skype. As he's a computer tech, he's won more work to set up several of her clients on Skype.

At my day job we recently set up a web conference room. Instead of spending a lot of time and money to travel, we'll be conducting more webinars and conferences from the comfort of our office.

Think of the possibilities. In future, we'll be able to attend many more conferences from our armchairs. We'll be able to choose counselors and work with many professionals around the globe we couldn't in the past. We'll be able to save gas, cut back on pollution, and save our vacations to visit family and friends.

I don't think in person conferences will ever go away. I'm really looking forward to going to Cincinnati to Lori Foster's Readers and Writers Get Together in a couple weeks. I want to see my family and friends, go to movies with them, eat side by side, and touch them. But it's sure nice to have the option.

Please come back each day this week for more BEA activities. Tomorrow please check out my interview with book lover Kathleen from Boarding in my Forties blog. We had a lot of fun chatting and I'm sure you'll enjoy it, too. As much as you love hearing from authors every Wednesday on my blog, it'll be a change of pace to hear from an avid reader.

Be sure to check out all the other participating blogs. Find them here.

Also be sure to check out #armchairBEA on Twitter for more fun.

5 comments:

Brooke from The Bluestocking Guide said...

Oh goodness! I'm sorry that you're not feeling well. I'm glad you have some entertainment though!

http://web.me.com/bluestocking_bb/The_Bluestocking_Guide/Belles-lettres/Entries/2010/5/25_Kids_and_iPads__the_truth_on_why_kids_don’t_read.html

Brooke from The Bluestocking Guide said...

Oh let me clean that up

Here is my first Armchair BEA post

Anonymous said...

Sorry you have been feeling sick. I hope you are better soon. Nice post about the BEA.

Melina

Unknown said...

YOU need to be resting! Take care of yourself.

Tif Sweeney said...

Wow!! Even sickness couldn't keep you away this week!! Thank you for participating!! It's been fun!!

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