My partner Nikki and I attended the Second Annual 1-800-CE0-READ Pow-Wow in Chicago this week, and what a fascinatin’ gathering of authorial illuminaries it was.  For my sins, I was the kick-off speaker, and hot on my heels were Ray Bard, of Bard Press; Mark Bloomfield, of HBSP; Susan Williams, of Jossey-Bass; Barbara Cave Henricks and Dennis Welch, of Cave Henricks Communications; Mark Fortier, of Fortier Public Relations; Les Tuerk, of BrightSight Group; Gerry Sindell, of Thought Leaders Intl; and Shelley Dolley, of Leap7.  Apologies if I’ve missed anyone; there were some pick-up talks added to the preordained scrum.  There were 20+ authors in attendance to discuss the vagaries of the biz and to network, and authors are good networkers.  Don’t be fooled by their tendency to sit alone in front of a computer and write books; when they get the chance, they make up for lost time and network like billy-oh. 

I talked about ideas and public speaking, my favorite subjects, but I learned the most about blogging and the brave new world of cyberspace from several of the authors who are expert in that field.  David Meerman Scott, www.webinknow.com; Barbara Henricks, http://blog.cavehenricks.com/;  Rajesh Setty, http://blog.lifebeyondcode.com; and Phil Gerbyshak, http://makeitgreat.typepad.com have all blogged on the event already.  The knowledge in the room was inspiring, and the willingness to share heartwarming over 2 cold Chicago days. 

Thanks to Todd, Jack, Kate and the other amazing folks at CEO READ for a great event.