Conference Preparations

Oh yeah, I'm running a conference, too...

I haven’t talked about it a on on here, and I probably should have, but I’m actually one of the heads of a writing conference. Specifically, the Neurodivergent Publishing Conference (NPC). It’s coming up February 16-18 and is being held virtually. Tickets are still on sale if you’re looking to join us.

For more information on that, visit the website: www.ndpub.org.

Honestly, it’s strange. There’s this bizarre juxtaposition where some people know me as a leader, mover, and shaker in certain circles of the world. My name is familiar to folks who I look at and would go, “woah, really?” On the other hand, I’m still a disabled person on food assistance and Medicaid who lives with family.

Yes, I can say that aloud. I’m not ashamed of it. I can be a professional and extremely good at what I do and need help because I am, in fact, disabled and poor. It’s just weird to say them aloud together because usually when folks imagine someone professional or at my point in my career, they think of someone with a picket fence, a house, and 2.5 children. Or whatever it is these days.

The conference itself is a lot of work that I love doing. Organizing, preparing, scheduling, contacting… it’s a lot, but the result is deeply rewarding. That and I’m pretty good at it. While I’m often behind on what I need to do when, I still get things done, and the conference is pretty successful.

It came about because of a Facebook post, if I’m honest.

One of the things I do a lot of is networking — I lurk around professional spaces and meet people and make connections. That’s a large percentage of how folks learn who you are (and why I went to Vegas in November and am planning to go back this coming year). And with that networking comes hanging out in professional spaces.

I was in one of the Editors Association of Earth groups (EAE) and saw someone make a comment looking for other neurodivergent editors. I wasn’t yet diagnosed as autistic, but I was in process of figuring that out at the time. My response was, “oh heck, there are others.” Then the thread filled up with people wishing we could find each other.

So I did what I do: I created a group and gathered folks together. Then a close friend of mine and one of my favorite clients, Leslie E. Heath, suggested we make a writers’ group because she knew there were a bunch of writers who would benefit. So we made a second one. Those groups were so well received and so active, that my brain chugged along, wondering how else we could support the community.

As I said above, I’m broke. Attending writing conferences was, at the time, a pipe dream. I didn’t think I’d ever make it to one, even if I thirsted after them like Booktok thirsts after men in motorcycle helmets (if you know, you know). So, in my brilliance, I figured why not make my own? I can do that. I talked it over with a couple people, and boom, the Neurodivergent Publishing Conference was born. A few months later, we had our first conference, and wow.

We had one significant issue the entire conference, and everyone’s feedback was “more, please.” So we planned this year’s. We needed to add a third lecture hall because we had more speakers than would fit in the two we had the year before, and a lot of the speakers from last year returned. It’s a low-impact opportunity to connect with people, and we focus on fun as well as professionalism.

So the key to all of this?

Honestly, those of us behind things like this, we’re just gremlins in bathrobes. Just people. Yeah, I kind of fell into being important somehow (much to my confusion and dismay), but we’re just people. If you ever have an idea like that, that you want to see happen? See what you can put together. You don’t need to be important or known to anyone to make things happen. See a need in your community and step into the space, if you can.

I’m likely to be a bit sporadic with my posts until after the conference, as you may have noticed. That said, things are going along brilliantly, and I’m quite chuffed.