Has anybody received their Claymore Award critique from Killer Nashville?

Namatu

Lost in mental space.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
4,489
Reaction score
967
Location
Someplace else.
Hi there. It's been a few years since I've attended KN. callalily may have more recent experiences, but I can respond to some of what you mention with what I last knew.

Hey! Sorry for the majorly delayed response. The conference was . . . a little chaotic in terms of planning. Apparently the lady who used be the admin and had organized the conference for the past ten years just left this year, so that probably explains it. I started to get the impression things might be messy weeks beforehand (I studied org management and used to be a management consultant, lol), so at least it didn't catch me off-guard. But I'm willing to admit it could be an anomaly. Rumor has it past years weren't like that.
I think I last attended about three years ago, and the conference was becoming more disorganized. From this, it sounds as if it was perhaps the start of a trend.

But I met some cool people and learned a few things. I will say, it seemed like a good number of people were local and just there for the day time so the "networking" cocktail hours and whatnot seemed a little light on people. And by Sunday, most of the people were gone. (I attended a panel on Sunday that had five people in the audience.) In my experience, the best thing about conferences is usually the casual interactions between scheduled events so I wish it had been a bit more conducive to that.
This does sound like a change. The networking from the couple years that I attended was good, with hordes of people in the bar (spilling out of the bar, milling around the bar, circling the bar). I hope you had a chance to meet up with wonder!

I've tried out a few different conferences - Killer Nashville, Thrillerfest, Bouchercon. For my current purposes, Bouchercon is the more affordable and it's improved a lot since I first attended. Lots of opportunities to socialize and attend panels (or keep socializing). You may want to check it out!

Wesley, sorry to hear about your experience with the critique that wasn't.
 

Halee

Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2017
Messages
13
Reaction score
3
Location
Virginia
Namatu, how many people were at KN the year you went? This year there were around 240, but I thought I'd heard in the past that it was more than that. Everyone seemed to be headed to panels or doing book signings/book promo. A solid majority were focused on selling their books. Can't fault them for that, but it also meant they were too busy for much casual networking. Bouchercon is definitely on my list for the future! I'm glad to hear you recommend it.
 

Namatu

Lost in mental space.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
4,489
Reaction score
967
Location
Someplace else.
I don't recall how many people attended KN the years I went, but I feel like it was more than 240. The last time I went the hotel changed at nearly the last minute and there wasn't good bar space attached (music way too loud to socialize). Bouchercon has a lot of panels and signings, but there's always casual networking going on. I check out the panel schedule, but I don't fill my dance card with sessions. I'm mostly there for the networking.