Cats

BarkWorld and CWA Conference Photo Collages

November 7, 2014 / 46 Comments
If you love cats, sharing makes us purrrr :-)

If you’ve never been to a cat writer or pet blogger conference, these photo collages will give a sense of what goes on. This year the Cat Writers’ Association partnered with BarkWorld in Atlanta last week. Westin Collage It was a chance to meet new and old friends, attend sessions about writing, social and other media, meet with editors, peruse new pet products and chat with the brand reps.

CWA conference 2014

keynote; Julie Cantor

Yes, there were dogs,

dogs barkworld

a few kittens Jeanne brought and one cat named Waffles who is on the can of Mike’s Hard Lemonade. It was especially wonderful to see Deb Barnes, my fellow CWA council member who joined the same year as me. Caren from Cat Chat hankered for a good steak and found time to catch up. The worst thing about this kind of event is simply not having time to speak to all my blogger friends enough. Guys, we need a week!

kittens and cat blogger friends

CWA book signing

As a member of the CWA, I attended the annual meeting where the interim president Dusty Rainbolt handed the reins over to new president Marci Kladnik and I’ve been elected to the CWA council.

CWA annual meeting

Every conference is different and this one was a roller coaster of highs and lows. There were profound insights, deep connections, non-stop serendipity, Shakespearean drama, a comedy of errors and plenty of laughter.

I presented a session on photo editing with nail-biting tech issues. Two minutes before show time the tech team finally resolved it severely testing my go with the flow attitude. Apparently my humor remained intact.

Layla Morgan Wilde

Earlier in the day I facilitated a breakfast gathering to remember my friend and the late CWA president Lorie Huston. After the group dispersed I enjoyed for a long, private chat with Lorie’s brother Tim who’d journeyed from Nebraska and is as sweet as Lorie was. It was bittersweet that evening when Tim accepted two awards Lorie had won.

muse medallion awards

To keep a scratchy throat and flu symptoms at bay, I snuck off twice to the blissful quiet of the spa for a sauna which saved me.

hotel spa

Cat writers know how to have fun. I received my first tiara. Don’t ask. The rooster in the hen house is Chris Ruben, CEO of Adopt-A-Shelter.

CWA awards dinner tiaras

A few of the many mood and faces.

CWA faces

The highlight of the conference is the gala awards evening. I didn’t win an awards this year but happy that some of my friends did like Janiss Garza and many others. Four years ago I was a newbie member who won a Muse Medallion my first year and every year since. This year I shared the joy of a friend I’d sponsored and mentored win three awards. Yay, Alana!

muse winners Alana Grelyak and Janiss Garza

CWA awards winner-alana grelyak
Last Sunday morning while checking out of the hotel, I bumped into mystery writer Clea Simon ( who had won a Muse) and her hubby. We ended up travelling together to the airport. I nominate them as my favorite couple to go through airport security with or bar hopping.

CWA awards- Clea Simon

I’ll be adding more photos to the CWA Facebook page and our Cat Wisdom 101 Facebook page so if you see yourself or someone you know, please tag them.

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