Blogs / Gone Fishing / Summer 2011 / First Timer at a Big Time Writers’ Conference

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Gone Fishing

Life on and off the waters of the Wood River Valley

First Timer at a Big Time Writers’ Conference

Most writers can pretty much agree about at least two things: first, you never turn down a free drink; and second, the first lines are usually the hardest ones to write.

In fact, firsts in general can be the toughest (and most exhilarating) part about being a writer. For there’s nothing quite like the first time you see your work in a new publication, or the first time someone besides your mom tells you you’re good, or the first time an editor rips you one so big it feels like it stretches all the way from Albuquerque to Bangor.

The first time at a writer’s conference can be quite an experience, and quite nerve wracking, as well—especially the first time at a national, Big Time event like the 84th Annual Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) Conference, held in Utah’s spectacular Little Cottonwood Canyon last July.

So naturally, I was a bit nervous as I made my inaugural trip to participate in OWAA’s annual affair. Sure, I’ve been involved with other professional writers’ clubs for years and have even spent my fair share of time in newspaper and magazine offices (which are, technically speaking, more like booze-infused cults than writers’ clubs). I’m even currently proud to serve on the board of the Outdoor Writers Association of California.

As impressive as the other groups like the Idaho Press Club are, they’re primarily regional. OWAA is made up of some of the best writers, editors and photographers from every nook and cranny of the country. So I was as apprehensive as an adolescent on prom night as I entered The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird on a bluebird Saturday morning, as the sun brilliantly sparkled on the remnants of the “Champagne Powder” still clinging to the slopes. (Last season, Snowbird received an insane 783” of Utah’s trademarked “Best Snow on Earth” and was open to skiing and boarding until July 4th!)

But as soon as I put my nametag on, which in bold bright green declared that I was a “First Timer,” those nerves vanished faster than cupcakes at a three year-old’s birthday party—or better yet, like free drink coupons at a writers’ conference.

That’s because most of the members of OWAA are about as unabashedly friendly and welcoming as little kids. Instantly, I was welcomed to the group and chatted up by folks from Maryland and Missouri, New Hampshire and New Mexico, Colorado and California, Virginia and Washington (state, as east coasters often like to clarify).

Besides being welcoming, the conference was extremely valuable as both an outdoor writer and magazine editor—and I’m not just reporting this because my publisher paid for the trip.

The conference seminars, the roundtable small discussion groups at lunch and the hospitality suites (what I can remember of them) all fulfilled the goals I had when signing up. The OWAA conference not only supplied material I could use for stories and allowed me to meet writers and photographers who cover my region, it also allowed me to meet the editors of publications I’d like to write for, and taught me a few things about branding and the web world. It also gave me a new goal for next year’s conference in Fairbanks, Alaska: have a far better showing at the annual push-up contest!

From the friendliness and accommodations to the food and the breathtaking views of Utah’s Wasatch Range, the “First Timer” experience at the OWAA conference couldn’t have been better. Heck, one of the local vendors even told me where I could sneak off to catch some cutthroats. It was, after all, an outdoor writers’ conference.

It seems like, overall, OWAA is comprised of people pretty much just like me. Folks from all across the land who love to write, have a passion for the great outdoors and who would never turn down a free drink.
 

 

 

{The original version of this story appeared in Outdoors Unlimited.}