I attended the last ASA Screenwriters Conference in
I went for many reasons, but mainly one: to “test” the waters, and I don’t mean the drinks, but the waters of the screenplayers world.
It went fine, could be better, but for my purposes it accomplished what I was looking for (mentioned above.)
A bit more of organization could have made the event a hit. Why I said that? I like to get all the info that I can when attending a conference, convention or similar event, in order to organize my time as effective as I can.
However the first Thursday I spent many time asking a lot to the nicely T-shirt’s-dressed volunteers about the schedule, nobody knew about. They knew everything about the SD Film Festival but about the ASA Conference… they were mainly lost.
I didn’t get the schedule of speakers ‘till after the first speaker was done the next day, and it was by chance. The rest of the morning went well.
Andy Cohen was not only useful but amusing, without falling in too much jokes: to the point, done. Thanks!
As that first Friday I wanted to focus on the main guru, David Trottier, I didn’t attended the first speakers of the afternoon… bad idea.
Trottier was scheduled to 5pm, so at 4:45 I was ready in the theater with pad and pen.
But Trottier’s was done! Somebody changed the schedule during the afternoon and he spoke BEFORE. It was sad to miss him.
I went to some of the parties. It was a funny experience the first one, the Red Carpet Gala. My wife and I mainly watched a lot of
The Friday small gathering at the Sheraton for us, the quarterfinalists of the ASA contest, was nice. It allowed me to “scan” the fauna behavior. That was another of my goals, to get an answer to the question: how we behave in herds?
That same night party, where the finalists were announced (I was not one, it’s OK, sometimes you win, sometimes you loose) was also interesting. John Johnson, ASA’s President, as also Matt Hadder, ASA’s board member and great supporter of our craft with his Blog, were not only a great surprise as very kind people but greatly compromised with their work.
In general, it was most useful to live the experience.
I’m not an “indoors” guy, actually, living in
To watch the others in our craft, trying to feed from the sources, wanting to find their space and hopefully survive in the not-so-friendly bushes of the business, was worth the investment.
Just one thing: as in almost all of these kinds of events, the herd drinks a lot… and I’m not a drinker. Noted in the binnacle.
P.S: Great idea and pleasant surprise San Diego. Nani and I enjoyed a lot the city and finally we saw live Pandas!
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