Photo credit: wvs from Flickr

I’ve been living out of a hotel in Toronto for the better part of a week now on a business trip. Among the things I miss are home-cooked meals, my own bed, sleep, Cokebaby and Tofu dog. That said, this trip has allowed me to work with my colleagues face-to-face (which is under-valued). Seriously, go give your coworkers a hug today. Well, maybe do it behind HR’s back if you have one of those no-human contact in the workplace rules. Or send a virtual hug.

In any case, the other perk to the prolonged stay due to meetings and conferences is that I’ve been able to meet a number of people I’ve befriended through social media in the books and publishing world. It’s kind of crazy and wonderful to think I can consider someone a friend without ever having met them IRL. It only took me four years to finally meet someone I’ve worked with and communicated with virtually more frequently than some of the people I’ve met in person.

Some highlights from the week: Book Madam & Associates announced the “associates.” Among them are Julie Wilson, Monique Trottier, Ashleigh Gardner, Sean Cranbury, Erin Balser, Nic Boshart and yours truly. We’ll be pointing to smart, savvy projects and people as they pertain to the book and publishing industry. The announcement was followed by an event called Sociable held at The Pour House Irish Pub where I met about a dozen or more people I’ve been conversing with on Twitter for the past two years. All-in-all an amazing event. As @boyreporter put it: “If this building got hit by an asteroid there would be no books in Canada next year…”

If you love books as much as I do, you’ll be happy to hear that BookCamp is coming to Halifax. I’ve been not-so-secretly planning with Ryan Jones, Eric Rountree and Robbie MacGregor to bring the international melding of bookworms and industry people to our fair city. Mark your calendars and save the date: June 5. More details coming soon.

Finally, check me out at the National Post’s Afterword Reading Society where I’ll be joining in on a panel discussion on the wonderful book Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.