If you have a paper or are looking to make a presentation at a conference, you need to permanently bookmark this site.

In case you missed the link to sign up for TechRhet, here it is. The folks on TechRhet are incredibly nice. They offer useful and clear advice, and their discussions are more interesting compared to most sites. If you are interested in computers or technology and rhetoric/composition, do not miss out on this list.

It’s hard to think of modern composition — especially developmental writers and class issues in composition — without thinking of Mike Rose. Check out his blog.

Another great link from the TechRhet e-mail list: a list of useful Web 2.0 tools you can use in your teaching.

The deadline for the Conference in College Composition and Communication is fast approaching. Please, if you have any interest in making a proposal on adjunct-related themes, get to it quickly! The more proposals adjuncts make and submit, the more likely we are to get in the conference. Often it is at places like the Cs where we can best connect, exchange information, and put faces with works and ideas. This is a great chance to speak up — please consider submitting a proposal on an adjunct-related theme!

Sure, this is a bit dated. However, if you have never used Google Docs before, the video can be pretty informative. Take a moment to check it out. (Link harvested from the TechRhet discussion list.)

Many thanks to Adjunct Advocate for publishing a list of award-winning adjuncts. We need more positive publicity and recognition like this!

It is with great ease that I can state the following: attending the Cs in NoLa has completely redirected my professional career and development.

No doubt.

No question.

No hesitation.

Beyond the professional development — I now feel an internal urge to pursue a PhD, but more on that later — going to NoLa was revelatory. Just like there are modes of learning and different kinds of intelligence, there are different lenses for perceiving the world. I have not felt this kind of excitement, joy, energy, and engagement personally and professionally ever. It is the timing which is stunning.

Sure, my life is blessed. I know that, and I am very grateful for that. But excitement goes up and down — in cycles, you know. My academic and professional career has similar ups and downs. NoLa was a synchronized — dare I say a surgical strike of bliss? — peak of personal and professional development. All the waves crested at the same time. Mind-bogglingly brilliant.

Do I expect this to happen at every conference? (Do you hear me laughing?) No, I don’t. But, I do expect to experience personal and professional growth to happen at conferences from now on. Before attending the Cs, “Conference” was a notion. Now I know that “Conference” is an interactive spectacle which is as meaningful as I want to make it. As such, conferences have enormous potential and power.

As an adjunct in a rural area, largely isolated from many people and ideas, conferencing was a check back into reality. It was the most effective and efficient form of reflection available — and I bumbled into it.

One thing I can assure you of is this: attending the Cs has done more for my mental health than any three or five day road trip or book buying trip (heaven on earth) ever did.

Here are some images from my trip to the Cs in NoLa. First is a shot of the Asus Eee that traveled with me.

The courtyard of where I stayed.

The stairs going up to my room.

Step out the door and look to the left.

I saw this stretch every day I was in NoLa.

I’m no foodie, but I know how the cost of food impacts my pocketbook — especially when I have to eat out three meals a day for days on end. Add to that the factors of being in a big city, not being a local who knows where to find cheap eats, and conferences being located — usually — in downtown areas. So, what I humbly suggest to the big wide world of compositionist foodies is this: an informal eating activist group that posts a blog, wiki, and/or broadsides at conferences that map out the locations for eating for $10 and under within reasonable distance of the conference. I am sure grad students would appreciate this as much as many adjuncts would.

If someone or some group is already doing this — or undertakes this in the future — please let me know. I am more than happy to post links to your wisdom. Or, if you prefer, I can even post the food listings here.