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Photos from Nerd Camp 2018

July 9, 2018 by Travis Jonker   Leave a Comment

Nerd Balloons

For two days in July, the small town of Parma, Michigan becomes the center of the literacy universe.

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I’m off to Nerd Camp and will be sharing photos here throughout the conference. Check back and I’ll be adding to this post as the day goes along.

What is Nerd Camp? Short versh: an “un-conference” focused on literacy. Long versh: I wrote all about it for School Library Journal.

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Up early for Nerd Camp 2018. What can I say? I sacrifice for Nerd Camp.
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Thanks for the journal topic, Nerd Camp.
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“Artfully” posed pic of coffee and succulents. This coffee was good, though.
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Interesting shot of my packed bag.
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Don’t worry, I was parked when I took this.
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Jam-packed for Nerd Camp.
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I have landed at Nerd Rock.
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Time to head in.
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Every year I must photograph these Nerd Camp water bottles.
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Art raffle! Here’s a Tim Miller orig that I didn’t win. But at least I have this picture.
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Cool things that happen at Nerd Camp: someone might give you a keychain with your book cover on it. This was made by Lesley Burnap and it’s so cool. Thanks, Lesley!
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One of Dav Pilkey’s contributions to the art raffle.
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They raised around 4K, all of which goes to buy books for kids. This art raffle thing is a good idea.
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One of these years I’m going to get all the NERD balloons lined up. One of these years.
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Opening session was a fantastic graphic novel panel.
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Dog Man was there.
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Instead of a keynote, Nerd Camp has “Nerd Talks” a series of short talks by a variety of book creators and educators. Always a highlight.
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Then it’s off to sessions. I picked a zine-making workshop with Raul the Third.
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Raul had a Lowriders first draft!
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Lowriders first draft.
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Session two. I chose Reflecting on Diverse Books with Supriya Kelkar, Minh Lê, and Hena Khan.
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Session three with Pernille Ripp.
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Dav Pilkey ended the day.
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Seen in the lobby area.
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After the sessions were done, there was a signing session.
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Time to visit my Albion College accommodations, aka time travel back to my college years.
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Day two. Let’s do it all again! Everyone gathers in the gym to propose sessions (you can see the line forming on the right side of the stage there).
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After the conference is done, Nerd Camp Jr. begins. I took part in the Draw Off this year with Ruth Barshaw, Judd Winick, and MC Jerzy Drozd. It was a really good time.
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See you next time, Nerd Camp.

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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