Keynote are special events that provide additional insights and programming that are only available at the conference, and you can register for them at the time of your main registration!
ONLY REGISTERED GUESTS may purchase a keynote ticket.
Please login via the registration link here, using your email address and confirmation number, choose the "Modify" option to add any of the following keynotes.
Be careful! Once registered for a keynote event, you will be
unable to cancel it.
Nosh with The Nerdfighters keynote
Friday, May 22 - 2PM-4PM
John and Hank Green, Nerdfighters extraordinaire, and hosts of the hugely popular YouTube video channel, The Vlogbrothers.
Hank Green is the author of
EcoGeek.org, an environmentally conscious blog dedicated to sharing innovations that are working to preserve our planet. His brother
John Green is an acclaimed novelist, winner of the
Michael L Printz Award and author of several successful young adult novels, such as the recent
Paper Towns,
An Abundance of Katherines, and the award winning
Looking for Alaska which will soon be a motion picture from Paramount. The brothers are well known and proud
Nerdfighters, which is the concept it's much better to be traditionally known and defined as a 'nerd' or being someone who is intelligent and active concerning matters in the world around you, than being vapid and passive. John and Hank Green are also hosts of the
Vlogbrothers channel on YouTube, one that was born of the idea they would alternate making daily videos to communicate with each other in lieu of normal written communications. Those few early videos quickly turned into a phenomena full of much fun, laughter, serious political news and information, charitable awareness, calls to action, and oh yes, Harry Potter.
Readers will recall in the days leading up to the release of
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007, there was a video of a young man singing about wanting this long-awaited novel in the Harry Potter series. That video,
Accio Deathly Hallows, quickly became a video of legend with well over a million views, and
helped spur on the ever growing Vlogbrothers channel. Because the Nerdfighter side has cookies too, we now invite you to please join us for the
Nosh with The Nerdfighters keynote event, which will take place
Friday, May 22nd from 2:00-4:00pm.
Books and Music are the good word for the day as 2:00-3:00PM will see the John and Hank Green make their presentation in the Plaza Ballroom, followed by a very special musical release party for
DFTBA Volume 1, a special YouTube compilation CD featuring a new song from Hank that will take place from 3:00 to 4:00pm. At a cost of $30.00 (USD), keynote attendees will also be able to nosh on such goodies as Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, White Chocolate with Macadamia nut and Oatmeal raisin cookies or Chocolate Fudge Brownies, plus a choice of beverages including Chocolate, Whole and Skim milk, freshly brewed Starbucks coffee (regular and decaf) and a selection of herbal teas, all in addition to the great discussion and music for the event.
Michael Goldenberg keynote
Saturday, May 23 - 12PM-2PM
The Saturday afternoon keynote will feature screenwriter
Michael Goldenberg, who wrote the 2007 adaptation of
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!
This is a
first-of-its-kind, absolutely unmissable event for Harry Potter fans which promises to be an entertaining and enlightening look at the process behind adapting the world's best-selling series for the big screen, as well as screenwriting and adaptation in general. In addition to
Harry Potter, Mr. Goldenberg is the scribe behind the beloved films
Peter Pan (2003), and
Contact (1997). The event will take the form of a moderated discussion (I will serve as moderator) followed by question-and-answer session.
The event is an absolute steal at $60.
Editors and Authors: Cheryl Klein and John Green keynote
Friday, May 22 - 2PM-4PM
The third keynote for
LeakyCon 2009 completes our program in every way: the first keynote we announced (
Nosh with Nerdfighters) is all about Harry Potter and community; the second (
Q&A with Michael Goldenberg) shines a spotlight on the Harry Potter films and their chief challenge, adaptation; our third is a literary panel that's sure to excite every last booklover (which is to say... all of us):
We present:
Editors and Authors: Cheryl Klein and John Green on Writing.
Join us for a very special keynote as we bring a prominent YA editor Cheryl Klein and prominent YA novelist John Green together to discuss the writing process, the editorial relationship, the state of young
adult literature and, of course, Harry Potter. Sit in for this unique discussion, to learn what it's really like between an editor and an author as they shepherd a book from start to shelves, writing and
editing for a young-adult or teen audience, the challenges and limitations of the genre, what makes a good novel great, and a lot more! There will also be a Q-and-A session.
About the keynoters:
Cheryl Klein, senior editor at Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic, has been part of the editing team of the American Harry Potter books since 2001 and has participated in the Harry Potter fandom for even longer. Harry Potter fans are still talking about her speech about the writing lessons in Harry Potter that she gave at Terminus 2008 in Chicago. Her most recently edited books include the William C. Morris Award-winning "Curse Dark as Gold," the Mildred Batchelder Award-winning "Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit," and Francisco Stork's acclaimed "Marcelo in the Real World." Cheryl lives in New York City and
blogs regularly.
John Green is a major American young adult novelist. His first book, "Looking for Alaska," won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, the highest honor of its kind. His latest novel, "Paper Towns," is a New York Times Bestseller and a nominee for the 2008 Edgar Awards (Best Young Adult). John is also well-known for his Internet videos as one half of the
Vlogbrothers on YouTube, and for helping to create a worldwide community of nerds. You can read more of his writing online
here.
We are trying something a little different for this keynote. This keynote will not be a luncheon, which allows us to offer it to you for less. A ticket to this keynote is $20.
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REMINDER ABOUT OUR TWITTER CONTEST:
If you twitter the following phrases you or the registrant of your choice (so tell your friends to do it) may win a free ticket to the corresponding keynote. (And do not wait to see if you've won to buy a ticket: if you already have a ticket and you win, we will refund you; the winners will be announced the week before the conference). Copy and paste these into your twitter:
#1: Michael Goldenberg, screenwriter on HP5, is keynoting @leakycon2009! Go here for details: http://tinyurl.com/d9ba8g - more @leaky!
#2: Nerdfighters @leakycon2009! Go here for details: http://tinyurl.com/cd4eb8 - more @leaky!
#3: Cheryl Klein and John Green on writing @leakycon2009 - go here for details: http://tinyurl.com/cmjk2w - more @leaky!