Dormitory room, Boston Conservatory of Music

Haiku North America conferences are usually held at colleges or universities. You typically have the option of staying on campus with your fellow haiku poets, and I highly recommend doing so. It's the best way to stay in the middle of things, as long as you don't mind living in a dormitory for a few days.

HNA 2001 was held at the Boston Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. I arrived a day early so that I could see a bit of the city and spend some time with other early-arrivers before the conference got into full swing.

I took this picture before my roommates arrived (Lenard D. Moore of the North Carolina Haiku Society, and David Preibe, editor of Haiku Headlines). It was at the end of June, and Boston was having a heat wave. The afternoon sun blazed through the windows, pushing the temperature in the room to over 100 degrees.

Over the next few days, almost no one could stay in the dorms during the daytime. But that gave us an excuse to gather outside, where it was cooler.