Our Inaugural Chat -- Yes, We Did!

Thanks for joining our chat!

On Tuesday, 1/20, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, and it was a historic moment for the United States! But you probably already knew that — after all, between teachers, parents, and, like, every single news reporter in the country, it seems like everyone has been talking about the inauguration. Except you never really hear what kids have to say. What's up with that?

Well, we gave kids their chance to talk about the inauguration. On Thursday, 1/22, we hosted a real-time online chat room on THE STACKS and invited kids to discuss the inauguration with one another.

Thanks to all of you guys who joined the chat.

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EDIT: Check out the transcript!

The 39 CLUES: In the Webcast Control Room

If you're a true Cahill, then I'm sure you already know that today was a big day for our family — The 39 Clues Book 2: One False Note hit stores this morning! Dan and Amy are off to Austria as they continue on their dangerous quest to discover the secret behind Cahill power. Could Mozart's sheet music hold a key? You'll just have to read the book to find out! (If you don't have your copy yet, download the first chapter now.)

To celebrate the release of Book 2, Scholastic hosted a  big event yesterday: an internationally-broadcast live webcast with Gordon Korman, the author of One False Note. And he was interrogated — er, I mean, interviewed — by none other than actress Whoopi Goldberg! Turns out she's a big fan of The 39 Clues series! If you missed the webcast, you can catch the video replay and get the highlights from Carly H.

And while Carly was sitting in the audience, I was up in the control room. That's right — I was manipulating the whole thing. Mwahahaha!

No, not really. Seriously, you think I have the technical know-how to run a webcast? Um, no.

There was one person manning the lights, one person controlling the audio, one person operating three different cameras and simultaneously editing together a live video, one person cueing up the video and the slides that were projected during the webcast, and one person monitoring the live online feed. And then there was little old me. What was I doing, you ask? Well, you know those polls that launched every once in a while during the webcast? Yeah, I was in charge of those.

Anyway, it was my first time in the Scholastic Auditorium's control room, and I was totally psyched to be there — right in the thick of the action. To give you an idea of how fast-paced it was: before the webcast began, Colin, the head AV guy was like, "Karen, when the webcast starts, I'll need you to be sitting down because I'll be running around back here." In other words: stay out of my way! And I was like, "Yes, sir!"

But I did get a chance to snap some photos before the audience trooped in, Gordon and Whoopi took their places onstage, and things got really crazy. Check out these pics for my behind-the-scenes experience of the webcast:

— Karen, STACKS Staffer

Coming Up: First-Ever Kids Gorilla Summit

If you read Evan's entry about Scholastic's campaign to raise awareness about endangered African mountain gorillas, then you know that we've been busy getting things ready for the Looking For Miza Kids Gorilla Summit at Scholastic headquarters in New York City.

Saving the gorillas is hard work! There's a lot of activity going on behind the scenes as we entire the final stages of preparation. So many details go into the planning, things like:

• working out the technology to bring this event to you LIVE on the web, creating a set for the stage and designing lighting for it
• coming up with a "shot list" for the webcast (which cameras will be on whom and when)
• fine tuning the content for the program and writing a script (I'm already on a 9th draft of the outline! — click the image on the right for a larger view)
• planning for special guests (like Dr Richard Leakey, the famed environmentalist)
• coordinating video messages (from former President Bill Clinton and the great American Zookeeper, Jack Hanna)
• editing all the video footage
• coordinating travel for the four Scholastic Kid Reporters based in Rwanda (the photo on the right is of Grace, one of the reporters)

WHEW!!! I'm exhausted just listing it all.

But rest assured — we are just about ready for the big day: Friday, September 26th, 10 a.m. ET.

So we hope you'll tune in on the big day (www.scholastic.com/mizagorilla). It's not only going to be fun and interesting, but we're confident that you will walk away with a newfound inspiration to help the mountain gorillas and the people of the region.

— Billy, Scholastic Vice-President of Productions

Harry Potter: Celebrating 10 Years in Style!

Yesterday, I was complaining about the Half-Blood Prince movie being pushed back, but it seems Harry Potter can never fail me for long. Today, Scholastic announced that the 10th Anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone will be celebrated with an all day Read-a-Thon on September 23rd at Scholastic's headquarters in NYC.

Scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Eastern Time (way early!), people will be taking turns reading passages of the book out loud all the way through to the end (approximately 7 p.m. Eastern Time), which has given the event its name — Harry Potter Cover to Cover Day!

If you're in NY you can come and read a part. The readings are first come, first served and the first 100 readers will get a free copy of the special anniversary edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Now, THAT is totally worth waking up early for! Everyone who reads will get a free commemorative souvenir. And the coolest part of all — when it's your turn to read, you get to do it sitting in the very same throne that J. K. Rowling sat in when she was at Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall. Just make sure to bring a parent if you're under 18 — you won't be allowed to read without them!

For a preview of the event space, click on the image above. The designer, John Ebbert, created this rendering so that Scholastic could see what the final space will look like. This image will also be used as a guide during the actual set-up on September 15th — and we'll be live-blogging with updates as the installation takes place!

If you're not in NY, don't fret. The event will be broadcast via a live webcast right here on THE STACKS. Check in throughout the day (September 23rd) to join in on the excitement.

— Carly H. STACKS Staffer