Librarian by Day » Conferences

6 Reasons Your Library Should Host a TEDxLive Viewing Party for TEDWomen

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:47:29 +0000

What is TEDWomen?

On December 7 and 8, 2010, TEDWomen will gather five hundred global thought leaders, innovators and storytellers in Washington, DC, to watch enlightening speakers and connect with a global community of women and men. The cross-disciplinary, cross-generational program will focus on how women think and work, communicate and collaborate, learn and lead. The program will explore what this means and why it matters to all of us.

TEDx and TEDWomen

The vision for TEDWomen is unlike any other “Women” conference. One of our key objectives is to hear from female voices around the globe, and on every continent. You, the TEDx community, are essential to achieving these goals.

TEDWomen will be streamed live on TED.com. The stream will be offered free to TEDx organizers who sign up to host a viewing party. The stream must also be offered free to attendees.

A key part of the TEDWomen conference is hearing from women in communities around the world, and that is where we need your help.

So why should your library host a viewing part?

1. Cost – There is no cost.

2. Speakers – When else will you have an opportunity to have so many great speakers in your library for free?

3. Diversity – speakers include teens and adults, urban and rural, topics include health, finance, communities and more

4. Travel – Staff and attendees get to attend a global event.

5. Experience – TED events are an amazing experience.

6. Easy – It’s practically planned for you thanks to all the great resources and suggestions from TED

Thank you to Denise for making me aware of this!Similar Posts:

Reminder Transliteracy Conference 9 Feb 2010 Call for Papers Dec 1st Deadline

Bobbi Newman — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:40:25 +0000

Call for Presentations : Transliteracy Conference : Tuesday 9 February, 2010, 9:30 – 17:30

Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre Leicester, UK

In association with the Institute of Creative Technologies & the NLab Small Business Network, De Montfort University

http://nlabnetworks.typepad.com/transliteracy/conference2010.html

Deadline for Abstracts: 1 December, 2009

Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. Since 2005, when Professor Sue Thomas introduced this concept in the UK, transliteracy has been taken up and explored by a broad range of academics and practitioners, from information scientists to literary theorists, artists and writers.

The first Transliteracy Conference will take place at Leicester’s new Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre, on 9 Feb 2010. This one-day event offers an opportunity for academics, artists, business people and practitioners to share discoveries, ideas, and creative works that amplify and augment transliteracy research.

This Call for Presentations invites 250 word abstracts. Presentations should be 10-15 minutes in duration, and can be used to show work or deliver a short paper. The Conference Panel will group presentations together thematically in sessions scheduled to include time to explore the issues and ideas raised through discussion. Phoenix Square is well equipped with the latest technology, so presenters will be able to show work on screen and via the internet.

Themes to be explored include:

transliteracy and libraries
transliteracy and the arts
transliteracy in education
transliteracy in communications
transliteracy in the workplace
transliteracy and transdisciplinarity
transliteracy in action – examples of transliterate works, like digital fiction, networked arts projects, or library resources

Abstracts should be submitted in the body of an email totransliteracy@googlemail.com Please include a 100-word bio and contact email address.

Deadline for abstracts is 1 December, 2009; notification of acceptance by 18 December, 2009.

Further information can be obtained from Louisa Allen attransliteracy@googlemail.com

We expect to charge a modest delegate fee to cover costs.

Selected materials from the conference will be published online athttp://www.transliteracy.com

For more about The Transliteracy Research Group (TRG) seehttp://www.transliteracy.com

To discuss Transliteracy visit http://transliteracy.ning.com/

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Internet Librarian Wrap Up

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:03:17 +0000

As always conferences are amazing, stimulating, intense and tiring, but worth every second of it. I was able to talk with so many amazing people, and yet there were so many others I wanted to connect with and didn’t manage to. *More reflection at the end, but for those who want the nitty gritty….

Pulled from notes and tweets – some of my favorite quotes/idea and what I’m thinking about.

If you could tell the world 1 thing about libraries in 30 secs or less what would it be?
Good enough is the new perfect
Lean into your discomfort – change doesn’t happen without discomfort.
Be clear where your lines are drawn.
Your librarianly obsession with Star Wars will not endear you to your patrons.
The future is here its just not evenly distributed.
Privacy is dead, get over it
“If I’d asked them what they wanted they would have said a faster horse” – Henry Ford
“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” Gen. Eric Shinseki
If we keep identifying with books – libraries are dead.
We should reward success and failure, punish inaction
We have more autonomy as college students that we do as adults
“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.” – John Cage
Assume everyone is going to be an ally
Understand what your org hidden org chart is
Ask for the sale
When people see something new they think you’re taking away the old, so start with what is staying the same
70% of patron interaction occurs remotely.
Quest to Teen: Are you ever bullied online? Teen: Nope, I’m private, but sometimes my friends annoy me
70% overlap btwn teens & boomers. Volunteer 4 xs more & engaged in the issues

Books I’ll be reading -

Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: No Schedules, No Meetings, No Joke–the Simple Change That Can Make Your Job Terrific
The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die – this one has been sitting on my to-read shelf for months

Jason Griffey created a wordle from the tweets, take a look at it full-sized it’s awesome.

Griffey's Wordle from IL 2009 Tweets

*I was fortunate on my travels home, I did make it home with only minor delays (comparatively) and missing one bag which showed up 24 hours later, intact. I am grateful I was able to attend and extremely grateful for all the people who talked with me in hallway, coffee shop, sessions halls, exhibit halls, at dinner & coffee, and on the street. I wish we’d had more time to talk. I wish I’d had the nerve to approach more people I only know by name, I’m a little socially awkward. (Once I get to know you, you can’t shut me up) I vow to do better next time. Until then, ciao!Similar Posts:

Web 2.0 for Patrons

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:00:46 +0000

One of my presentations from Internet Librarian 2009 with Jennifer Koerber, Sean Robinson, Rebecca Ranallo

I’ll be posting an update to this when I hear from Liz.

Web 2.0 for Library Patrons

View more presentations from Bobbi Newman.

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Bring on the Rain Putting the Cloud to Work for You: in introduction to cloud computing

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:58:42 +0000

One of my presentations from the 2009 COMO conference in Columbus GA

Bring on the Rain Putting the Cloud to Work for You: in introduction to cloud computing

View more presentations from Bobbi Newman.

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ALA 2009 wrap up

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:23:03 +0000

I survived my first ALA! It was intense and exhilorating and tiring, but worth every minute of it. When I return from conferences there are always a lot of thoughts rolling around and it takes me about a week to solidify everything. But here are the things that really stuck with me and what I’m thinking about. Expect to see at least some of these as full blog posts when I’ve got my thoughts in line.

You may not have signed up for this job but it’s the job you have deal with it
admins and managers let your staff go, the worse that could happen is that you have a failed project you learn something from
these technologies are not a magic wand, you shouldn’t just have a blog to have a blog, you need to do what your community needs, have a plan a strategy, don’t just jump in without knowing where you’re going
how long have we had computers? Why do you still have staff who are intimidated by computers, why did you hire them? Why are they still working there?
we don’t have any problem doing what we’ve always done, but if we don’t do anything more than we’ve always done we’re going to be in trouble
Patience is hard to come by for innovators, we see something and want it now, and have made the change before others even see it coming
Get comfortable with ambiguity
Push power down org chart wherever and whenever possible
Don’t try to do too much or some of your projects will rust while pursuing others
Not everyone knows who Darien Library is or what they are doing, look outside your bubble
Library 2.0 never promised anything

And some photos, although I didn’t take many.

David Lee King talks about Facebook pages at BIGWIG Social Software Showcase

Jason Griffey talks about Google Wave at BIGWIG Social Software Showcase

The Unconference

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My First ALA! Advice Tips and Tricks

Bobbi Newman — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:00:37 +0000

The most repeated advice - comfortable shoes

Tomorrow I’m off for my first ALA conference, it was a bit of a last minute deal but I’m pleased to be attending! I will be blogging the sessions I attend both here and on LITA’s blog.

When I found out I was going I sent out a call for tips on Twitter and got a some great responses on FriendFeed and Twitter. I’ve blogged conference tips before and thought I’d recap and add some new ones as a reminder to myself.

Give people your name, wear your name badge up near your face rather than on a lanyard so it’s easy for people to glance at it while talking to. Introduce yourself, even if you’ve already met the person. Some of us have hard time with names and there are a LOT of people to remember.
Don’t hang out with the people you came with – Go to different sessions, maximize your time at the conference you can share with each other what you learned.
Meet new people – you’re probably not going to meet new people if you’re hanging out wtih the people you came with. Get out of your comfort zone, ask people what they want to get from the conference, how far they traveled etc, you never know what you’ll learn or who you’ll meet.
Review the program before you go so you know what session you will be attending and when you’ll have free time to have coffee with someone you meet.
Know what amenities your hotel offers – internet access, gym, fridge, breakfast etc
Make time for down time, conferences can be overwhelming there is so much to do, so many people to meet. Don’t wear yourself out early.
Wear comfortable shoes
Layer your clothes, bring a jacket, temperature can vary widely in rooms and you want to be comfortable
Drink lots of water

From FriendFeed & Twitter – I tried to give credit where credit is due without violating anyones privacy settings, but if I messed something up, feel free to let me know.

Write down the sessions you want to go to, rip the maps out of the program and leave the program at home. If you should need the full program, there will be 2,000 librarians in your general vicinity you can borrow from. – Steve Lawon
In the exhibits, ask youself before taking swag “would I want this if it weren’t free?” And it is unseemly to push people out of the way to get an advance reading copy. – Steve Lawson
Anything you acquire, you will have to bring home. I like to stick a small flattened cardboard box and a roll of packing tape in my suitcase to mail home free books. – Jason P.
In Chicago, just plan on spending the day either at McCormack place or at the other hotels. Getting back and forth between McCormack and the rest of the conference takes forever and a day, and you end up missing half the sessions you wanted to get to. Laura
Make sure to attend the BIGWIG Social Software Showcase on Monday morning at 10:30 in the convention center. The exhibit hall normally has a shipping area, collect free books and take them there to ship them home. Most of the really good stuff happens during the social hours, not the sessions, plan accordingly. My fav “social” events include the OCLC Blog Salon and the LITA Happy hour, but if you want you can go the entire weekend without paying for food or drink, if you smooze with enough vendors. More as I think of it. – Jason Griffey
Good shoes, go to hear people of interest despite topic, Lots of time at exhibits, easy on swag you pick up there itsanno
Don’t schedule too much per day. Choose one or two things you really want to attend, then chose other stuff by proximity stevelawson
ALA is very spread out. You need to factor in where a session/meeting is when planning a schedule Tombrarian
wear comfortable shoes!! know what sessions you want before you get there (at least some ideas). Be Flexible! library_chic
comfortable shoes, be prepared to ship things home, and it’s okay to ask politely if they have galleys for certain titles BethSaxton

Why I’m over people Twittering Conferences, Meetings

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:45:31 +0000

and anywhere else two Twitter users happen to run into each other.

Its seems like a day doesn’t go by without signing into my Twitter account to see a stream of tweets from someone going by with a #hashtag I don’t recognize. I’m not talking about a couple of tweets, I mean the full-on stream. I’m begging you, please stop!

I’m all for the idea of sending a Tweet when you hear something remarkable, moving, or innovative, but based on the number of Tweets I see flying by every other sentence is worth exclaiming over, somehow I doubt this.

What it really looks like is too many people are using Twitter as their personal note taking system. Get a notebook, a netbook, or a pen and paper, whatever, just stop Tweeting!

If you’re Twittering:

You’re not paying attention – mulitasking is a myth – you can not text as fast as you type, so whatever you are texting likely happened 30 seconds or more ago, meaning you are not paying attention to what is being said now. Stop texting and pay attention, its what you’re there for. Even if you’re tweeting from a computer…
You’re not contributing. Yes, I know there are a few cases where some awesome back channel conversations* happen, and someone rushes off to write an article or a post about it, but most likely you’re not.
You’re crying wolf – If you’re sending 20 tweets an hour, the really awesome super duper things got lost in the crowd of the bagillion others you sent you sent. Pick and choose the really exceptional things to Tweet.
Someone else is saying the SAME thing at the SAME time (most likely). Instead say something new, say something of value, pick the one or two really good pieces and Tweet those, it is much more useful for your followers.
You’re loosing your followers, I don’t mean unfollowing, I mean they aren’t paying attention to you. Sure one or two might love to here a play by play of whats happening right now, but the others don’t care. They don’t care because they don’t want to spend the energy chasing down what the heck your hashtag means, they don’t care because they just popped on so see what their friends are up to and instead all they see is one person, you, filling up their screen. They dont’ care, not because they don’t care what you’re tweeting about, they do, but because they don’t have the time and energy to focus on it right now. They don’t care because they just don’t care.
You’re making it hard for people to find the information later. Sure you can search the hashtag and read through thousands of 140 character snippets of information, many of which say the same thing because everyone else was tweeting the conversation.
You’re not blogging. Yes I know some have declared blogs dead, but f I want real information about a session I missed I’d so much rather find a blog post. Yes a blog post, with everything nicely typed out, not abbreviated in weird formats to fit in to 140 characters, not scattered across tens or hundreds of tweets. I can bookmark one page, not 20.

If you find you absolutely must conference/meeting tweet prodigiously, take a page from my smart friend Maruice’s book and get a seperate account just for conferences.

*I’m not sure how I feel about these back channel conversations, everyone thinks they are so awesome, but arent’ they really just the equivalent of two people talking to each other in the back of the class? It might go unnoticed in a large audience, but in a small group its just rude.

I’m not advocating never Twitter anything from a conference, meeting or pow-wow again, but show some discretion man, moderation in all things, even Twitter.Similar Posts:

Fee based Workshops should the presenter get paid?

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:02:19 +0000

I got into a conversation with Joshua Neff of Library Society of the World fame (among many other things), about this topic and he said – you should blog about it. Who am I to ignore a direct order

Here is the jist. There are a lot of ways to present in libraryland. You can submit to a conference, which may or may not waive the registration fee and depending on the circumstances offer other compensations including but not limited to travel, hotel & meal expenses. This ranges widely from conference to conference and person to person. Ok I accept that situation. I know there are opinions on which conferences do what, but I’m not addressing that now.

Then there are the other presentations/workshops where you’re asked/invited to come talk/teach/train about something. Some of these are free to attendees (never mind membership dues) and some are fee based.

Here is my issue – if attendees are charged a fee the presenter should expect to be compensated. I’m not saying don’t present without compensation. I agree with Josh, I’m all for sharing information for free. But you should ask up front if attendees be charged a fee. If you’re going to be putting hard work into a presentation, not be compensated, and the organization is charging for attendance, you should ask for a good explanation of why not and where the money is going and what it will be used for. Think about it like this -it’s like working a fundraiser. You are donating time, you have the right to ask questions such as – what is the cause? where does the money end up?Similar Posts:

I’m going to Malaysia!

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:43:34 +0000

I know I’ve shared this story with many of you in person, so forgive me if you’ve already heard it.

It seems like ages ago that I got invited to attend the International Conference on Libraries, Information and Society, but it was only in June that I got a Facebook message asking me if I would consider attending. Yes that’s right a Facebook message, about 90% of the communication, planning and details for this visit, were done though Facebook. It seems like I’ve been planning and preparing for it for ages. I know some of you wondered where I’ve been over the last month or so. But the time has finally come. I’ll leave next week! I’ll be presenting at the conference and giving a post conference workshop, but there will be time for sightseeing too!

Summer Storm over Kuala Lumpur, originally uploaded by Stuck in Customs.Similar Posts: