My First ALA! Advice Tips and Tricks
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.
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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
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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
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Don’t schedule too much per day. Choose one or two things you really want to attend, then chose other stuff by proximity stevelawson
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ALA is very spread out. You need to factor in where a session/meeting is when planning a schedule Tombrarian
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wear comfortable shoes!! know what sessions you want before you get there (at least some ideas). Be Flexible! library_chic
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comfortable shoes, be prepared to ship things home, and it’s okay to ask politely if they have galleys for certain titles BethSaxton
Recommended further reading:
- Tips from Stephen Abrams
- Advice for the Shy
- Be Sexier in Person
- Tips for Conference Bloggers
- Maximizing the Conference Experience
The TED Commandments
Speakers at TED are given these Ten Commandments before speaking. I love them! They are pretty good guidelines even for those of us who aren’t speaking at Ted any time soon.
- Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick
- Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before
- Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
- Thou Shalt Tell a Story
- Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
- Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
- Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
- Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
- Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
- Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee
Image by Rives, transcribed by Tim Longhurst. Via Garr Reynolds.
I saw this over on Marianne’s blog
What DO you wish your patrons knew?
My local library
I copied this post from The MLXperience to ask you – What DO you wish your patrons knew?
Seattle Books Examiner’s Danielle Dreger-Babbitt took an informal poll of librarians in Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, New York City, and Portland about what they wish library patrons knew or did. Here’s the shortlist:
1. Use us!
2. We support Intellectual Freedom
3. Be respectful of our library patrons
4. Pay your fines
5. Return your items on time
6. Tell us what you like
7. If possible, check out all materials at once from the circulation desk
8. Please listen to us the first (or even second) time we say something
9. Practice good hygiene
10. Let your librarian know what materials you’d like to see on the shelf
11. The library has almost as many DVD’s as your local video store
12. Hang up your cell phone when you come to the reference desk (or circulation desk)
13. Please be patient with us
14. We like it when you thank us
15. Please respect the desk barrier
16. Come to our programs!
17. Do not leave your child (or children) unattended- for their safety
18. Ask us what we read
19. Ask us for what you really want
20. Enough with the “sexy librarian” jokes
What would you add?
I’d like to add
21. If I’m sitting at the reference desk, please don’t talk to the back or side of my head, it is polite to stand in front of the person you’re addressing.
22. Be an empowered library user, we’d love to show you how to search the catalog, place holds and renew your books online or how you how to use one of our many online resources, just ask!
How do you get organized?
At the end of the Becoming 2.0 four day workshop we all shared how we get organized. Let’s face it, most of us are expected to do more and more in the same amount of time. Some of the tips and tools the class shared were: Evernote, Getting Things Done, 43 Folders and Google notebook. I’ve read about to do lists and index cards on other blogs. I think it’s important to do what works for you and what works for you might not work for others, but I’m always looking for new tips and tools.
My system? A notebook at work for note taking and actions items on the right hand side, colored pens to differentiate between different days or subjects, my Centro’s Palm task list, a moleskine for notes from books or other places, large colored post it notes for that days to-do list. Yeah I know, but it works for me 
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What works for you? What tips and tricks can you share?
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- Feel free to quote blog posts and link back to the site. Please do not copy my entire post on your site. Thank you
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