Librarian by Day » tips

ALA Survival Tips, New & Improved for #ALA11

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:51:57 +0000

I’ve made some updates to the conference tips I shared last year before ALA. Hopefully, there is a little something for everyone, I’ve added a short packing list of things I can’t live without and a reading list with suggestions on networking and tips for introverts.

Packing list

These are the things I can NOT live without at conferences

A good bag in a light weight material. Forgot leather its hot & heavy. Instead go for something lightweight like the bagallini bags, I have two big ones, the Only Bagg and the Ala Carte Medium. Both of these are large tote style bags great as a carry on or if you like a bigger bag. My favorite one is smaller though, the Hobo Style Tote. It’s just big enough my netbook will fit in it, the outer end pockets are big enough for a water bottle and the strap can be shortened to wear as a shoulder bag or long to wear as a messenger.
External Battery Pack I can not express enough love for this device. It’s slightly larger than my cell phone and will fully charge it, twice. Yep. I just remember to plug it in and charge it each night then throw it in my bag during the day. No looking for an outlet or dealing with a dead phone. It has 2 usb plugs on it so if you’re feeling really generous you can share with a friend just as long as they brought their own cord.
Good shoes, at least 2 pairs, neither new
iPod touch – in addition to being a great travel companion (games, podcasts, music, books and more), there are some great white noise apps to help me get to sleep at night or to help drowned out those loud neighbors. Many hotels have a docking station or an mp3 connection to the alarm clock/radio. The new iTouch takes photos so you don’t wear our your cellphone battery taking pictures. Plus lots of great note taking apps if you decide not to take your laptop.
Umbrella – small compact kind
Snack bars – yep, most days my schedule is so packed I can’t get out of the convention center for lunch and you never know what food will or wont be offered.
A well planned schedule – yep my schedule is plotted out weeks in advance with locations and everything. I print it out in additon to having it on my phone so I can easily see a glance where I’m supposed to be and when. I politely decline the big printed one at check-in. I already know where I’m going & its heavy.

Tips

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, eat meals with other people, 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 with 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.
Make a schedule, be willing to break it – make a schedule of what you’d like to attend, know what you absolutely must see and what you’d be willing to miss for coffee with that person you’ve been wanting to meet or the awesome new person you just met
Know what amenities your hotel offers – internet access, gym, fridge, breakfast etc, use them.
Ask for the things you need at your hotel – you’re a paying guest, don’t be afraid to ask for little things like more hangers or more coffee.
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, it wont matter how much you see if you are too worn out to remember it or how many people you meet if you are too burnt out to make a good impression.
Wear comfortable shoes - seriously, if you must wear heels put a pair of flats in your bag, trust me you will be happy you did when you making that long walk you weren’t planning to make.
Get the right bag – you don’t want to carry too much it’s hard on your back & shoulders, but you need room for important extras like extra shoes, a water bottle and a sweater or wrap. Really think about if you need that laptop. Can you take notes by hand & type them up later? Twitter and check email from your phone if you can. Forgo leather, sure it looks great but its hot & adds extra unneeded pounds (see more about bags under shopping list)
Layer your clothes, bring a jacket, sweater or shawl, temperature can vary widely in rooms and you want to be comfortable
Drink lots of water – so easy to forget when you’re on the go and it is one small thing that can make you feel so much better

More tips from others via Friendfeed, Twitter or blogs.

In the exhibits, ask yourself 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.
ALA is very spread out. You need to factor in where a session/meeting is when planning a schedule Tombrarian

Karen Schnieder has a great list I’ve grabbed a couple of my favorites, so as not to steal the whole thing but go read it.

Bring more business cards than you think you need

Always visit the exhibits.

Get creative with transportation.

Attend a program hosted by an entity outside your usual “space.”

Tip the people who make our visit so comfortable.

Must Read List

What’s in your must-have packing list? What tips would you add?

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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

The TED Commandments

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:16:12 +0000

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.

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What DO you wish your patrons knew?

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:39:24 +0000

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

See the full article: Seattle Books Examiner: Top 20 things librarians in public libraries wish patrons knew or did

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!Similar Posts:

How do you get organized?

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:47:08 +0000

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 .

What works for you? What tips and tricks can you share?Similar Posts: