ALA 2010 Reflections

Well, I think I have had enough time to digest my experiences at my first Annual conference of the American Library Association. This is a pretty good video representation of how I felt, blown away by everything there:



So, just like you probably get from that video, it was very overwhelming. So many presentations, panels, and vendors. Quite frankly, I think ALA can do a better job with this, especially with the first time attendees. Having a pre-published, easily accessible master schedule of panels, presentations, and conferences would have been very, very helpful to me in selecting things to attend. Having a mentor is really helpful, and I did have an informal one, I’ll mention in a moment. If ALA is so committed to getting new librarians (like myself) involved with the organization, they need to be proactive in not only getting the new members plugged in (like assigning them someone, or to a distribution list to help with your first steps in ALA) but they also need to help new members pick out good events for their needs at the conference.

I guess I just felt like a fish out of water, as well as completely bewildered with the massive numbers of presentations in the like - all shared in many different formats. It was frustrating.

It was cool to be surrounded by my fellow professionals, and see all the cool stuff on the exhibit floor. Jen and I got to meet Erin Dorney, awesome librarian extraordinare, and her excellent companion, Tony. That was really fun! She has been super helpful in my conference prep, and I am very thankful for her friendship!

Well, all I can say is that I hope my next ALA conference is better. Here’s to next year!