[Web4lib] Attending/Presenting at conferences in difficult times

Tue Feb 9 13:56:52 EST 2010

Dave,

California has a "$19.9 billion deficit for the remaining five months of
this fiscal year" - San Jose Mercury
<http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_14325734> . 

You *may* be able to solve a problem at work by getting state funds to go to
a conference and "gossiping over snacks"? You *may* make a contact that is
helpful in the future?

You *may* be able to solve a problem at work by finding and reading a book
by an expert on the problem. You could contact the author for more
information.

*************************************************
Robert L. Balliot
Skype: RBalliot
Bristol, Rhode Island
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm
*************************************************

-----Original Message-----
From: Walker, David [mailto:dwalker at calstate.edu] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 1:34 PM
To: Robert L. Balliot; 'Ross Singer'; 'Robert Balliot'
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Attending/Presenting at conferences in difficult
times

Informally talking to people at conferences about the problems you face at
work  -- the "gossiping over snacks" comment made earlier -- might very well
lead to ideas for how to solve those problems, as well as contacts who can
be useful to you in future projects.

--Dave

==================
David Walker
Library Web Services Manager
California State University
http://xerxes.calstate.edu
________________________________________
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org [web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On
Behalf Of Robert L. Balliot [rballiot at oceanstatelibrarian.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 9:53 AM
To: 'Ross Singer'; 'Robert Balliot'
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Attending/Presenting at conferences in difficult
times

The topic was: Attending/Presenting at conferences in difficult times

If attendees actually participate - such as deliver papers, conduct
meetings, and contribute to the event in some recognizable way, that seems
justifiable. Snacks, bookmarks and gossip and a nebulous valuation of
networking, however, do not quantify.  I have never heard of any group
defining a professional activity as snacks, bookmarks, and gossip. But, I
guess they could ~

"How do you like the conference so far?"
"It is great. It only cost two thousand dollars and I get to be away from
work for a few days."
"How is work going?"
"I hate it there, I never seem to get anything done."
"I'm with you there! Same at my library."
"Hey, have you tried these snacks? I like the spicy pigs-in-a-blanket best!"
"Me too. Oh, did you hear? They are giving away bookmarks today at the
vendor booth."
"Really? We don't have bookmarks and vendors will never show us anything out
our library.  I am certainly glad I came!"
"Me too! Here is my card, glad we could share."

Sadly, there are many, many libraries cutting materials budgets, staff,
services, and hours while others snack on.

*************************************************
Robert L. Balliot
Skype: RBalliot
Bristol, Rhode Island
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm
*************************************************

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Ross Singer
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 12:18 PM
To: Robert Balliot
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Attending/Presenting at conferences in difficult
times

Employers understand the dynamics of conferences as well.  The
"social" effects are positive - you learn as much or more from
interacting with peers, former colleagues, etc. as you do from formal
presentations.

Employers understand this because /everybody goes to conferences at some
point/.

Code4Lib (for example) has really struggled with the balance between
the traditional "we need formal presentations so people can be assured
travel funding" and "how can we utilize these 250 smart people in a
room for 2.5 days".

Personally, I don't usually get much "new" or "useful" or the
intersection thereof from majority of presentations at any conference
I attend.  There is generally a plethora of useful connections,
information, ideas, and collaboration however at lunch, between
sessions, during breaks, at the bar, etc.

We are, after all, supposed to be professionals, right?  These aren't
training seminars; they're gatherings of our like-minded (or
like-jobbed) peers to discuss our given successes and problems.

-Ross.

On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 10:51 AM, Robert Balliot <rballiot at gmail.com> wrote:
> Yes, those are marketing methods that make a conference more attractive to
> you and I am certain they are important to other people too.
>
> But, how exactly do snacks, gossip, and bookmarks benefit your employer?
 If
> that is the *real benefit* of a meeting or conference, then how would an
> employer justify the expense?
>
>
> R. Balliot
> http://oceanstatelibrarian.com
>
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 10:27 AM, Gillian Wiseman
<gwiseman at ci.waco.tx.us>wrote:
>
>> Speaking merely as an attendee of many conferences, both local
>> workshops, state library association conferences, and national
>> conferences (CIL, ALA, etc...) the real benefit to ME from going to
>> conferences isn't the "meet the speaker" opportunity.
>>
>> It is having snacks at a table in the hallway with three other
>> librarians from other states and cities, gossiping about how hard it is
>> to do "this" or overcome "that". It's the little things like bringing
>> bookmarks home for the teens and saying "I picked those with you in
>> mind". Or seeing a particular product in person, touching it and talking
>> to the vendor about a specific application I had in mind in my library.
>>
>> No level of videoconferencing will ever completely replace that; which
>> said, if I have to choose between NOT getting any conference, and
>> attending the programs online, I'll take online any day.
>>
>> Gillian Wiseman
>> Electronic Resources Librarian
>> Waco-McLennan County Library
>> 1717 Austin Ave
>> Waco TX 76701
>> 254-750-5944
>> gwiseman at ci.waco.tx.us
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
>> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Jill O'Neill
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 7:28 AM
>> To: 'John Fereira'
>> Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
>>   Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Attending/Presenting at conferences in difficult
>> times
>>
>> Speaking as an event organizer, I am sure that most conferences are
>> seeing
>> shifts in a variety of ways. Certainly speakers require more
>> subsidization
>> of travel. Organizations don't send as many people to a single
>> conference as
>> they might have done five years ago. Costs are up in the hospitality
>> industry in terms of catering and that too may force associations to
>> re-evaluate traditional practices in supplying attendees. There are the
>> issues associated with technology (such as supplying wi-fi to
>> registrants).
>>
>> That said, one of the most frequently cited rationales for attending a
>> conference in a face-to-face setting is associated with the opportunity
>> to
>> meet the real person. Doing it online offsets limited travel, but
>> there's
>> nothing like shaking a hard in real time and in real space to cement a
>> connection.
>>
>> So, John, I would suggest to you that conference attendance *will*
>> change
>> over the course of the next ten years, but we're not entirely done with
>> physical bodies gathering in a ballroom to discuss issues and celebrate
>> successes!
>>
>> And while we're on the topic of attending conferences, this year's NFAIS
>> Annual Conference features speakers Clay Shirky, Lorcan Dempsey, John
>> Wilbanks, and Peter Brantley (http://bit.ly/5TOr1q). The venue is the
>> Hyatt
>> at the Bellevue in Philadelphia and the dates are February 28-Mar 2,
>> 2009.
>> But the theme of the conference is what is most relevant to this
>> audience,
>> Redefining the Value of Information: Exploring the New Equation!
>>
>> Jill
>>
>>
>> Jill O'Neill
>> Director, Planning & Communication
>> NFAIS
>> (v) 215-893-1561
>> (email) jilloneill at nfais.org
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
>> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of John Fereira
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 6:53 AM
>> To: a.j.p.van.den.brekel at med.umcg.nl
>> Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
>> Subject: [Web4lib] Attending/Presenting at conferences in difficult
>> times
>>
>> a.j.p.van.den.brekel at med.umcg.nl wrote:
>> > International conference on emerging technologies in academic
>> libraries
>> 2010 (emtacl10)
>> > 26-28 April 2010, Trondheim, Norway
>> >
>> > This is a new international conference for academic librarians,
>> information professionals, academic staff, students, library system
>> developers and suppliers, among others. The conference aims to provide
>> answers to the following questions: What can academic libraries do to
>> address change? How can we adapt? Which technologies can/should/must we
>> use/create? (View the conference programme
>> > <http://www.ntnu.no/ub/emtacl/?programme>)
>>
>> This looks like a good conference.  "Unfortunately" I'm going to be
>> presenting a workshop at a conference in Montpellier, France on the
>> 28th. Feel my pain.
>>
>> Actually, the real reason for responding (although I changed the
>> subject) was that I was wondering how others managed to go to
>> conferences such as these across the pond (for those of us in North
>> America).
>>
>> I've been on the planning committee for an open source organization
>> (Jasig) conference for the past several years and the registration
>> numbers for our upcoming and previous conference are way down.  Most
>> institutions just won't foot the bill to send people to conferences.
>> Over the past couple of years it seems that almost every conference
>> announcement I see eventually has a "registration deadline extended"
>> post so I suspect that conferences in general are getting lower
>> attendance figures.
>>
>>
>> At my library I can essentially attend only one library funded
>> conference a year (my attendance at one in Montpellier is being paid for
>>
>> by an external source).  Do ya'll pay your own way to some of the
>> conferences that you attend?  The Handheld Librarian conference last
>> year and the one upcoming have set a pretty good precedent for how
>> effective a virtual conference can be.  Is that the direction that we
>> will be going?  While I made a lot of good contacts through the last
>> hhlib, those face-to-face encounters just can be duplicated virtually.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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