[Web4lib] Attending/Presenting at conferences in difficult times / Dissolution of Reference

[Ranti Junus]

Well, I try to stretch my library dollar by begging a friend to let me
sleep on their sofa for a couple of days or so, if I happen to have a
friend in the city of the conference. Or share a hotel room with
others. Or spent some time comparing the cheapest transportation
method. Once in while I got lucky and can use my accumulated mileage
to get cheaper airline ticket. All of these get reported back to the
comptroller at my institution.

Really, library conference fee is usually not that bad. It's the
travel and lodging costs that kills me.

Webminars or virtual conference is also another way for me to enhance
my professional development. I pay attention to webminars that would
allow one connection with unlimited participants (e.g. project the
webminar to a big screen in a room) and submit it to the library
managers. The library director is usually willing to pay for it so
other library staff could participate too.

Oh, also, those at MPOW who are going to a conference are encouraged
to write a report and share it with the whole library staff. This
could include the programs they attended (and write a brief synopsis
about the programs and why they are useful for our library), the
tidbits, tips, and tricks they received from informal interactions,
and news they heard from the vendors.


ranti.


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