June 17, 2008
ALA Annual Conference
I’m just now putting together my schedule for the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA, next week. I’ve been meaning to sign up for sessions and receptions for a few weeks now, but haven’t been able to find the time to sit down and do it. So I’ve been working on my schedule for the last few days, squeezing it in here and there between projects, problems, and routine tasks.
As always, there are lots of great programs in the same time slot, in hotels spread across a huge city. Years ago, ALA conference planners were supposed to organize programs into tracks so that we could see what was being offered in our area of interest. They were also supposed to put programs in the same hotel so that when we were attending programs of interest, they were together in the same location.
HA!–I’m here to tell you it didn’t work out according to the theory. There are lots of competing programs in the same time slot in different hotels on the same day and within the same track. Gaaahhh! So much for following a program track and attending programs in the same hotel. They’re still scattered around the city, sometimes a mile or two apart. One thing’s for sure– I always get a good workout when I go to an ALA conference.
Better get back to planning my itinerary. It looks like I have some time slots double-booked (some could be triple-booked if I’m not careful). Better find a quarter so I can flip it and decide when I get there. Sometimes the location rather than the topic of the program helps me decide which one to attend– after I consult with my feet, of course. Ya just can’t be in two places at once.
Packrat Librarian 