I came home from the Pennsylvania Library Association Conference last Wednesday night. It was held in beautiful Erie, Pennsylvania in the Bayfront Convention center right on the bay front, of course. The location couldn’t have been more beautiful. The convention center is located in the perfect place for views of lovely sunsets and sunrises. In fact, I had trouble sleeping-in all four mornings that I slept there and thus I have pictures of dawn from each morning. Here are a few. They were all taken right outside of the hotel we stayed in which was right beside the Bayfront Convention Center.
I felt something that I heard from other conference attendees again and again that this Pennsylvania Library Association Conference was really one of the best ones that the organization has really had in some time.
In summation, the venue was great, the location was beautiful and I enjoyed most of the sessions.
I participated in two particular ways at the conference. On Sunday night, I was asked to lead the Quizzo trivia competition, which I was very honored to be asked to do. We had around 60 participants and I think everyone had a good time, which was the point of it all. I was also happy that one of my old Centre County chums and her family were part of the winning team. One of the best parts of the conference is running into old friends.
On Monday evening, I gave my Lightening Talk to a smaller group than I was hoping. The time slot my Lightening Talk was assigned was during the 6-8 pm dinner hour. My talk and other talks that were assigned this time slot were interspersed with prerecorded clips of performers who librarians could pay to come to the library to do performances. I didn’t love this aspect truthfully. Few conference attendees wanted to attend this session because it was during dinner. I also feel slightly insulted that the organizer of this session thought it was okay to group some serious presentations together with video of paid performers one of who was wearing a beanie with a propeller on the top. I found myself growing more annoyed during this session as I waited for my time to go up in front of the audience as I watched the pre-taped recordings of jugglers and magicians. One of the only things that kept me from actively planning my exit from the session before my time upfront of the audience was that three of my four sister’s came to that session to cheer me on. It really buoyed me to have them there.
I am really proud of myself for all the preparation that I put into my presentation. I am also proud of the website that that I created to be a pathfinder for other librarians who want to start a Trivia Program at their library. I am aware that my presentation does not contain lifesaving information. I am trying to not be a diva about the unhappiness I feel about the time slot for my presentation. I saw many great presentations during the conference and I completely respect that those presentations should receive plum time slots. In summation, I felt a little relegated to a less desirable time slot because I was speaking about a program at a public library instead of working for an academic library.
I will get off of my soapbox now.
To me the success of Quizzo this year and its moderating effect of my life is coming full circle this week because one year ago today I came up with the idea to do Quizzo at my library. On this day last year, I was driving to Johnstown to see my mother in the hospital on what would be the last weekend I would ever see her. As I drove the four hour drive, I knew as much. I was hopped up on caffeine and adrenaline and though I thought of my mother often while driving, sometimes my mind wandered. I thought about how my co-worker N told me that the library was looking for program ideas for Friday evenings so the library could justify staying open on Friday nights. Quizzo is something that I have always loved and it seemed like just the thing. I never dreamed it would bring so much into my life.
My mother was always one of my biggest fans, especially during the last year of her life. She was always commenting on my blog and from time to time she would send me encouraging e-mails about my blog and other aspects of my life. She would be happy with how I got the chance to present and I know she would comment on my Quizzo site. She didn’t always understand the library world but she always encouraged me and was proud of me. As I enter into this week, which was the last week that week that she was alive last year, I must give her thanks for her support. I must thank my husband, sons, father, and sisters for their support too. I thank my library director for supporting me and allowing me to attend this conference. Thank you readers too and friends and relatives. Thank you.
I have never attended the PALA conference, but I have attended other “academic” and trade conferences in the past and the speaking assignments have always seemed arbitrary and, frankly wrong, to me. I think the decision priority goes something like this:
1) Speakers from universities that are sponsoring the conference.
2) Speakers from companies sponsoring the conference.
3) Prestigious speakers from prestigious organizations lending prestige to the conference.
4) Friends, cronies, and relatives of the organizers
5) Speakers who have delivered the same talk for the last 10 years
6) Students or mentees of #5 delivering the 0.001% of new information they have added to last year’s talk.
7) Actual clowns
8) Speakers with new information that would benefit the community at large.
It seems that PALA fits pretty well into that decision-making paradigm.
Dear Burt Macklin, I appreciate your comments and am sorry that I have taken so long to read them and respond. I respect what you are saying and agree with you. You are the best 🙂