I know that there are a bunch of librarians here. I am not a librarian, but I am a trustee and a vendor, and I’ll be there for the duration. Between working, hosting dinners, and visiting family in Northern Virginia, I won’t have much free time at all, but it might be fun to meet some dopers at the show. My company is hosting a couple of events, so if you’re looking for some free food/drink, I could hook you up.
I’ll be there Thursday afternoon through Monday afternoon.
Too bad - Tuesday is the last day of exhibits and all the publishers sell their books at 50 - 90% off rather than ship them back home. I usually end up with a box or two that I ship home.
Unfortunately I’ve never stayed through a Tuesday. PM me your company info and I’ll make a point to get to your booth.
Not I. I went to the Orlando one, and while it was fun and all, IMHO it’s nowhere near as useful as a smaller, more focused conference, unless of course you’re on a committee or Council or something. My library sends me to the Charleston Conference every year, and while I don’t haul away the huge buckets of swag I got at ALA, I learn a lot about serials librarianship. Only a few people get sent to ALA, and it’s not like they’d send me to more than one conference, so I think the littler ones represent much, much more value.
I’ve been to several GovDocs conferences so I can’t complain, but I’ve been a lib’arian 6.5 years now and still no ALA. Maybe next year in Jerusalem (or Indianapolis or wherever).
Not Jerusalem – when ALA was held in Toronto, Ontario, a few years ago a lot of members complained that they couldn’t get funded for international travel.
Not Indianapolis – you need enough hotels in town to hold the ALA crowd, and I don’t think Indianapolis is big enough for ALA.
But I’ll definitely be at ALA in Washington: there are a couple of committees that I need to give reports to, so I really can’t avoid it. (Not that I’d want to: ALA conferences are fun, even when held in cities you’ve been to many times before).
2007 Washington, DC: June 21–27
2008 Anaheim, CA: June 26–July 2
2009 Chicago, IL: July 10 –15
2010 Washington, DC : June 24–30
2011 New Orleans, LA: June 23–29
2012 Anaheim, CA: June 21–27
2013 New York, NY : June 20-26
2014 Las Vegas, NV: June 26-July 2
2015 San Francisco, CA: June 26-July 1
2016 Orlando, FL: June 23-29
2017 Chicago, IL: June 22-28
2018 New Orleans, LA: *June 21-27
2019 New York, NY: *June 20-26
I did swear I’d go to the Vegas one in 2014. May have to take my own time to do it, though.
Not that I’m complaining (because I enjoy the conferences), but I have to go all the time. My university makes serving on national committees a tenure requirement, so off to ALA I go.
Indy is big enough for GenCon (26,000 attendees – though I’m not sure how many stay overnight, and I’m guessing many rooms have a LOT of people), is the ALA conference bigger?
Brian
ALA is one of the largest professional conferences - I think it always draws at least 26,000. The thing is that it requires tons of meeting rooms, evidently more than most places. (BTW, anybody who wants to can read (but not post) to the ALA Council listserv. It’s very interesting and extremely boring in turns. I’m sort of addicted.)
Most of the people going to ALA stay one to a room, and most stay for 3 or 4 nights. From my visits to Indy, a lot of the hotel/motel rooms are out in the suburbs, and there might not be enough in the city centre, close to the convention centre.
I can’t afford to go this year, but I’ll definitely try to attend next year. I am finishing my MLS degree in May 2008, so hopefully I’ll either have a job by then or be on my way to finding one.
Unfortunately, with the move and getting settled - and the associated costs - I can’t manage it either timewise or financially this year. And I’d really like to be going - a lot of friends are going to be there this year that I haven’t seen in a while.
But I’m hoping to plan a trip to Monterey in October for Internet Librarian, if anyone’s headed that way.
Oh, and Big Bad Voodoo Lou, do everything you can to make either an ALA annual or your state conference while you’re in school - and do your best to share a room with someone (or two someones) and you can manage pretty inexpensively. Last year I spent less than $500 (plus conference fees, and as a non-student, mine are higher, but work paid that) for the conference, including hotel and meals. There are also student scholarships that you can apply for. And state conferences can be great place to make contacts as well, especially if you plan to stay in that state/region.
Even $500 is more than I pay for a month’s rent, so it seems like a lot right now… and even moreso because I’m facing a move in the very near future, so I’ll end up probably doubling my rent. I’ll go next year, or I’ll hit FLA or AALL or something else. I already won an AALL scholarship, and I’m trying to be the king of networking.