I didn’t get much computer time for the rest of the conference, so I’m just now getting a chance to post. Monday ended really well. I gave my poster for the final time, with great feedback. One person even said they wished it had been a program rather than a poster! I re-met another Twitter friend, and finally had a minute of unscheduled time to relax.
Later, some friends were having a wine reception in their suite, so I was able to catch up with a few folks. I had to leave early, though, to catch up with my Twitter friends. I missed the first meet-up and the Facebook social, so this was my chance to put faces with the people I’ve been talking with for the past year and a half. It was great fun, and nice to meet some strangers that weren’t really strangers. It made for a late last night though!
Tuesday I finished up with my last COSWL meeting. I mostly do tech work for the group, and am now tasked to investigate spam solutions for the blog and a wiki option that will meet our needs on the caregiver issue. The flight home was smooth, and I was lucky to have two friends on the way. It makes the wait in airports go quickly! We got in at midnight, and just five hours of sleep later I was back at my desk.
This was my best ALA so far. Though a few hotels were far out, most of the things I did were pretty close together. The things I had responsibility for went well, and I was still able to go to a few extra things. The thing that really set this conference apart, though, was Twitter. Before showing up, I knew people. Twitter kept me in the loop for programs I wasn’t able to attend. It let us arrange impromptu meet-ups, and meant there was always an option for something to do. Blogging started this trend. From my first ALA, I’ve been keeping tabs on programs by reading others’ reports, and I’ve known a few people because of this. But Twitter expanded on this exponentially. Let’s hope the service gets things under control before everyone jumps ship!
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I totally agree about twitter. It helped me meet up with people, decide what sessions to go to (or NOT go to) and even helped me win a $100 B&N gift card. All in all, a HUGE SUCCESS- even with the service going down periodically.
It was nice to meet you, BTW.
Posted 02 Jul 2008 at 11:07 am ¶Thanks, Karin! You’re right… can’t beat the $100 B&N card! It was good to meet you, too!
Posted 02 Jul 2008 at 11:53 am ¶Post a Comment