I attended my first professional conference a few weeks ago. At the California Library Association Annual Conference in Oakland, I met some people I previously knew only virtually, I broadened my horizons in re: the possibilities of using my degree in many different capacities, and I discovered examples of people integrating their professional degrees and other skill sets to build a variegated career path. I got to be present with people who stretch the boundaries of our field and engage with information dissemination in non-traditional ways while keeping focus on the ultimate goal of library work: access.
Also, Daniel Handler. I’ve had a small lit-crush on him ever since I ran the merch table at Kidquake a couple of years ago and he was asking the kids deadpan whether they had a full-time job in a coal mine or went to third grade, then afterward told me he liked my kitchen utensils Tattly. I love the Series of Unfortunate Events (Number 13 kind of broke my heart — in a good way), and in his keynote speech at the CLA conference, the divine Mr. Handler did not disappoint: hilarious as well as inspiring.
Though I’m not quite finished with school yet — people kept introducing themselves as [name], [library] — I found the experience to be useful, in that it opened me up to possibilities I might not have considered otherwise: academic libraries, museums, and archives, oh my! I recommend that library students attend a professional conference during their educational careers — going to a variety of sessions exposes one to the universe of information science professions and professionals, and might even provide a springboard, inspiring new directions in one’s academic career.
A FIRST-TIMER’S CONFERENCE TIPS
- Go to sessions that interest you. Whether or not a session seems imminently applicable to your current situation, if something in the description sparks your interest, try it out.
- Have a backup plan. There will be some sessions which aren’t what you expected, are way over (or under) your head, aren’t presented very well, et cetera. It’s okay to duck out and go to another session that piques your interest.
- Don’t overschedule. It’s fine not to go to every session. I know, I know. There’s something that looks interesting in every single time slot, but you need to eat lunch (pro tip: no one wants to sit next to you in a session as you crumple a paper bag to dig out your soggy PBJ and a handful of carrot coins). Also? You need a mental break during the day.
- Explore the neighborhood. Leave the conference center. I know it’s difficult to tear yourself away from the free pastry in the exhibit hall, but if you get out into the fresh air for a quick coffee or a walk around the block, you’ll step back inside rejuvenated. As a rule, convention centers are much less lovely than the cities surrounding them.
- Your keynote speaker will probably get too many questions about books during the Q & A session. If you’re a keynote speaker, be prepared to give readers’ advisory to a bunch of foaming-at-the-mouth bookworms. After all, we are librarians.
attribution: photo courtesy of http://conference.cla-net.org/2014/the-details/highlights/
Heather Bailey Terrell 