Adapted from the article The Savvy Conference-Goer Does SLA by Dan Trefethen which originally appeared in an issue of Interface, the bulletin of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of SLA
Develop a game plan. There is a lot to see and do with concurrent sessions taking place everyday. You need to chart your course through the conference.
Use the online conference scheduler. Click here to go to the planner. It allows you to do the following:
- Develop and print a personal schedule (the planner automatically notifies you of changes to your sessions and informs you of overlapping commitments)
- Perform custom searches based on topic, speakers, sponsors, or units.
- You can also add personal events to your calendar, such as dinner with a friend.
Try a daily planner. If the on-line scheduler doesn’t work for you, try using a daily planner with plenty of space. Highlight "must attend" items, and also list interesting options in advance. (Add the room assignments from the final program you receive when you check in at the SLA registration counter.) It's worth the time to create a well-organized planner.
Don’t sit in a program that’s not right for you. If you're in a program that's not right for you, check your planner for an alternative and go. It's not rude to walk out of these sessions; people with overlapping commitments do it all the time.
Visit the exhibit hall at multiple times. Don't try to take in the exhibits in one marathon session. It takes half a day to do the exhibits justice; more if you're actually shopping for a software system or some other large expenditure. To be fair to yourself you should break up exhibit?going into smaller sessions that can be squeezed into blank spaces in your planner. Watch for events in the hall where you can meet with vendors and get a bite to eat too. If a vendor you really need to talk to is swamped, come back another time.
Attend the divisions/chapter open houses. Yes, they're late and you've been up since 6:30 am, but resign yourself to being sleepy some of the mornings, and go to a few. Some of the hottest networking is available here. Sunday and Monday nights are liveliest, since everybody goes to see everybody from last year, and all the Well Known SLA Personalities party-hop from suite to suite (sometimes in a group). It may seem cliquish, and you may feel like an outsider at a party where you don't know anybody, but keep one thing in mind: these are all special librarians or friends of special libraries, and have more in common with you than any other roomful of strangers on the face of this planet. So step right up and introduce yourself. It doesn't matter if you're not a member. Just go. One helpful strategy, though, is to use the "buddy system" in hopping around; you always have someone to talk to, and you can introduce each other throughout the evening.
Bring a lot of business cards. Networking is one of the biggest benefits of conference. You want to make sure you have plenty of cards to hand out. Better to have to take some home then to run out of them in the middle of the conference.
The Week in Review
Saturday: Continuing education course day. In addition to the course material, there is great networking here with others who share your same concerns. This also gives you a weekend night to go to the Big City, if you want to take in some local entertainment.
Sunday: More continuing education options. The First-time attendees' reception is today at 2:00 pm, and is a must attend event. The Exhibit Hall also opens today and the SLA Awards reception is held this evening. The Awards Reception is a great way to see the movers and shakers of SLA get recognized. This is a ticketed event, so you do need to register for this event. Make sure you pack accordingly: coat and tie for men; appropriate dress for women is required.
Monday: Get into full swing today, starting with divisional breakfast meetings. The breakfasts are scheduled to end in time for the general session. Go if the speakers sound appealing to you. Breakfast meetings and business lunches are also a great place to network. Talk with the people at your table and be sure to ask for their business card.
Tuesday: All division-sponsored programs are open to all attendees, unless otherwise indicated in the program book. Some do require the purchase of a ticket, so be sure to look for ticketed events you will want to pre-register for in your preliminary program. You ought to attend the meals and business meetings of those divisions that most interest you. If you realize you'd like to go to something you didn't pre-register for, all is not lost. You can advertise for a ticket on the community bulletin board if your event is sold out.
Today is the final day for the exhibit hall, so be sure you have met with everyone you wanted to before the hall closes. Some vendors sell their display stock at a discount during the last few hours. Mail the literature you've gathered back home so you don't have to lug it on the plane. (This can be done in the hotel business center.)
Wednesday: The last real conference day. The SLA Annual Business Meeting is in the morning. Attend if you want to find out what the Board has voted to do during all those meetings earlier in the week. It's especially interesting if there's a hot topic on the agenda.
Thursday: Field trip day, if you haven't flown out. This is a chance for the host city to show off its resources. Remember, however, that if you go on an all-day field trip, you don't want to schedule an airline flight too soon after it's due to return; field trips can easily run late.
