SLA 2008 Annual Conference in Seattle

by Patricia Cia, Langara College

This year, I once again am seeing another side of SLA and all the work SLA members do on our behalf. As part of the Centennial Commission and 2009 Annual Conference Planning Committee, I witnessed first hand the energy, enthusiasm and imagination of Division planners (the people who have think up ideas for sessions a year ahead!).

I am also a Director of the Leadership & Management Division. This position is giving me more insight on other aspects of planning and supporting annual conference sessions, CE courses, and networking opportunities (a.k.a. open houses). Between the Centennial celebrations and the annual conference (Western Canada Chapter is organizing the Canadian Reception!), 2009 is shaping up to be quite exciting.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the conference sessions in Seattle from seminars to in-the-round conversations; from Selling Yourself & Your Skills to Transformational Roles; from Applying the Information Commons Concept to Gaming & libraries; and from Vinton Cerf / Charlie Rose (opening session) to Seth Godin (closing session).

Blogs are a wonderful thing and many have contributed their impressions and tips as they participated in the sessions.

Nicole C. Engard's blog, "What I Learned Today" did some great write-ups including:

Several blogs reported on Seth Godin's presentation

Information Today's blog covered many of the sessions and includes photos. They covered Transformational Roles: Breaking the Rules, an in-the-round session with Gary Price, Jessica Baumgart, Mike Crandall, Gloria Zamora, and Stephen Abrahm.

This blog covers the essence, but the in-person experience, personal stories and story-telling abilities of the panellists cannot be captured by the relative flatness of the written word.

Bloggers Section of SLA-IT is also a good source of session reviews and more: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in ... Library School? Keeping Found Things Found (Personal Information Management), Career Panel, SLA 2008 in a cloud (Wordle picture) and more

However, a couple of sessions I attended might deserve a bit more detail. Attached are notes and comments on:

Patricia Cia is the Coordinator of Technical Services & Library Systems at Langara College. She is past president of the Western Canada Chapter and an SLA Fellow.

Search Site Map Disclaimer SLA Headquarters