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By Robin Neidorf and William Hann

The 2008 SLA (Special Libraries Association) Annual Conference in Seattle bought together more than 5,000 participants, exhibitors and speakers. Over the course of four busy days, the FreePint and FUMSI teams had the chance to meet and greet; encounter new ideas and try new tools; sign agreements and start new relationships. Despite the challenges raised by taking several days away from our desks - not to mention the cost of travel - it was worth it.

William Hann, Free Pint Publisher and Robin Neidorf, Free Pint General Manager

SLA launched a forward-looking initiative, with increased emphasis on using new tools like Twitter to comment on the event as it was happening and enhance the experience. We too decided that this was a year to experiment. Rather than take our usual path of having our editors, readers and supporters write summaries of conference sessions and overall reviews of the event, we decided to break apart the mould of conference reporting. We asked everyone we met at the event - old friends as well as complete strangers - to contribute to this report.

We asked for:

• Brief commentary about their experience - those ‘aha' moments that are often lost in the lengthy days
• The most surprising new ideas they encountered, or something they wanted to go home and try, or the most inspiring conversation
• Anything but a recap of session points and description of presentation slides!

We received dozens of contributions, which we have organised and edited, with the authors' approval, to create this report. This report gives those who attended the event a way of reflecting not only on their own experience but also to garner further insight from their peers. Those who could not attend have a chance to peek into the event, going beyond the session summaries to understand a bit more of the Zeitgeist...and the value of attending.

We Came: We Experienced

Whether it's your first time or your fortieth, planning to attend a major conference requires an investment of not just money but time and mental energy. Registration fees, hotel and travel costs, and per diem add up. Plus there's the expense of lost productivity.

We only do it because we expect to get a valuable return on our investment; new insights and learning; knowledge of better tools and resources to help us do our jobs; a chance to re-connect with peers; a bit of inspiration plus a visit to an interesting city.

For some participants, a single new discovery makes the trip worth the investment. For others, the amalgamation of lots of small moments represents the true ROI.

Here are a few observations on their experiences at the SLA 2008 event from FreePint readers...

• "It is always surprising how much more inspirational it is listening to presenters in the flesh - particular favourites at this year's conference being Mary Ellen Bates, Gary Price, Stephen Abram and Elizabeth Lane Lawley. All these presenters also shared many personal anecdotes and stories, and that helps make the subject matter much more ‘absorbable'." (William Hann, Publisher, Free Pint Ltd.)
• "Despite having a good idea of which workshops we would be attending before we got to Seattle, my colleagues and I were surprised at how much of the conference we attended!! The workshops were more insightful (and less infomercial-like) than in previous years and the networking opportunities were top notch and FUN. The Global Market Update and Trends Workshop was top notch - a big highlight for me." (Chad Eng, Analyst, Industry Insights, SUPERVALU, Inc.).
• "Mary Ellen Bates's session on ‘What to do after you log off" was chock-full of easily implementable ideas. I have already updated my e-mail signature file to brand my information services more specifically." (Marlene Vogelsang, Resource Specialist, Pacific Energy Center, San Francisco).

Mary Ellen Bates

• "This was the first SLA Conference I ever attended. In general, I felt that the Conference was very well organised. I was kept busy from the time I arrived until the time I left. The programme offerings were excellent and the vendor exhibitions were informative and friendly. Most of all, I really appreciated the professionalism and friendliness of all SLA members. Since it was my first conference, I could easily have felt nervous and ill at ease and the extreme opposite happened. I was welcomed by my peers and always felt ‘at home' with everyone. As Co-Chair of the Business & Finance Division, Corporate Information Centers, I am very proud of our contribution to SLA. I also urge everyone to try out the IT Division Lab Rats project, which allows you to access IT and Web 2.0 tools on one page. I am very grateful and happy to have been a part of the SLA Conference in Seattle and I am looking forward to the next one." (Marcella M. Duke, Sr. Information Scientist, Nalco Company)
• "A wonderful surprise on the last day: a delightful talk on the American cinema during World War II. I arrived five minutes before the start and was lucky to get a seat........ The speakers answered a tonne of questions too. They were funny and they were entertaining and their material was far more thought-provoking than I expected... " (Sarah Hammond, Student on the MA in Librarianship, University of Sheffield, UK).
• "One of the most interesting things I came across was an article by Stephen Abrams, SLA's President. It provided wonderful advice for first-time SLA attendees along with some good ideas for veterans." (Ed Keating, Vice President, Content Division, SIAA)

Stephen Abrams, SLA President (Photo: © Mark Reinertson, The Photo Group, courtesy of SLA.)

• "The greatest pleasure for me in Seattle was being part of the team from SLA Europe and the SLA Business & Finance Division, Insurance and Employee Benefits Division and Science Technology Division. The groups collaborated to bring four Masters-level library students over from Europe to experience the conference as part of a new Division Initiative that Kate Arnold and I began when we were elected to the SLA Board in 2006. In 2007, we tried out a prototype award with the Business & Finance Division, which went very well. We hope to extend the awards process substantially in 2009 for SLA's Centennial Year. We are planning Early Career awards with a mixture of both Masters students and professions with up to 5 years experience to widen the appeal. The other rather unusual feature of these awards in SLA terms is the collaboration of Chapters with Divisions. We are planning to work with the Australia and New Zealand Chapter and some 10 Divisions for a real splash in 2009!" (Sylvia James, SJ Consultancy and Treasurer of SLA Sussex, UK)

The SLA Europe Team

An Eye on the Future

Professional associations, such as SLA, can keep information pros up to date with the latest information tools. Jump in and try out a robust selection of fee and free application tools and new technologies in the SLA Innovation Laboratory (available to SLA members).

Do you need more structure? Why not try SLA's '23 Things'. It is a step-by-step, week-by-week paced learning strategy for information professionals to learn 23 new information tools.

As well as being told about new services and tying them out for himself, Free Pint Ltd. publisher (William Hann) was shown them in action at SLA 2008.

"I learned how, in Flickr, you can restrict an Advanced Search to photos with a Creative Commons license and was shown how you can use the network feature in del.icio.us to subscribe to other people's bookmarks (and share your own)," he explained. "Thank you to Elizabeth Lane Lawley for a lively and informative session."

"When attending events like SLA's conferences, you will need to spend a reasonable amount of time planning which sessions you are going to attend, which exhibitors you particularly want to talk to and which evening networking events you do not wish to miss. I went very prepared this year and got a lot more out of it as a result. It is also very important to work out in advance how you are going to keep in touch with the office, what downtime you are going to need and how you are going to see a little of the local area."

SLA 2008 was an inspirational conference and an exciting warm-up to next June's Centennial celebration for the organisation in Washington, DC. FUMSI is already making its own plans for attending and hope to see even more FUMSI subscribers, FreePint members, old friends and new in Washington next year!

We collected contributions from participants at SLA 2008. Our report is free to all SLA members, VIP and FUMSI subcribers.

Click here to request your copy today  »

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