#AkLA12 – Plan

I keep being asked if I have free time at the Alaska Library Association conference, coming up on February 23-26 in sunny Fairbanks, and I keep having to look up my registration. So I thought I’d share my schedule (even though I’ve learned not to post ahead of time what I’m going to attend). This way, I’ll have it in an easy-to-view format, and I’ll be able to share it. Plus, I haven’t planned all my meals, so I’m hoping to make plans with folks (look for bold text). :) If I put a star (*) by it, I’m either organizing or presenting, so I have to attend; if I have already paid for it, I’m probably hard to talk out of it; most other things are optional.

Thursday:

• Morning & afternoon: fly in, check in, go to Registration (12-6:00 PM, Westmark Hotel Lobby, shouldn’t be a problem); if it isn’t bitter cold (heh), explore downtown Fairbanks; if it IS bitter cold, drink coffee, deal with work email, maybe hit up the fitness center, and generally do the pre-conference chilling out thing
• 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Exhibitor Reception / Silent Auction
• *7:00 PM – 9:00 PM: New Members Conference Orientation/Coach and Rookie Social

Friday:

• ~8am: Hotel breakfast
• 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Opening Keynote with the Fairbanks Mayor and the Anythink Libraries speaker
• 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Coffee Break near exhibits
• 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM: President’s Program: Building Library Clout in a Tough Climate (well, either that or Patents – Help Your Users Locate Information)
• 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM: President’s Program: Marketing That Makes a Difference
• 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: State of the State Luncheon (I paid for this, so I’ll probably go :))
• 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM: AkLA General Membership Meeting and Awards
• 3:30 PM – 4:00 PM: Coffee break near exhibits
• 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM: Beyond Focus Groups 101 (I have some doubts about the applicability of this one, because most UX-savvy folks seem to say “don’t do focus groups!” – but maybe this session will help me avoid the worst pitfalls of this method)
• 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM: Dinner – I would like to make plans with someone, for this!
• 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM: Dessert Reception at the University Alaska Museum of the North (so worth the $10, if you haven’t signed up for it yet!)

Saturday:

• ~8am: hotel breakfast
• 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM: Library Marketing Toolkit 101 (depending how late I stayed out on Friday :))
• 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Coffee Break near Exhibits
• 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM: Secrets of the Stressed Out Brain (I have some concerns about this one, because the same presenter is talking, in another session, about how boys’ and girls’ brains are really fundamentally different, a view which is not supported by the bulk of psychological research; but here’s hoping she sticks to stress and not gender, in this one)
• 11:30 AM – noon: Check out Poster Sessions?
• Noon – 2:30 PM: I need lunch plans!
• 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM: Net Neutrality
• *4:30 PM – 6:00 PM: Library Lightning Talks (Pecha Kucha-style. I still haven’t picked my topic. *blush*)
• 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM: Conference Dinner – Alaska Spirit of Reading with Ishmael Hope, Alaska Native (also paid for)

Sunday:

• hotel breakfast
• I haven’t signed up for it, but I’m considering going to How to Make an Interactive Book Program for Small Groups at 9:45. Not super relevant to my current job, but the most relevant talk, during that time period, is by someone whose spiel I’ve already heard. :)
• *11:30 – 12:30 AM: New Members Roundtable Meeting (Please join us! We’re voting for officers and making plans for 2012. Everyone who has been a member of AkLA for 7 or fewer years is eligible for NMRT membership. There’s no fee. We put on one conference session [or social] per year, and we try to do some kind of mentoring [which, this year, is tied into our social—we may stick with that model, or not, depending how it goes], and … that’s pretty much all our roundtable has to get done. Anything else we do is up to whoever is interested in doing it!)
• 12:45 PM – 2:15 PM: Endnote Luncheon w/ Molly Raphael
• 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM: AkLA E-Council Meeting (assuming I’m still on E-Council)
• 3:30 PM – 7:00 PM: ???
• 7pm: Cab it to the airport