Alas, some of us work at libraries where the marketing department decides what our comment policy will be, instead of the librarians.

Thanks for the link. Just thought I’d give you some context as to my thoughts revolving around trackbacks and pingbacks.

After blogging for over nine years, sometimes you need to re-evaluate things. Part of the reason I stopped allowing comments is because I was around when trackbacks and pingbacks were still nascent technologies and were promising big changes in web conversation. They didn’t really end up doing everything we all had hoped them to do, but it was worth trying it out at the time.

I do, now, offer commenting on my blog, but we’ll see where that goes once new tools and new ideas keep coming up in the web world. That is, in fact, the power of the blog, right? To adapt and change as necessary?

I don’t know why people feel the need to have such strict definitions for such fuzzy things in the first place. I find it a good thing that blogs can take so many different shapes and fill so many different needs.

(No, I’m not arguing with your decisions re commenting–you’ve explained them well, not that you need to. I’m just sayin’: If CavLec isn’t a blog, and a damn fine one, I don’t know what is…)

Yes, I did use just that example, over at Open stacks. SO not directly participating in this ongoing exercise, though…

That’s exactly the kind of thing I desperately don’t want to deal with. It isn’t the likes of YOU I’m walling off.

Yes, a lot of libraries have that feeling too. Even those of us who have comments do exert some control. I’m starting to be more willing to delete comments that are nasty or offensive, because it’s just not the sort of environment I want to encourage here.

I make no bones about fitting into categories 2, 3, and especially 4. I’ve sometimes considered hanging a BBS off the blog as an ersatz comment system, but I haven’t found an easy way to hook that up yet.

What that would do, though, is put the discussion in a separate space. My blog is MINE. MINE SPACE. I get, you know, territorial and stuff about it. As I think some libraries do theirs as well.

I think one way of preventing frustration on the part of speakers is to make it clear to speakers that they will have to pay registration before they apply to speak. I looked all over for that information and didn’t find it anywhere on the CLA website or the site where people are supposed to have submitted proposals. Other associations (Arizona Library Assoc. comes to mind) make these things very clear, and thus, you know what you’re getting into when you choose to submit a proposal.

The California Library Association, like all membership associations, is run by its members for the benefit of the members, and in our case because we are a non-profit, also for the benefit of greater library community in California. If it were possible for CLA to offer free one day or full registration to our presenters, we certainly would. However, out of our 1200-1500 attendees each year, 300+ of them present at one of our 90 breakout sessions. These presenters constitute approximately 25% of our attendee costs. Our member/leaders have chosen to deeply discount conference registration for students, support staff, retirees and members who are unemployed. Registration fees barely cover the out of pocket costs of the keynote and invited speakers, convention center rental, the water coolers in the convention center hallways, printing, internet access, etc. We keep our registration rates low by asking our exhibitors and sponsors to help support the association, and they do, which is how our conference generates revenue for some of our other programs and member services.

Being chosen to speak at CLA means someone has undergone a rigorous peer review process by 12-15 library staff from a variety of library settings. We accept not quite 40% of the proposals we receive each year.

Meredith, we hope your friend decides to present at this year’s conference. The exposure, the networking, and learning opportunities will be well worth his attendance.