And what a season it’s going to be! Last year, I gave my first conference talk ever at Computers in Libraries. Since then, I’ve given around 18 talks and I have 10 talks scheduled between now and the end of June. Insane! And it all starts Friday!
On Friday, I’ll be giving the keynote (another first!) at the Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Technology Day and will be speaking about using social software in higher education. I honestly don’t have a very clear sense of what the difference is between a regular conference talk and a keynote, but I figure if my talk is at least interesting, I’m in good shape. While in the big apple, I’m going to see my brother (whom I haven’t seen in almost 9 months) and meet his girlfriend. Hopefully I’ll get some good food too. Too bad I’ll be on the opposite side of the universe from Zabars and H&H Bagels. If anyone knows of a good place to get bagels and lox in Tribecca… 🙂
The next day, I’ll be flying to Washington D.C. to go to Computers in Libraries. I’ll be giving one preconference and two talks there:
- April 15th @ 9:00 am – Wikis: Basics, Tools and Strategies (Preconference Workshop)
- April 16th @ 11:15 – C102: Building Collaboration, Communication and Community Online
- April 17th @ 1:30 – C203: Learning with Wikis and Blogs
I’ll also be signing my book at the Information Today booth on Tuesday April 17th at 5:00 pm. I believe there will be refreshments at the exhibits that evening, so if I’m not a big draw, maybe the wine and cheese will be. 😉
Here’s the rest of my Spring/early Summer schedule:
- May 4, 2007, Wikis: Enabling Collaboration in Libraries, Quebec Library Association, Montreal, QC
- May 15, 2007, Building the Social Library Online, AISTI Mini-Conference, Santa Fe, NM
- May 21, 2007, Keynote – Building the Social Library Online, Annual Conference for ACRL Eastern New York, Utica, NY
- June 24, 2007 10:30-12:00, Harnessing the Hive: Social Networks and Libraries, ALA Annual, Washington, D.C.
- June 24, 2007 1:30-3:30, Finding New and Creative Solutions through Library Think Tanks, ALA Annual, Washington, D.C.
- June 25, 2007 10:30-12:00, Wiking the Blog and Walking the Dog – Social Software, Virtual Reality and Authority Everywhere, ALA Annual, Washington, D.C.
If you’re in the area or are attending one of these shindigs, let me know. I’d love to meet you!
Folks, if you are in the area of any of these gigs do yourself a favor and show up. Meredith is a natural-born speaker and writer. I’m sitting in the second row of her fan bus right behind her very supportive husband, Adam. I appreciate Meredith’s practical viewpoint toward technology and her down-to-earth, easy to understand explanations of new technologies and why they are useful and important to libraries. Run, don’t walk, to her latest talk. Believe me, you will thank me later.
Meredith — our paths won’t cross this travel season, I’m afraid, but I’m sure they will soon enough. Have a great tour (have you considered having a tour shirt made?) — but be sure to find time within all that to find things to do to recharge yourself! If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing.
Meredith, I will be at CIL and I can’t wait to me you. I am from Australia and am quite excited about meeting some of my blogging heroes, of which you are one. Will catch you at the book signing if not before.
Thanks everyone! I’m looking forward to meeting you too, Michelle. And T. Scott, you are so right about making time for recharging batteries. My husband and I are spending the five days before my talk in Santa Fe exploring New Mexico (we’ve never been so I’m really looking forward to it!). That will definitely be just what the Dr. ordered in terms of recharging. 🙂
Hey Meredith, we will definitely have to carve out some time to get a drink or two at ALA this summer! Looking forward to seeing you!
I am a relatively new librarian (7 months today!), and my library has been kind enough to send me to CIL. In these past months, I have been reading several blogs (including yours, of course) and learning about Web 2.0 applications for my library. I plan to attend your Learning with Wikis & Blogs session (if it doesn’t fill up), and I am extremely excited about your session, as well as many other bloggers’ sessions.
Here’s what I think the simple difference between a keynote and a regular presentation is, for what it’s worth: the keynote (besides it being an honour to be asked) sets the tone for what is to follow.
And I am just thankful my own CIL presentation is not running opposite yours, Meredith! See you there…
Agree with Alane about keynotes: they often represent the overall theme of the event, and might focus on future trends or outcomes rather than the nitty gritty of a programme or project like a regular presentation might.
They are usually designed to be quite uplifting – to enthuse, give people ideas and something to talk about for the rest of the event. Plus other stuff like keynotes tend to be more preferentially seated at dinners etc.
And yup it’s a huge honour to have that role. 🙂
Meredith,
No amazing bagels in Tribeca, but you are just steps away from amazing dim sum! And a few minutes by subway to Russ & Daughters on Houston, which has the best smoked fish in the world, hands down. (Their pastrami lox will make you plotz!)
Sorry I’ll miss your talk in NY.
Dan
Thanks for the tip, Dan! I think I will definitely be making a trip up to Houston tomorrow after my talk. Yummmm,…
I’ll be at ALA. Looking forward to meeting you in person.
HI Meredith,
We found you after searching for other conference junkies like ourselves. I’m with Confabb, the conference community. We’d love to have you join the service (it’s free!), use us to search for other conferences to attend but most importantly, especially for a busy speaker like yourself, get a blog badge from us which you can put right on this blog so others will know what conferences you’re watching, attending and most importantly, speaking.
In fact, the Confabb site is a great way to publicize the talks you’ll be giving across the Web–use us to amplify what you have here to our full audience!
Once you’ve given the site a test drive, we’d appreciate your feedback. Please let us know if we can answer any questions.
All the best,
Jon Mandell with Confabb
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