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My ALA Midwinter 2016 Experience C YALSAblog

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Christina Vortia

The author summarizes their experience attending their first ALA Midwinter conference. They found the conference to be overwhelming with many lectures, exhibits, and events to choose from. Despite advice to wear comfortable shoes and that many meetings would be closed, the author discovered many open committee meetings and lectures. They enjoyed several high profile speakers and getting new ideas for programming. The conference reignited their passion for their work and they encourage others to apply for scholarships to attend future ALA conferences.

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1/28/2016 My?ALA?Midwinter?2016?Experience?C?YALSAblog http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2016/01/27/my?ala?midwinter?2016?experience/ 1/4 27 Jan 2016 MY ALA MIDWINTER 2016 EXPERIENCE by Christina Vortia ? Leave a Comment TweetI just attended my first ALA conference and it was awesome. I have heard many things about what to expect. Wear comfortable shoes, they said. Bring business cards, they said. Most of the meetings will be closed door, they said. Some of the things they said were right (seriouslywho wants to walk around for 8 hours in cute new shoes that pinch the sides of your feet!..), but nothing prepared me for the magic that is Midwinter. Like most Midwinter neophytes, I didnt know what to expect, so I arrived bright and bushy tailed to the hotel at 7:30am sharp. I could not check into my room, so I left my bags with the hotel staff, and ubered my way over to the Boston Convention and Conference Center. (For those of you who cabbed your way around Boston, I would highly suggest you invest in the free Uber app. Most of my rides around the city did not cost me more than $6, some as little as $3.) I arrived at the Conference Center to find that the exhibits were still being put together, and that I was late to all of the lectures that started at 8am. In hindsight, I could have just sat in, but I didnt know if I needed a ticket. Is it okay to walk in late? Would I embarrass myself in front of my peers? Would I be asked to leave? Instead of tackling these hard questions straight on I decided on the very safe, unintrusive, and foodie-pleasing decision to register, find a coffee shop, and read the Midwinter guide over a hot cup of Joe and a cheese danish. The guide was very helpful. It was delightfully color coordinated, included start and end times of lectures, events, and meetings, and provided a legend that had information on whether events were ticketed, closed, or open to registrants. I highlighted everything that looked of interest to me C which was half the book, so I marked it up to a fairly unrecognizable degree. And then I discovered there is an app. I LOVE apps! I mean, I am a Teen and SOCIAL MEDIA Librarian, so anything that compliments my mobile device and makes my life easier immediately brings me joy. I found the 2016 ALA Midwinter App easily on Play Store and downloaded it. After an initial glitch and assistance from two very helpful ladies at the Registration desk, I was digitally planning my Midwinter schedule and hastily hopped in one of the shuttles on my way to a Committee meeting. Despite what I had been told, there are many Committee meetings that are open, and Search Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address Subscribe Advertise with YALSA Media Kit Follow YALSA on Twitter Need some good advice on how get teens reading? Check out our handout "Parents Guide to Teen Reading" bit.ly/OfYXZU #afterschool YALSA @yalsa Expand 2h Tweets Follow YALSABLOG HOME YALSA ADVERTISING THE HUB YALS YALSA WIKI @YALSA FACEBOOK
1/28/2016 My?ALA?Midwinter?2016?Experience?C?YALSAblog http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2016/01/27/my?ala?midwinter?2016?experience/ 2/4 that provide ample opportunity for attendees to speak up! This is also true for lectures. I attended The Future of Teen Services in LIS Education, Career Development: How to Get Your Bounce Back, The New Youth Librarianship: Y(outh) eXperience), and the Programming Librarian Interest Meeting. But perhaps my favorite lecture was Teens Social Media Attitudes and Behaviors: What the Research Means for Library Services by Denise Agosto of Drexel University. This lecture was inciteful, engaging, and I even got to advertise my Social Media Correspondent program with my fellow librarians, that was well received. And now I must talk about the Exhibit Hall. The Exhibit Hall was completely overwhelming, and I found myself avoiding it if possible. I did attend some of the Diverse Book Talks and happily picked up a few bags full of Advance Readers Copy books. There was no shortage of ARCs at Midwinter, and I did not complain lugging my new To Read list with me all over Boston. I attended the Cory Booker talk and was very moved by the charming yet poignant way he shared his stories of growing up in suburban New Jersey, his challenges and triumphs as mayor in Newark, NJ, and I cried when he spoke of attending the funeral of his neighbor Hasan. I also attended the Chelsea Clinton talk and enjoyed her anecdotes of favorite books she reads with her daughter Charlotte, the adorable letter she mailed to President Reagan when she was a little girl, and the cute bag with a large poster, stickers, and a Mrs. Fields-cookie-sized button thats Ive been wearing every day for nearly a week. Ive already posted her Its Your World poster in my Teen Center, and many of the young adults in my library have already begun posting affirmations of things they will do in our community. I crashed the Ebsco Academic Librarian Luncheon, and then was bold enough to post it on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. (and to my surprise Ebsco actually liked it!) I also attended two publisher parties. One a Dessert Bar party at Top of the Hub celebrating the launch of Cassandra Clares new book (go ahead, its okay to ooh and aah!) and attended a Random House dinner at Strega Waterfront celebrating debut authors Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, Gavriel Savit, and Kara Thomas. As one of the recipients of American Library Association and Ebscos 2016 Scholarship to attend Midwinter, I was invited to attend the delectable breakfast held in honor of the award recipients. It was such a pleasure to meet the women and men who made the decision to sponsor my first ever ALA Conference. They were gracious, kind, and over berry stuffed pancakes, home fries, a fresh fruit platter with cinnamon yogurt, they laughed and shared funny stories with us like old friends. And then there was the Youth Media Awards. I had the pleasure of sitting in the front row with the journalists and the fabulous publishing glitterati as they welcomed this years award winners with tears and cheers. I got to see some of my favorite books and authors win the worlds most prestigious literary awards and I cheered until I was hoarse and tweeted until my phone died. The room was just electric and I was lit up. I had such an amazing experience at Midwinter, and am very humbled to have been able to attend. The conference brought back those butterfly feelings I got after Id just graduated. I could almost feel my superhero cape flying as I came back home with new ideas for programming, and have new vigor to tackle the challenges I face. I am extremely excited to see what the Annual Conference has in store this year! In the words of the Boston Globe, If you see a group of wild revelersthis weekend, its probably just the librarians. If you havent had the opportunity to attend an ALA Conference, you should definitely apply for the Ebsco scholarship. There is still time to apply for a scholarship to attend Low\income adults have become more dependent on smartphones to go online in past 2 years pewrsr.ch/1V1RfRl pic.twitter.com/RsWyFPK4kJ Retweeted by YALSA PewResearch Internet???????? @pewinternet Expand Stay at the forefront of #teens, & #libraries by subscribing to YALS, our quarterly journal! bit.ly/1GixT7I #learninglabs YALSA @yalsa Expand Check out our 2016 Nonfiction Award winners, finalists & nominees for great #commoncore resources bit.ly/1lNXURc #yalit YALSA @yalsa Expand From YALSABlog: My Problem with Hour of Code goo.gl/fb/eBLQWg #connectedlearninglearning #futureready YALSA @yalsa Show Summary Librarians take legal battle against library closures to government ow.ly/XDlhR via @guardian YALSA @yalsa Show Summary 2h 5h 6h 7h 7h Tweet to @yalsa About this Site About
1/28/2016 My?ALA?Midwinter?2016?Experience?C?YALSAblog http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2016/01/27/my?ala?midwinter?2016?experience/ 3/4 0 Tweet About Christina Vortia I'm a snarky youth services librarian. I like listening, being useful, and snacking. View all posts by Christina Vortia Previous Post Next Post this years ALA Annual Conference in Orlando. SunFunDisney World and LIBRARIANS! Apply now! http://www.ala.org/yalsa/awardsandgrants/yalsaawardsgrants Share this: Related Posts: 1. YALSA Board @ Midwinter 2016: Preview & Governance Update 2. YALSA Board @ Midwinter 2016: Fiscal Matters 3. YALSA Board @ Midwinter 2016: Organizational Planning Communication Plan 4. YALSA Board @ Midwinter 2016: The Fundraising Plan Posted in: New Librarians and Library Staff, Professional Learning ? Tagged: ALA Midwinter, ALA Midwinter 2016, Committees, Conference Attendance, professional development, Social Networking Advertising App of the Week Archive Apply to be a YALSA Blogger Creative Commons License Current Bloggers Privacy Statement YALSA Blog Staff Anna Lam @YALSA Crystle Martin Member Manager Categories Categories Select Category WordPress Admin Log in Entries RSS Comments RSS WordPress.org Archives Archives Select Month ? Copyright 2016 - YALSAblog Contango Theme ? Powered by WordPress 2Share Share Leave a Reply Enter?your?comment?here...
1/28/2016 My?ALA?Midwinter?2016?Experience?C?YALSAblog http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2016/01/27/my?ala?midwinter?2016?experience/ 4/4

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My ALA Midwinter 2016 Experience C YALSAblog

  • 1. 1/28/2016 My?ALA?Midwinter?2016?Experience?C?YALSAblog http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2016/01/27/my?ala?midwinter?2016?experience/ 1/4 27 Jan 2016 MY ALA MIDWINTER 2016 EXPERIENCE by Christina Vortia ? Leave a Comment TweetI just attended my first ALA conference and it was awesome. I have heard many things about what to expect. Wear comfortable shoes, they said. Bring business cards, they said. Most of the meetings will be closed door, they said. Some of the things they said were right (seriouslywho wants to walk around for 8 hours in cute new shoes that pinch the sides of your feet!..), but nothing prepared me for the magic that is Midwinter. Like most Midwinter neophytes, I didnt know what to expect, so I arrived bright and bushy tailed to the hotel at 7:30am sharp. I could not check into my room, so I left my bags with the hotel staff, and ubered my way over to the Boston Convention and Conference Center. (For those of you who cabbed your way around Boston, I would highly suggest you invest in the free Uber app. Most of my rides around the city did not cost me more than $6, some as little as $3.) I arrived at the Conference Center to find that the exhibits were still being put together, and that I was late to all of the lectures that started at 8am. In hindsight, I could have just sat in, but I didnt know if I needed a ticket. Is it okay to walk in late? Would I embarrass myself in front of my peers? Would I be asked to leave? Instead of tackling these hard questions straight on I decided on the very safe, unintrusive, and foodie-pleasing decision to register, find a coffee shop, and read the Midwinter guide over a hot cup of Joe and a cheese danish. The guide was very helpful. It was delightfully color coordinated, included start and end times of lectures, events, and meetings, and provided a legend that had information on whether events were ticketed, closed, or open to registrants. I highlighted everything that looked of interest to me C which was half the book, so I marked it up to a fairly unrecognizable degree. And then I discovered there is an app. I LOVE apps! I mean, I am a Teen and SOCIAL MEDIA Librarian, so anything that compliments my mobile device and makes my life easier immediately brings me joy. I found the 2016 ALA Midwinter App easily on Play Store and downloaded it. After an initial glitch and assistance from two very helpful ladies at the Registration desk, I was digitally planning my Midwinter schedule and hastily hopped in one of the shuttles on my way to a Committee meeting. Despite what I had been told, there are many Committee meetings that are open, and Search Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address Subscribe Advertise with YALSA Media Kit Follow YALSA on Twitter Need some good advice on how get teens reading? Check out our handout "Parents Guide to Teen Reading" bit.ly/OfYXZU #afterschool YALSA @yalsa Expand 2h Tweets Follow YALSABLOG HOME YALSA ADVERTISING THE HUB YALS YALSA WIKI @YALSA FACEBOOK
  • 2. 1/28/2016 My?ALA?Midwinter?2016?Experience?C?YALSAblog http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2016/01/27/my?ala?midwinter?2016?experience/ 2/4 that provide ample opportunity for attendees to speak up! This is also true for lectures. I attended The Future of Teen Services in LIS Education, Career Development: How to Get Your Bounce Back, The New Youth Librarianship: Y(outh) eXperience), and the Programming Librarian Interest Meeting. But perhaps my favorite lecture was Teens Social Media Attitudes and Behaviors: What the Research Means for Library Services by Denise Agosto of Drexel University. This lecture was inciteful, engaging, and I even got to advertise my Social Media Correspondent program with my fellow librarians, that was well received. And now I must talk about the Exhibit Hall. The Exhibit Hall was completely overwhelming, and I found myself avoiding it if possible. I did attend some of the Diverse Book Talks and happily picked up a few bags full of Advance Readers Copy books. There was no shortage of ARCs at Midwinter, and I did not complain lugging my new To Read list with me all over Boston. I attended the Cory Booker talk and was very moved by the charming yet poignant way he shared his stories of growing up in suburban New Jersey, his challenges and triumphs as mayor in Newark, NJ, and I cried when he spoke of attending the funeral of his neighbor Hasan. I also attended the Chelsea Clinton talk and enjoyed her anecdotes of favorite books she reads with her daughter Charlotte, the adorable letter she mailed to President Reagan when she was a little girl, and the cute bag with a large poster, stickers, and a Mrs. Fields-cookie-sized button thats Ive been wearing every day for nearly a week. Ive already posted her Its Your World poster in my Teen Center, and many of the young adults in my library have already begun posting affirmations of things they will do in our community. I crashed the Ebsco Academic Librarian Luncheon, and then was bold enough to post it on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. (and to my surprise Ebsco actually liked it!) I also attended two publisher parties. One a Dessert Bar party at Top of the Hub celebrating the launch of Cassandra Clares new book (go ahead, its okay to ooh and aah!) and attended a Random House dinner at Strega Waterfront celebrating debut authors Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, Gavriel Savit, and Kara Thomas. As one of the recipients of American Library Association and Ebscos 2016 Scholarship to attend Midwinter, I was invited to attend the delectable breakfast held in honor of the award recipients. It was such a pleasure to meet the women and men who made the decision to sponsor my first ever ALA Conference. They were gracious, kind, and over berry stuffed pancakes, home fries, a fresh fruit platter with cinnamon yogurt, they laughed and shared funny stories with us like old friends. And then there was the Youth Media Awards. I had the pleasure of sitting in the front row with the journalists and the fabulous publishing glitterati as they welcomed this years award winners with tears and cheers. I got to see some of my favorite books and authors win the worlds most prestigious literary awards and I cheered until I was hoarse and tweeted until my phone died. The room was just electric and I was lit up. I had such an amazing experience at Midwinter, and am very humbled to have been able to attend. The conference brought back those butterfly feelings I got after Id just graduated. I could almost feel my superhero cape flying as I came back home with new ideas for programming, and have new vigor to tackle the challenges I face. I am extremely excited to see what the Annual Conference has in store this year! In the words of the Boston Globe, If you see a group of wild revelersthis weekend, its probably just the librarians. If you havent had the opportunity to attend an ALA Conference, you should definitely apply for the Ebsco scholarship. There is still time to apply for a scholarship to attend Low\income adults have become more dependent on smartphones to go online in past 2 years pewrsr.ch/1V1RfRl pic.twitter.com/RsWyFPK4kJ Retweeted by YALSA PewResearch Internet???????? @pewinternet Expand Stay at the forefront of #teens, & #libraries by subscribing to YALS, our quarterly journal! bit.ly/1GixT7I #learninglabs YALSA @yalsa Expand Check out our 2016 Nonfiction Award winners, finalists & nominees for great #commoncore resources bit.ly/1lNXURc #yalit YALSA @yalsa Expand From YALSABlog: My Problem with Hour of Code goo.gl/fb/eBLQWg #connectedlearninglearning #futureready YALSA @yalsa Show Summary Librarians take legal battle against library closures to government ow.ly/XDlhR via @guardian YALSA @yalsa Show Summary 2h 5h 6h 7h 7h Tweet to @yalsa About this Site About
  • 3. 1/28/2016 My?ALA?Midwinter?2016?Experience?C?YALSAblog http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2016/01/27/my?ala?midwinter?2016?experience/ 3/4 0 Tweet About Christina Vortia I'm a snarky youth services librarian. I like listening, being useful, and snacking. View all posts by Christina Vortia Previous Post Next Post this years ALA Annual Conference in Orlando. SunFunDisney World and LIBRARIANS! Apply now! http://www.ala.org/yalsa/awardsandgrants/yalsaawardsgrants Share this: Related Posts: 1. YALSA Board @ Midwinter 2016: Preview & Governance Update 2. YALSA Board @ Midwinter 2016: Fiscal Matters 3. YALSA Board @ Midwinter 2016: Organizational Planning Communication Plan 4. YALSA Board @ Midwinter 2016: The Fundraising Plan Posted in: New Librarians and Library Staff, Professional Learning ? Tagged: ALA Midwinter, ALA Midwinter 2016, Committees, Conference Attendance, professional development, Social Networking Advertising App of the Week Archive Apply to be a YALSA Blogger Creative Commons License Current Bloggers Privacy Statement YALSA Blog Staff Anna Lam @YALSA Crystle Martin Member Manager Categories Categories Select Category WordPress Admin Log in Entries RSS Comments RSS WordPress.org Archives Archives Select Month ? Copyright 2016 - YALSAblog Contango Theme ? Powered by WordPress 2Share Share Leave a Reply Enter?your?comment?here...