Being the Faithful Account of a TLA Conference Attendee, Part I (Amanda)

Tuesday, March 31

Despite some flight delays and a cabbie who was, at best, a maniac intent on making it to Warp 9 on I-45 in the rain during rush hour, Melody and I arrived in one piece on Monday. Most Conference attendees will be coming into town this afternoon. Melody and I register and get our badges. As a member of the TLA Conference Program Committee, I get a nifty pin with streamers proclaiming me a “Conference Planner.” I later discover that wearing this accoutrement, rather than inspiring the respect and awe of my colleagues, causes people to assume I know where all the bathrooms are.

Melody will be giving her presentation “No Excuses! Creating a Patron-Friendly Computer Basics Course” at 2:00 this afternoon. On our way to locate and scope out the room we are assigned for the session, we run into Kerry McGeath, director of Southlake Public Library. We find out the next day during General Session I that he has received the “Librarian of the Year” award from TLA, but either he doesn’t know yet or he is disarmingly modest, as he doesn’t tell us ahead of time. He does tell us about some nifty big-screen monitors that Southlake has mounted throughout the library to advertise their programs and services. I successfully conceal the fact that I am insanely jealous of his nifty tech toys and want to poke him with my “Conference Planner” Badge of Power.

It is time for Melody’s presentation. We have at least 25 attendees in the room—quite a respectable number for the day before Conference really starts for most people. I introduce Melody and then sit back down. It is at that point that I notice that the room, while at a temperature comfortable for penguins and polar bears, is actually quite chilly for someone wearing a short-sleeved blouse. I proceed to form a layer of ice not unlike the one our delayed plane developed while in Colorado. Melody is not distracted by my uncontrollable shaking, the indigo color of my skin, or the icicle hanging off my nose and does an absolute bang-up job with her session. Here is the link to the content of her presentation. Now she is ready to relax and enjoy Conference, though the major bug-a-boo still looms for me on Thursday (more on that later).

Parting ways with Melody, I scamper off to my next scheduled event, hoping fervently that a brief jog will stave off the hypothermia to which I had been succumbing. The other program for which I am responsible as a "Conference Planner" is "Quick, Dirty, and Cheap Strategic Planning" with Pat Wagner, who many of you know from the workshops she has presented at APL. Since we only have an hour, Pat lets me off the hook regarding an introduction and just launches right into her presentation (hallelujah!).

A couple of good points that Pat makes in the course of her presentation is that libraries are good at ADDING services, but not so good at taking them away (which is why you need a strategic plan to help your organization stay focused on its goals), and that libraries should be in the business of helping people progress, in the way they wish to progress. Ultimately, a strategic plan provides parameters and protection, as it is a transparent contract between: (1) the library director and his/her governing authority (in our case, City Hall), (2) library administration and library staff, and (3) the library and its community.

Tuesday evening is the Welcome Party in Discovery Park, located across the street from the Convention Center. Since I had been emotionally scarred by the scarcity of food at the Welcome Party the last time it was in Houston in 2006 (after waiting in line for an hour, I ended up with two small cubes of Monterey Jack and a piece of limp lettuce—I kid you not), I have already eaten at the hotel and simply accompany my roommate Angela to the par-tae. Of course, this time, there is plenty of food. At 8 pm, we cross the street to the Hilton to drop by the TALL Texans Ice Cream Social. TALL Texans is a leadership development institute for members of TLA. I was in the class of 2003, Donna was a TALL Texan in 1998, and my mom was one in 2000. As far as I know, I am still the only second-generation TALL Texan (not that I get a special pin with streamers for THAT, although I really should). In addition to enhancing their leadership skills, participants in TALL Texans get the opportunity to develop a close network of colleagues from all types of libraries. In fact, the lady with whom I usually share a room at TLA events (the aforementioned Angela) was in my class. Participants also get the opportunity to suffer heat stroke, as the institute is usually held in June in the Hill Country in a camp-like retreat that has no air conditioning except in the dining hall and classroom. But this is yet another way to build character.

Melody joins us for the social. We look through the photo albums from each class. Donna had shoulder-length hair in 1998, which I had forgotten until I see her pictures in her class’s binder. After looking through the photos for my class, I decide the less I wear shorts in public, the better. At the party, we are encouraged to decorate a paper boot for our year, which will be pinned up at the TALL Texans booth in the Exhibits Hall. The bulk of decorating the 2003 boot unfortunately falls to me (artistically challenged) and Angela, who quickly develops a contentious relationship with the glitter pen that keeps clotting on her. We leave soon after. To catch the last shuttle to our hotel, I end up sprinting a quarter of a mile in 2-inch heels. Which I do not recommend, by the way.