{"id":62109,"date":"2015-01-08T08:45:53","date_gmt":"2015-01-08T14:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=62109"},"modified":"2015-01-07T20:16:25","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T02:16:25","slug":"ten-conference-tips-for-a-first-timer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=62109","title":{"rendered":"Ten Conference Tips for a First Timer"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Pennsylvania
\n<\/a>previously published 2\/21\/14<\/em><\/p>\n

Ten Conference Tips for a First Timer<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"leigh.milligan\"<\/a>Last weekend, I went to my first big library conference, ALA Mid-Winter in\u00a0Philadelphia, PA. I was very nervous and jittery going into this conference. It was\u00a0my first conference, and I went by myself since my other librarian friends had other\u00a0commitments at ALA or just weren\u2019t able to afford it. I came out of ALA stronger\u00a0than ever and really enjoyed my experience. I am going to share with you based on\u00a0my experience, some tips for conference going for first timers.<\/p>\n

1. Attend an orientation session<\/strong>. Since I was a first timer at the conference,\u00a0I wanted some help in navigating the conference. New Members Round\u00a0Table (NMRT) gave an orientation session. They have icebreaker games to\u00a0help with networking with new librarians. They had a panel of experienced\u00a0librarians to give tips about attending the conference such as sitting in\u00a0on different meetings of divisions and roundtables you might want to\u00a0get involved in since everything is open, attend programs as ALA JobList\u00a0for career advice and why ALA is important. There was also a librarian\u00a0there to give ideas on things to do in the city of Philadelphia. It was a great\u00a0orientation to attend because it gave me a starting point for the conference.<\/p>\n

2. Bring business cards and network<\/strong>. I just couldn\u2019t attend this conference\u00a0and not talk to anyone. One of my goals for this conference was to meet new\u00a0librarians, I sure did. I was almost out of business cards by the end of the 2\u00a0days of the conference. By the end of the conference I was easily able to just\u00a0walk up to anyone introduce myself and hand them a business card to stay in\u00a0touch. I received many Linked In connections.<\/p>\n

3. Prepare a small 30 second speech about yourself<\/strong>. Throughout the\u00a0conference people are going to ask you to tell them about yourself. This will\u00a0be really easy if you have something prepared. It helped me show people\u00a0I know who I am and what I can offer the library world. It was also very\u00a0helpful at the conference because I was able to tell people and get people\u00a0interested in INALJ. My<\/p>\n

4. Attend career sessions at the ALA JobList Placement Center<\/strong>. At ALA\u00a0the placement center offers many opportunities for library career help.\u00a0They have workshops on resumes, cover letters and interviewing, career\u00a0counseling centers, resume review. My favorite career session was with\u00a0Steve at Open Cover Letters because it is my favorite resource for writing\u00a0cover letters and he was able to really break it down for me. At ALA Mid-Winter, I even had the opportunity to attend a job fair. I was able to talk to\u00a0many different libraries and vendors from all over the United States about\u00a0their open library positions. This honestly felt like library speed dating\u00a0because I talked to many libraries very quickly in a short amount of time, but\u00a0this helped me to learn about the many open positions at these libraries and\u00a0how I could apply. It also helped me work on my communication skills for\u00a0when I am interviewing with libraries. I had to the opportunity to give my\u00a0resume to a few libraries on the spot, so maybe I\u2019ll hear back!<\/p>\n

5. Volunteer at the conference<\/strong>. Find something to volunteer for like helping\u00a0out on a committee, volunteering to help out the conference through ALA or\u00a0your local association etc. It\u2019s a great way to meet people and its something\u00a0you can put on your resume. Plus volunteering is great karma. I volunteered\u00a0to sit at Pennsylvania Library Associations booth and made some great\u00a0connections with those who I met through PaLA.<\/p>\n

6. Attend meetings for Divisions and Round Tables you are a member of\u00a0or are interested in<\/strong>. I really and truly feel this is an important tip. I was\u00a0really skeptical in getting involved in a roundtable through ALA because I\u00a0was a little bit intimidated of how involved some people are and wasn\u2019t sure\u00a0if I would have the time. After attending New Members Round Table (NMRT)\u00a0meeting, it really made me want to get super involved. We broke into small\u00a0groups to learn about what NMRT has to offer. Everyone I talked to was so\u00a0positive about librarianship and had great ideas and great things to say. I\u00a0am really excited to volunteer for a committee through NMRT with these\u00a0positive librarians. I also made some great networking connections and got\u00a0some tips on how I can improve my Emerging Leaders Application for next\u00a0year!<\/p>\n

7. Attend educational sessions, but also attend something fun<\/strong>! Most of\u00a0the sessions I attended for ALA were sessions to help advance my career or\u00a0were in in my areas I work in. For example I work in a library for those with\u00a0disabilities, so I attended a panel for library services for the deaf. However I\u00a0did attend a fun session to. I attended a session called DK Crafternoon with\u00a0Jane Bull. I got a signed copy of Jane Bull\u2019s book and I got to do a craft! I\u00a0sewed a mouse. While sewing is in no way my area of expertise, I love to craft\u00a0and I had fun doing it! I also made some new friends! Also make room for fun\u00a0at ALA!<\/p>\n

8. Use the conference app<\/strong>. Most conferences for ALA are creating an app to\u00a0make your conference schedule on. This was very helpful for me because I\u00a0was able to plan what programs I wanted to attend very far in advance. I was\u00a0able to know exactly where to go each day at what time I needed to be there.\u00a0It was also helpful in the exhibits hall, because the exhibits hall was so large\u00a0and it helped me to know who to be on the lookout for. This app was great\u00a0for making last minute plans. A session I wanted to attend, the speaker didn\u2019t\u00a0show up, so I had to find another conference to attend on the quick! With the\u00a0app, it was easy to do.<\/p>\n

9. Make time for the exhibits hall, but don\u2019t grab too much free stuff<\/strong>! The\u00a0exhibits hall at ALA meetings is quite large with many vendors for library\u00a0products. It\u2019s a great way to make connections with vendors for networking\u00a0and possible library purchases. At some of the publishers\u2019 booths, you even\u00a0have the opportunity to meet authors at book signings, I met Sue Monk\u00a0Kidd. However, because the there are so many exhibitors, you want to map\u00a0out exactly who you want to visit, because you won\u2019t get to see everyone.\u00a0This was helpful for me, because it helped me make the connections I\u00a0wanted to make, such as talked to Library Journal and others about blogging\u00a0opportunities You also do not want to grab every free book because you will\u00a0hurt your back.<\/p>\n

10. Attend socials not just ALA sessions<\/strong>. I will keep saying this ALA\u00a0conferences are a great way to meet people. But ALA socials are even a great\u00a0way to meet librarians. It\u2019s a great way to talk to other librarians in a very\u00a0casual environment. Most of the meet-ups were at bars and restaurants\u00a0near the conference. I got the opportunity to attend two socials, one through\u00a0my alumni association at Drexel University; the other was one I hosted\u00a0for INALJ. I met many librarians, gave out many business cards and made\u00a0connections and had a great time chatting with other librarians casually\u00a0versus professional.<\/p>\n

I hope all of these tips will come in handy when you attend your first conference or\u00a0one of your first conferences. Here are some more tips from ALA for first timers at\u00a0conferences: http:\/\/alamw14.ala.org\/resources-for-first-timers<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Pennsylvania previously published 2\/21\/14 Ten Conference Tips for a First Timer Last weekend, I went to my first big library conference, ALA Mid-Winter in\u00a0Philadelphia, PA. I was very nervous and jittery going into this conference. It was\u00a0my first conference, and I went by myself since my other librarian friends had…<\/p>\n

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