Public Library Association Conference 2008 @ Minneapolis

The Public Library Association Conference was exactly what it advertised..."A BREATH OF FRESH AIR" and "THE BEST CONFERENCE FOR THE PUBLIC LIBRARY WORLD." I simply enjoyed everything!
Opening up the Conference with John Wood was very inspirational. I think he made each and every one of us feel that one person can truly make a difference. The Luncheon speakers were tough to choose from. The Frommers' were fabulous! Imagine sitting next to one of them on an airplane. You would certainly need a notebook or allot of napkins for all of their tips. Nancy Pearl, was both informational and entertaining. Then we have the Exhibits. I don't believe that anything could of prepared me for that many exhibitors. I was able to view products and visit with exhibitors for some future business opportunities. I am so glad that someone told me to bring a rolly bag. It was a life saver and a fabulous place for me to store all of my author signed books, materials, handouts, and many freebies that I was able to pick up at the conference. The program choices were many. Most of the time I was hard pressed to decide between sessions. I enjoyed going to a couple different author presentations. One was authors reading aloud some of their books and the other was more of a question and answer session. Understanding the mind of an author and how they come up with their many different plots, stories, ideas, etc.. is fascinating to me. One of the children's authors came up with a book idea by listening in on a conversation at a public library between two children. I guess inspiration comes in many forms. I was able to go to sessions on "Reinventing 5" to "Handing Upset Patrons: From the Irate to the Insane". PLA organized all the sessions on a chart with ideas of who should attend these sessions...and I was all over the charts. In a library our size, I wear many hats, so this shouldn't be too surprising. A big Thank you goes to SAMMIE for this wonderful Scholarship opportunity. I would love to go again, do you think we could talk PLA into having the next one in say...St. Paul?
Many Thanks
Cindy Hendrickx