I'm not going to write too too much about last week's Computers in Libraries conference. This isn't a work blog, after all, and I do not make a habit of reading all the brightest and most prolific minds out there in the glamourous world of librarianship. I hope they will all forgive me that transgression.
I'm torn, though, on the conference, and it may take me time to process. Funnily enough, I actually think I may want to go back next year. We'll see.
Big names there, or names who think they're big. A few of the egos need a bit of a pin prick, I'm sorry to say, and there was more than a faint whiff of cliquery and, well, male cattle feces. The Puritan in me also has some small scorn not for the rampant drinking itself but for the idiotic pride people took in being hungover the day after. Let that be an end to my scathing critique.
Still, there were some great presentations. I unabashedly point to my roommate for the conference, Brian, as the lead example.
He spoke on e-books, and he was head and shoulders above so many others. I was very proud of him.
His good friend
Bobbi (the redheaded woman in the shot above and in several other shots) spoke a few times, and I was impressed by her content, her manner, and her outfits. Great shoes, but I think Jodie
won that contest.
There were good people to dine with - I found the Brussels sprouts at
Zaytinya memorable among the dishes the group
of us had, and the entire evening at
Jaleo on the last night to be quite fantastic.
I think the take away I really got from the conference was being able to talk about libraries and library technology with people outside the usual ALA bubble. That much I appreciated. And
Brian, whom I had known virtually thanks to the magic of Twitter and then Facebook turned out to be a very engaging and sweet young man. Martin and Todd are safe - they are my set ALA roomies - but
Brian is a good candidate for other conferences, or so I hope.
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