Informal ER&L discussion @ NASIG 2007
Kelly Smith June 29th, 2007
A half dozen folks got together for an informal discussion at NASIG 2007 to brainstorm ideas for improving the 2008 ER&L Conference. Due to vacation and other issues, I’m posting these discussion notes a month after they occured, so if I’ve forgotten things or stated them incorrectly, perhaps the other folks who were there can add comments to this. Or, if you weren’t at the meeting, but would like to add additional comments for the 2008 conference planners to consider, feel free to do so here.
1.     What went well at ER&L 2007?
a.      Plenty of time for networking
b.     Reasonable time between sessions
c.      Liked the programs with different tracking colors
d.     Program size was nice.
e.      Wireless in the meetings (however, wireless tough to set up – maybe put directions in program or send to attendees ahead of time so attendees can check with their IT people. Maybe put on moodle?)
f.       Internet café went well
g.      People really enjoyed tour of Georgia Tech
h.      Refreshments provided all day long, not just at breaks
2.     What could be improved?
a.      Moodle site not used very much – general dissatisfaction w/moodle
b.     People couldn’t print in Internet Café – maybe provide little pencils and paper for internet café 
c.      Session at conference on how we can use the Moodle site, or perhaps before the conference.  There are really weird pathways to stuff.
d.     1st year there was more about digital repositories
e.      Help give it a better identity. Making it clear that we’re different from NASIG. Emphasize that focus is not just tech services people.
f.       Strive to keep the conference a mix of areas. Like Solinet.
g.      Need focused marketing on various areas of librarianship and related fields
h.      Need to get the website cleaned up and clarify the focus
i.        You have to drill too deep to find stuff, and then go back out and log back in to get to stuff
j.       We need something more current for the blog - who will keep content fresh to keep it interesting?
k.     Pull various things together for the site? Keep it constrained to just conference stuff?
3.     How about having more informal time? “unconference†“library camp†– a time for project feedback and resource sharing.
a.      Generational thing? Good to have a mix that includes both planned and unplanned time.
b.     Have a short planning cycle to give currency (1st conference seemed more current)
c.      Cool program.
d.     The first year was more free-flowing - had more unplanned time.
e.      Ideas: Track discussions; informal roundtables; follow-up w/keynote speaker
f.       Weakness: venue not ideal for small group discussion – maybe we could book one additional traditional conference room that’s set up for discussion sessions and not necessarily IT hookup.
g.      Encourage attendees to join in the blog.
h.      Vendors – need to define the role of vendors more clearly - who’s being targeted? – make sure vendors know what to expect and who to expect
4.     Some other ideas
a.  Have a component of the conference where the attenders shape the content – place where people could put important ideas or words – leading to facilitated discussion of issues on final day.
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