I’ve really enjoyed reading the PLA Blog the last few days. I’ve been to one ALA Midwinter conference, and it was mainly so I could attend an OCLC meeting so I really didn’t catch much else. I don’t think I’m alone in not really knowing what goes on at this conference, but I have a much better sense of it now. I’ve really appreciated the event summaries, too, since my organization doesn’t send me to ALA conferences.

As an aside, Karen Schneider has my favorite quote so far: “The lively response to my request for input on top technology trends in libraries led me to conclude that the most significant meta-trend is that information is a conversation.” Sessions I’m most bummed I couldn’t attend are RUSA’s Hot Topics, the session on fostering civic engagement, Karen Hyman’s presentation (someone I’d love to meet!), and OCLC’s session on gaming (“…John Beck, author of ‘Got Game: How the Gamers Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever,’ made a superb case for how the generation of people conceived in Pong, weaned on SuperMario and matured in Massively Multiplayer Online Games, are changing and will change the workplace.”).

However, I think one of the most interesting things to come out of the blog is the sense of camaraderie and enthusiasm that these dozen people have generated. After the Internet Librarian conference last November, several people told me how much they thought the bloggers re-invigorated the whole feel of the conference. Now that I’m on the outside of the ALA meeting, I understand what they meant. When do ALA events ever get this kind of positive coverage online. According to Steven, the blog’s statistics look good, too. And how great is it to find someone lamenting a missed meeting, where a commenter then leaves a pointer to the online presentations, all where anyone can find the whole exchange? Plus, Wi-Fi is helping attendees do actual work!

When is the last time you felt enthusiastic reading about a library conference, especially in real-time? I think it started with the InfoToday conferences last year, but the PLA Blog has taken it to a new level. It’s the proof-of-concept that we’d always hoped for, and my greatest wish is that every library organization read it to understand how well this can work for them. Hmmm… maybe someone at ILA is reading it???

A huge “Well Done” to the conference bloggers!

Bonus link: after I posted all of this, Beth Gallaway posted a fantastic, more-in-depth summary of the gaming session. A must-read!