I'm happy to report that the ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium turned out even better than I had hoped. This was due entirely to the energy of the participants and the quality of the speakers. I actually missed most of the non-keynote sessions because I was running around trying to record video of the presentations, resolve issues, and generally just keep things running as smoothly as possible. For a first-time event, I think we did pretty well, and the evaluations (that I've only had a chance to skim so far) seem to confirm this.

Even so, I was blown away by some of the things I *did* hear at the Symposium, including in the hallways. I'll try to write more about these pieces soon, but having just moved into a new house two days after the Symposium ended, blogging is going to remain light for a while. Some things to note now, though:

• I was finally able to upload pictures of the event to http://www.flickr.com/photos/alapublishing/sets/72157601109909944/. If you were there, please feel free to tag and note yourself in any of the images. I added names for people I was pretty sure wouldn't mind being identified online. Please let me know if I made a bad assumption in your case. You can see all Flickr pictures tagged GLLS2007 at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/glls2007/.
• All of our non-librarian keynote speakers saw great potential for librarians in the areas of gaming and participatory culture. I think that's worth noting just on its own. My personal thanks to Henry Jenkins, James Paul Gee, and Gregory Trefry for their excellent presentations that provided great context and insight for us. I came away with many ideas of my own, which is what makes a conference great for me. I hope this was true for others.
• Nintendo lent us a Wii to play with and a second one to give away to one lucky attendee. After a brutal round of Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree and then a victory in the final playing Marble Madness, I'm happy to announce that Marcie Smedley from the Henderson Libraries was our Wii champion! Congratulations, Marcie! And thank you to Nintendo for sending us the Wiis, the schwag, and the brochures.

  

• Some of the board game publishers came through, too - thank you to Chessex, FunAgain, and particularly North Star Games (who gave away a copy of Wits & Wagers to every registrant - whoohoo!).
• We were able to capture a lot of audio and video from the sessions, mainly because David Free ran around like a crazy person to keep the iPods running in each room, and I did the same thing for the video cameras. In addition, we wouldn't have been able to capture as much video as we did without the help of Chris Harris, who lent us his video camera. A big thank you to both of these guys! It will take us a few weeks to edit and post all of these files (well, the ones that are worth posting in terms of the audio and video quality), but you can watch for them to appear, along with handouts and slides, on the TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries wiki. If you're interested in a particular session, your best bet is to watch the page for it. Some presenters have already begun linking to information and files.
• Unfortunately, we had several speakers cancel at the last minute due to a variety of family emergencies. Amazingly, though, we were able to fill each slot when another speaker agreed to give an additional presentation. So special thanks to Kelly Czarnecki, Beth Gallaway, and Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, each of whom gave a second presentation on very short notice, all of which were well-received. And thank you to Eric Currie, who did a great, impromptu job of standing in for Dan Braun (we missed you, Dan!).
• I'd also like to note the extra effort put forth by Scott Nicholson and Eli Neiburger, both of whom gave fantastic presentations (this was noted in the evaluations, so it's not just me saying it) and then led the evening of open board and video gaming. Their energy and enthusiasm was contagious, and they are both rock stars. Another rock star, Stephen Abram, moderated a most interesting panel of teens, and he came away with what was easily one of the favorite quotes. When asked about evaluating websites, one of the teens noted the difference between .gov sites and Wikipedia, saying, "Who are you going to trust - the government or the people?" The teen panel wouldn't have happened at all without the invaluable help of Brian Myers.
• Several attendees blogged the sessions. You can find all posts tagged GLLS2007 at http://technorati.com/posts/tag/glls2007, where there is great coverage by The Utopian Library, Research Quest, and The Flying Keyboard. Thanks to these folks for their contributions.
• We did do some press releases for the event, which helped us get picked up by a local arts radio show called Hello Beautiful. Their July 22 show has me speaking about the Symposium for a few minutes. I can't listen to myself on the radio or watch myself on TV (even though my undergraduate degree was in broadcast news), so I have no idea which parts of our conversation they used, but others tell me it's not too bad. If you're so inclined, you can listen to it at http://wbez.org/Program_HB.aspx?episode=12145 (I think I come in about a third of the way in but am not sure). I also talked to a reporter from the Chicago Tribune, so we'll see if anything comes of that. I think 2008 is going to be a BIG year for gaming services in libraries.
• Libraries are already signing up to be part of the Ann Arbor District Library's GT System. This will be the *national* leaderboard and site for gaming tournaments, and it's open to all libraries at no charge. This is simply amazing, and I think we all owe Eli Neiburger and the AADL a round of applause for this. I can't stress enough the good things I think this is going to do for us on a national scale. AADL didn't have to open this up to everyone but you know, they think big there. I like that. :)
• Beth Gallaway started a Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium Ning network to keep the discussion going. If you're at all interested in the topic, please join and help us expand the conversation. I hope we can use this space to start planning for next year's event, too. Thanks for doing this, Beth!
• And finally, a few personal thank yous. First, major gratitude to Don Chatham, Mary Ghikas, and Keith Michael Fiels for believing that we could - and should - pull this off. ALA moved pretty quickly on this one, and it paid off.

  Second, many thanks to all of the staff who helped us make this work, particularly Mary Jo Bolduc, John Chrastka, Joan Claffey, Kathryn Deiss, Kimberly Epps, Judy Foley, Dale Lipschultz, Mary Mackay, Macey Morales, Kim Richardson, and James Vertovec. I truly couldn't have done it without you.

  I also want to single out those units within ALA who defied the inherent obstacles of ALA's structure and collaborated with TechSource on this event to make it better than it otherwise would have been: the Association of College & Research Libraries, the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the Development Office, and the Office for Literacy & Outreach Services. One of the best things about the Symposium for me was the way these units within the association worked together.

  And finally, incalculable heaps of praise and thank yous to each and every one of our speakers. You made the program what it was and as a result, it will be *very difficult* to top it next year. Thank you for being part of this inaugural event.

  Speakers:
  

  
  
  • Amy Alessio
  
  
  • Lyn Allen
  
  
  • Tammy Allgood
  
  
  • Lori Bell
  
  
  • Kristin Boyett
  
  
  • Lori O. Critz
  
  
  • Eric Currie
  
  
  • Kelly Czarnecki
  
  
  • Craig Davis
  
  
  • Donald Dennis
  
  
  • Annie Downey
  
  
  • Mark Engelbrecht
  
  
  • Katherine Fallow
  
  
  • Barbara Galik
  
  
  • Beth Gallaway
  
  
  • Bee Gallegos
  
  
  • James Paul Gee
  
  
  • Natalie Gick
  
  
  • Thom Kevin Gillespie
  
  
  • Matt Gullett
  
  
  • Amy Harris
  
  
  • Christopher Harris
  
  
  • Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe
  
  
  • Martin House
  
  
  • Henry Jenkins
  
  
  • Jeremy Kemp
  
  
  • John Kirriemuir
  
  
  • Kelly Laszczak
  
  
  • Liz Lawley
  
  
  • Dwight McInvaill
  
  
  • Brian Myers
  
  
  • Eli Neiburger
  
  
  • Scott Nicholson
  
  
  • Tom Peters
  
  
  • Stephanie Publicker
  
  
  • Scott Rice
  
  
  • Jami Schwarzwalder
  
  
  • Julie Scordato
  
  
  • Lynn S. Sutton
  
  
  • Joe Torres
  
  
  • Gregory Trefry
  
  
  • Alex Tyle
  
  
  • Kit Ward-Crixell
  
  
  • H.D. "Giz" Womack