Having them here has meant that I act more my age. You know, coming in before 2 am and getting some sleep before starting again the next day.

It has been gratifying to know that people did in fact miss me and that others remembered me fondly as someone who is smart, competent, and can get things done. I have also learned that I have not lost my knack for opening my mouth when it is prudent to keep it shut. I just do not often mince words when having discussions about things which I am passionate.

At a dinner last night, I do not think I earned a lot of fans when I announced that ALA is in the habit of navel gazing and that our divisions and committees should be offering more learning online for free. Some things never change. After the dinner, I headed to the Billy Goat to to laugh with other librarians with big mouths.

Today, I am going to the CLENE Showcase and then to some LITA stuff before taking my boys to the Blog Salon. I have been thinking about the Unconference and working on a post. It is hard to write much when my time not at conference is spent with my boys.

Must get ready for the rest of the day.

–Jane, expects everyone at the Blog Salon to tell me that I have the cutest. baby. ever.

So much about the process of planning the Unconference has been wonderful. What has pleased me the most with this process is that we have topics that vary and are still timely. Not everything is technology related, which is awesome. I want the Unconference to be a place where honest discussions can happen. I have similar hopes for the Unconference as I did for the first Social Software Showcase in 2007.

If you are sad that you will not be able to make the Unconference, do not despair. We have, of course, provided a way for you to live vicariously on the Internet. We are using CoverItLive via ALA Connect as a backchannel. There will also be some information from various presenters on the schedule page. The official hashtag is #unala2009.

I feel like a kid before Christmas. I am very excited about tomorrow.

–Jane, will have trouble sleeping

The rumors are true. I am bringing Mr. Rochester and Baby Rochester aka Wee Bairn with me to Chicago. They will definitely make appearances at LITA Happy Hour, the OCLC Blog Salon, and maybe the Unconference. They may appear elsewhere, but I know there is only so much adorable you can stand, so I must regulate the consumption.

Because my boys are coming, I have less things on my schedule than in the past. It should be an interesting change. I am making time to go to my favorite things and see my favorite people. I expect to stalk some of you until I find you in the flesh.

–Jane, must go pack now

As of now, there is only one person on the waiting list.

So. If you were sad, sad and cried, cried because you could not see ever getting from the waiting list to the actual fun list and thus did not sign up. Do not despair. Go sign up now. Chances are good you may still get a slot.

I know it is late notice, but I figured someone may want to join the fun. And it will be fun. And exciting. And we will rock the ALA.

–Jane, if this is your first time at an unconference, you have to talk

Be gone talking heads! The people have something to say! I am incredibly excited about this opportunity. If you want to join us, there are still a few slots left. We will have a waiting list after the initial 75 are named.

–Jane, loves giving power to the little guy

Do you have a topic you want to discuss with others but can find no outlet? Have a new idea or project you want to share?

At ALA Annual 2009, I (along with my frequent partner in crime Meredith Farkas) am helping to plan and run an Unconference as part of Jim Rettig’s “Creating Connections” initiatives. 75 people will be able to participate in an all day event where they can be presenter, discussion leader, and participant. The attendees will choose the topics for discussion and presentation. It is going to be a fun and new way to interact at ALA.

Be the change you want to see and come play with us Friday, July 10th from 9-5. All you have to do is add your name to the list. I promise that you will have fun and learn something exciting in the process.

This is a unique opportunity to not only be part of something new at ALA but it is also a way to connect with your fellow librarians while discussing the topics of the day chosen by you and not the talking heads.

–Jane, looking forward to seeing who wants to play and what they want to talk about

ALA TechSource has been incredibly good to me and good for me. It is, hands down, the best gig I have ever had. Thanks for a great run. You guys are the best.

–Jane, grateful

People fear and worry about the unknown.

The PTB, Powers That Be, in most organizations perpetuate fear by having closed meetings, by distributing meeting minutes that have no substance, hiding or disguising the way decisions are made, and not explaining any of the above to the people whom these decisions invariably effect the most. These practices create worry, fear, and gossip mongering because the lower levels of the organizations are kept, unintentionally or deliberately, in the dark. Who does this system protect? Certainly not the people on the bottom.

I believe that information is power and it is time we give it back to the people.

In an effort of experimentation, truth, and transparency, the leadership of BIGWIG will henceforth be practicing Radical Transparency. We want to model how radical transparency can change the work of an ALA group. We want to show that transparency breeds loyalty and productivity. It does not produce chaos. We discussed this at ALA Midwinter with the group and everyone was in favor of moving forward.

How will this work?

BIGWIG has registered its own domain called Your BIGWIG. There you will find different areas for discussion, work, and projects. We will strive to publicly discuss all projects, from the bottom up. The first item up for discussion and work is the Social Software Showcase planned for Annual. Well, it is not so much planned yet. We want the people to plan their own program.

We are not creating a democracy. We are creating a transparentocracy. The chairs of BIGWIG will still have final decision powers and will be true leaders of the group, but everyone will know what is going on, what is coming down the pipes, and how every decision is made. People will know because decisions will be made on the web for all the world to see or they can search the archives later).

Transparency is the future. It may be the medicine that ALA needs to regain and restore faith to their members. BIGWIG, the tiny IG unlike any other, wants to show ALA that it can be done. If you want to play, come on over, and sign-up for the fun.

–Jane, always happy to be the bearer of good things

Welcome, Jason.

–Jane, loves to see her friends do amazing things

Most of my complaints about ALA Midwinter are about things having to do with the division in which I spend most of my time: LITA. As we say down South, Bless your heart. Bless your heart, LITA, I know you try, but let us consider the ways in which the brain was left behind in the planning of some of the aspects of ALA Midwinter 2008 and how your members have lost touch with reality and the word leadership.

In the past, LITA sponsored a Blogger’s room, which has become more popular as more people found out about it’s existence. At Annual 07, there were always people hanging out in the room, chatting, blogging, and surfing the internet whenever I chanced by. The room had multiple tables, chairs, wifi, and many power strips. BIGWIG usually has its meetings in this room because it is available, convenient, and has all the equipment we needed (wifi and power strips). At Midwinter 07, the room was bumped back to only be a couple tables in the back of the ALA office, but it still included power strips and wifi. Members of LITA have been thinking of ways we could use this service of a plug and wifi as a way to market LITA as a technology provider guru to ALA at large. I think this is a wonderful idea and an even better service.

(As a disclaimer, I did not see said table, but I did hear about it from multiple people. I wanted a picture, but ran out of time on Monday. If anyone snapped a picture, please share it in the comments.) This year the idea of the room or properly equipped tables seems to have gone awry somehow. This year, we again had a Blogger’s Table at Midwinter in the ALA office. But it was one table with two chairs, no power strips, and no wifi. Welcome bloggers, you would be better off sitting on the floor by a plug in the hallway instead of using this service we have not put much thought into providing. I am not sure who thought this would be a good idea, but clearly it is not useful and a waste of space besides.

The Blogger’s Area should be something, by now, that LITA leadership and admin have realized is a “good thing” for their image, but BIGWIG has to ask and advocate for it before every conference. It should be something that LITA wants to provide, not something they must be cajoled and prodded into doing.

At Annual, LITA, I will not be there to enjoy it, but please provide a real room, with numerous tables, chairs, power strips, and wifi . We know it costs money, but think of it as much needed advertising to all the techies hiding in other ALA groups that see you not as a technology leader or innovator, but as an innovator and leader that has forgotten what it means to do so.

I again must write a disclaimer as I was not present at the following meeting, but I did hear about it after the fact from multiple people. At Midwinter, the Top Tech Trends Panel holds an open discussion meeting in which they throw out ideas about new trends and the audience is able to comment on the panel’s assumptions. Other then the President’s Program, the TTT Panel at both Midwinter and Annual are the most popular LITA events. The thing that makes the Midwinter program stand out is that, instead of the panel talking to the audience, as they do at Annual, the panel talks with the audience about tech trends in libraries.

You would expect that such a largely attended and well received program would not have the problems getting the right room and equipment they need from LITA to hold their events. Indeed, they should not have the kind of problems a little IG would have, say getting a blogging area, but the TTT Committee had similar connectivity and set-up issues. It is possible that these issues were a problem with the conference staff and not LITA. If I am wrong in my assumption, I want to be corrected. Someone, please correct me!

Instead of a large room, set up for a lively discussion and debate, the room TTT was given was small and set up for a traditional committee meeting with a table in the center and chairs around the table. The chair of the committee, Maurice York, had to run around, fetching as many extra chairs as he could cram into the room. During the discussion, the room overflowed into the hall. LITA – we do not have room for you.

The connectivity in the room was not wonderful. One of the committee members, trying to participate virtually on Skype, had issues connecting to the group because of the wifi. Wifi can be problematic, so I am hesitant to really lay that on LITA’s door. I applaud the committee for trying Skype. Who says ALA does not have virtual participation?

Lastly, the LITA Town Meeting ended in a debate over which we should be: Innovative Leaders of Technology (in which we often blaze the trail as the first) or Leaders in Technology (in which we do not care about innovation but instead create best practices and know the best tools in hopes that others will seek out our expertise). The conversation made me want to cry, scream, and rip my hair out. It is the conversation I hear repeated in MPOW and in libraries all over the nation. It is the reason a lot of libraries talk about doing something but never actually get around to doing anything at all and thus never lead anyone anywhere.

Why try to be first, when you can be last? I have a news flash for the people in LITA who think we should give up trying to be first and be the ones who make great policies and practices. All those groups who blazed the trail we are sauntering down, already created all the policies and best practices they need because shortly after being first, they realized they needed some guidelines. When you wait for others to do all the dirty work and then step in later to save the day, you only look like an attention grabber and no one believes you have anything to contribute that is worthwhile. If you did have something meaningful to say, you would have said it at the beginning, when the innovative group was hacking through the jungle, not later when the road is built.

I am not bringing this up to say that age is the factor, but someone asked all of us under 30 to raise out hands and there were less than 5 of us in a room easily holding about 60 or 70 people. I know LITA used to be the leader back when they had the Internet room for people to use and you were all young. I know because you tell us about it all the time. I am proud you blazed that trail and it is part of our history. You know what though, you are the only ones who remember that and that remembrance is not enough for the rest of ALA to keep believing you are a leader of anything. One good idea will not ensure your status as an innovator. It just means you had one good idea.

People no longer see LITA as a leader in technology because we are not. Not in innovation, policies, or best practices. If we really want to reclaim our position as a leader in technology we have to actually lead the way to be taken seriously. I want LITA to be great. I want us to blaze a technology trail others can walk down. I want us to partner with other divisions who are also using technology in innovative ways so we can be leaders again. We do not always have to be the first ones down the trail, but we should try to be in the lead group, leading.

–Jane, not ready to sit back and let others have all the innovative fun