All my posts these days seem to be about the unconference at ALA. I am hoping to remedy that, tomorrow.
For possibly several reasons, the unconference at ALA has low registration numbers, compared to last year. Perhaps the largest reason is that Friday, and honestly every day at Annual, is packed with many, many great things with which you can fill your schedule. Setting aside an entire day for an event can be hard for many people. I also think that the unconference was not as high profile this year, not being an officially sponsored President’s Program. Whatever the reason, registration remained low and Sean and I decided to have a half day event instead.
We did not want to cancel the unconference altogether, we like the idea and the concept too much (I wrote a book about it for the love of chaos). We decided that with the handful of people coming, 21 plus volunteers at this juncture, we would shift the format and reduce the time. The unconference will now be held Friday, June 25, 2010 from 9am-Noon in 207A at the Washington Convention Center.
It is my hope that a morning only unconference will also draw in a few more people. If you hesitated to sign up for an all day event, please come join us for this new half day extravaganza.
We have a new format as well. Unless a participant comes up with something better (you never know at an unconference), the day will consist of the large group brainstorming trending topics in libraries, choosing the top 5 topics, dispersing into smaller groups, and then creating on the fly Pecha Kucha presentations. It will be a time to meet new people, learn new things, and share ways to make libraries and our profession better.
–Jane, everyone wants to change the world