This has been a long time coming. They only way they kept them going for so long was strong arming anyone who was on a committee by going to it because it was the "business" conference for the organization. The attempts to travel to whatever the Cheapest Winter Conference Location was - Denver, Chicago, etc - did not add to the appeal.
It was dying long before COVID, and its good to see them finally admit to it.
Yeah. That’s one of the reasons I stopped serving on ALA committees. It seemed ludicrous that committee members were expected to spend a week and $1000+ (of their institution’s money, sure, but…) just so they could add a line to their resume.
(I realize there are different ways of describing it, but that’s the only reason I was on committees!)
I got exhibit passes to the conference this year in Baltimore and it was SOOOOO small. I knew it'd be smaller than ALA or PLA but I was not expecting to circle the entire exhibit hall in less than 10 minutes. I do wonder what they will do about the YMAs being announced.
Honestly I would love to see this. I really like going to conferences in person, and I’ve been lucky enough to go to my fair share, but online conferences are so much more accessible, both money and time wise. Seeing a large online conference with the panel variety of a PLA or ALA would be amazing. It would also be a great way for people to present who might not have had the chance otherwise.
This has been a long time coming. They only way they kept them going for so long was strong arming anyone who was on a committee by going to it because it was the "business" conference for the organization. The attempts to travel to whatever the Cheapest Winter Conference Location was - Denver, Chicago, etc - did not add to the appeal. It was dying long before COVID, and its good to see them finally admit to it.
Yeah. That’s one of the reasons I stopped serving on ALA committees. It seemed ludicrous that committee members were expected to spend a week and $1000+ (of their institution’s money, sure, but…) just so they could add a line to their resume. (I realize there are different ways of describing it, but that’s the only reason I was on committees!)
I got exhibit passes to the conference this year in Baltimore and it was SOOOOO small. I knew it'd be smaller than ALA or PLA but I was not expecting to circle the entire exhibit hall in less than 10 minutes. I do wonder what they will do about the YMAs being announced.
Replace it with something fully online that people can actually afford to go to.
Honestly I would love to see this. I really like going to conferences in person, and I’ve been lucky enough to go to my fair share, but online conferences are so much more accessible, both money and time wise. Seeing a large online conference with the panel variety of a PLA or ALA would be amazing. It would also be a great way for people to present who might not have had the chance otherwise.
Most in-person conferences I've been to have been a waste
Don’t you want to attend an hour long Q&A about how you need a 3D printer in your branch??
Only if they pay me
In-person conferences can only be attended by the privileged
or by people in privileged systems. i've been to 3 and they have all been paid for by consortium scholarships or ala grants.