SarahGlassmeyer(dot)com in perpetual beta

I am 2 for 2 when it comes to awesome conference experiences this week. As I posted on both Twitter and Facebook, I feel like I’ve spent the past week at Library Nerd Camp….and that’s not a bad thing.

What to say about CALIcon…This was my first CALIcon and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. In addition to librarians, there are IT professionals, instructional technologists, law professors and others involved in legal information in attendance at this conference. I mean, there were some hard-core tech geeks there and I already feel like such a poser when it comes to the computer stuff that I felt a little intimidated pre-conference. Also, long term attendees have an almost familial camaraderie and I was a little worried about “fitting in.” On top of this is my usual social anxiety about meeting new people and being in group situations.

As it turns out, I really needn’t have worried. Everyone was totally cool. I tried to break out of my comfort zone and mingle with some new people in addition to catching up with people I had previously met. In large part, I have Twitter to thank for this. Even with the people I don’t “talk” with regularly, I was able to put faces to names and I think they were able to do the same with me. (NTS: Bring the damn cat hat with you to your next conference.) I do want to emphasize again that if you don’t already, use a profile pic and/or tie your user name to your real name. I met someone at CALIcon and I didn’t realize that I had talked with them via Twitter a few times…after I made the connection, I felt much more relaxed around them. Having that pre-conference social media connection somehow made it easier for me to make it through those awkward first moments with someone because it felt like I had already done that already online.

It’s really funny how you can get an idea of what someone is like from your interaction with them via social media, but that’s can be totally divorced from how they are in “meat space.” I don’t want to name names and explain how people were different than what I was expecting. I will say, though, that everyone I met was totally delightful and that all surprises were pleasant ones. I hope everyone I met for the first time in real life feels the same about me. If not, let me once again reiterate the fact that I am actually very, very shy and I sometimes have a difficult time understanding what people are saying in crowd situations. I know that this can sometimes come off as stuck up – I’m really, really not. You just might have to take the initiative if you want to talk to me.

Twitter also played a really integral part in the conference itself. Since it’s a pretty small gathering, it was really easy to follow the #calicon09 tweets using Tweetchat. (Sometimes, at larger events like Computers in Libraries or SLA, it’s too hard to follow along.) Basically, this allowed one to double up on conference programming. Unfortunately, it also led to something I call twenvy…the feeling of dissatisfaction you get from realizing that another session is much more fun than the one you chose. Besides the reporting aspect of it, Twitter allows attendees to ask questions or “self annotate” the talks without distracting the other attendees. I heard a rumor that there were other, more private back channels, but I didn’t make the cut for those. I suppose I could have set up my own meebo room, but really, I find chat to be too distracting during conferences.

There were some really great sessions. Probably my favorite was the Electronic Casebook session on Saturday morning. I had heard part of this talk at SEAALL in April, and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to hear Prof Wiseman explain his project again. It was supplemented by a law prof from Nebraska who did a similar thing. I am still stunned by the 1.5 million dollar price tag estimate for casebooks per law school per semester. Law, given its caselaw pedagogy, provides such a perfect opportunity for expensive casebooks and supplements to be replaced by free electronic versions using open source tech and free government information…more than any other discipline, really. I was also really glad to see Kindles and Drupal demonstrated in person, although I’m not quite ready to drink the kool-aid with either of those two just yet. The full conference program and presentations can be viewed here.

As with SLA and CiL, the “LobbyCon” (and TwitterCon) was often just as informative and valuable as the prepared sessions. At the risk of missing some names, I really do want to mention the great times I had talking and hanging out with Meg Kribble, Tom Boone, Jason Eiseman and Roger Skalbeck.  (*fistbump*). I’m really excited about the fact that I feel like now I have a cohort of newer law librarians – all with different, yet complementary skill sets – to work on projects and hash out job issues with. (Too bad we got these darn day jobs taking up so much of our time…) And aside from the work stuff, they were just a lot of fun to be with. There were a few times at CALIcon that I laughed so hard I think I actually pulled muscles in my sides.

There was another unexpected, social/work benefit. I traveled to CALIcon with my director and the Head of IT for MPOW. We have a really great relationship anyway, but there’s something about the planes, trains and automobiles experience that bonds a group. Since there wasn’t too much to do while traveling, we talked over a lot of work issues and figured out some stuff. Perhaps we needed to get away from the office to see things in a new perspective. Or perhaps the lack of oxygen in Boulder helped to “expand our horizons.”

Aside from CALIcon, Boulder was great. I mean, my hotel was a bit divey, but you don’t get to attend as many conferences as I do on my travel budget and stay at the really nice places. (NTS: Say name of hotel out loud before booking room.) I coerced some people to drive me past the JonBenet Ramsey house. (I know, I know…I’m sort of ashamed of myself.) I visited an Apple Store for the first time ever. (I know, I know…I’m sort of ashamed of myself.) And I ate a lot of really unhealthy food and indulged in perhaps a few more adult beverages than is okay at that altitude (I know, I know…actually, you know what? I’m owning these.) And, finally, I became convinced that my netbook purchase was a wise one.

So that was my CALIcon. I’ll definitely be returning…hopefully next year I can come up with something to present on. One big thing to come out of it (and by “it” I mean the LobbyCon portion) is that there will be an unconference/library camp at AALL 2009, which is being coordinated by Jason Eiseman and myself.  It’s going to be on Saturday at 3 – 6 pm.  Stay tuned for details.