“We were asked, for the first time this conference to keep meeting locations confidential, at the request of ALA Conference Services…”
According to a Councilor posting to the Council list, the American Library Association is employing a new tool in the War on Terrorism: for the ALA conference in New Orleans–you know, the sub-sea-level city with the damaged levees, the one we’re traveling to in hurricane season–the business meeting room locations are now kept Top Secret.
At least, I think it’s a new tool in the War on Terrorism–ensuring all ALA meetings have the Element of Surprise–because there’s no other fathomable explanation. Does ALA really think its members will fly cross-country (to New Orleans in June, no less) to sneak into business meetings? Are we worried that some member will skulk into the Subcommittee on 500 Fields and learn something he or she didn’t pay to acquire? And as Kate Corby so reasonably asks, why are we advertising the locations for programs and events–the “candy” of the conferences–but hiding the location of boring old meetings?
I admit to a certain amount of animus toward Conference Services, which is the section of ALA with such leverage that it can foist bad software decisions such as the Event Planner on the rest of the organization because everyone’s afraid of them–and then not even step up to the plate to say, yeah, ALA IT and the Web Advisory Committee really have no input on this decision, so blame us. Conferences are revenue, and revenue funds ALA, so Conference Services wields mighty clout.
But you know, I haven’t registered yet for ALA Annual, and as a consumer I am carefully evaluating my decision here. Just how difficult should it be to plan for and attend an association conference? And who gets to create and enforce those inane rules? Are we witnessing the apotheosis of Conference Services, in which all decisions will be made by a handful of hidden bureaucrats whose bellies are engorged with absolute power?
Posted on this day, other years:
- Next steps for PBA: Thoughts from one of "these people" - 2014
- Yet another portmanteau position at MPOW - 2010
- Tips for new librarian writers - 2008
- David Weinberger's "Everything is Miscellaneous" - 2007
Anything to make our lives more difficult…
The thought that anyone would want to sneak into a business meeting without paying reduces me to hopeless laughter.
In an effort to establish its street cred as a hip organization, ALA is going to an all-flash mob scheduling process. 30 minutes before the meeting, they’ll send a bulletin to all their myspace.com friends telling them where to show up.
That strikes me as truely bizarre. We try to bribe people with food to get them to come to business meetings at conferences (SLA). We have trouble getting a quorum at local events.
Yeah, but Thomas, Conference Services will have to approve it… which means it will happen, but not until August!
In an effort to establish its street cred as a hip organization, ALA is going to an all-flash mob scheduling process. 30 minutes before the meeting, they’ll send a bulletin to all their myspace.com friends telling them where to show up.
The ALA has been replaced by…Global Frequency!
I laughed first when I read the post, again when I read the messages on the ALACOUN list, and a third time at Thomas Dowling’s wonderful explanation above.
Something tells me this won’t last long due to mass disobedience (or simple ignorance of the plan).
I try to be a good soldier, but with respect to Conference Services, I feel disobedience is the high moral road. They make me crazy!
So, what’s the punishment for posting your schedule on, say, the conference wiki or a personal blog? Or is it ok to say “I’ll be at meeting xxxx”? And does this apply to just ALA Council or to all ALA divisions/sections/roundtables? The mind boggles.
“So, what’s the punishment for posting your schedule on, say, the conference wiki or a personal blog?” Um… you have to attend a meeting? 😉
The absurdity of this situation aside, there are some great comments here. Thanks for the laughs! Glad I’m not the only one who thought of Global Frequency, Joshua.
You have to attend a meeting. And it’s Sunday morning at 8 a.m. at the hotel located the furthest from your hotel.
The 8 a.m. meeting is especially true if you’re from the West Coast and the meeting is held in EST-land. (Or better, it’s a 7 a.m. “breakfast meeting,” as if you get up at 3 a.m. every day to breakfast.)
Alternatively, if you’re from the East Coast and the meeting is in San Diego, it’s probably at 8 p.m. on Monday night, in an unannounced hotel suite.
This is a great story, but – like many great stories – not actually true.
There is no policy to withold meeting room locations from members. The room locations have not been relaesed yet because program planners are reviewing a draft to catch any errors and correct them (planners have been asked not to publicize them until everyone has confirmed that everything is correct). A schedule with room locations will be issued shortly.
p.s. This is my first posting to this blog, so it has to be reviewed by Karen. I do hope I pass the audition…
Keith, let’s meet halfway on this. (Your comment is fine, by the way… I happen to be waiting for my site to reindex so caught it very quickly.)
Naturally, there is no official policy. In fact, in my management experience, unofficial policies are usually the worst. They tend to reflect the opinions of a small group or one person as opposed to the mission of the organization.
I have to hold my wristwatch very high on some of the comments made yesterday that CS never, ever suggested meeting room information would be kept confidential. We had two Council members say otherwise–one who suggested this was not uncommon practice. It’s also in line with some anti-member rumblings from previous conferences, such as the year PLA sent out a message before its own conference intimidating members who were using off-conference hotel rooms, suggesting they might not be able to use the conference shuttle. If I can get a room for $63 a night that others paid $200 for (as happened in Toronto), ALA should take my registration fees, salute smartly, and support my presence.
But the key thing is that everyone all around is now very clear that meeting room numbers will NOT be withheld and that there is general agreement from most interested parties that we DO want to disseminate this information. That’s what’s key.
Onward to New Orleans! Red Fish here we come!
At a conference I attended here in San Francisco a few weeks ago, the Association for Asian Studies, we had to show our conference ID badge when going into panel discussions or the book exhibit area. But I don’t think that was required for meetings held in conjunction with the conference.