CLA

Tomorrow, I'll attend CLA. It's been a couple of years - what with having been in CA last year... heck, the last time I was at CLA, I was announcing my goodbyes with some excitement, nervousness, and worry that I was doing the right thing. Especially since I'd grown to really love my job and the world of Connecticut libraries. All I can say is that I'm glad I'm back and that I get to work on some things that I truly find exciting and rewarding.

Two workshops that I know I'll be attending are:

• Google Takes Over the World (10:45-12) [Rob Favini, Program Director, Educational Services, NELINET, outlines how Google has become the de facto search tool for finding information on the Internet... It sometimes seems that Google is taking over the world of information. This program will help explain what this means for librarians.]
• Extreme Website Makeover (1:45-3) [Are you still trying to rid your current website of its circa 1996 vibe?... Librarians Susan Slaga and Debbie Herman from CCSU will describe their recent experiences redesigning the Burritt Library website with a modest budget..." so here's a link to their website, BTW -- http://library.ccsu.edu/index.htm - and they're using PHP... I don't know what else, should be interesting to hear what there experience has been.]

If you're still making plans, you might want to think about going the Connecticut State Library update at 9:30 AM (9:30-10:30: "What's happening at the State Library that will impact your library? State Librarian Kendall Wiggin provides an update on the latest news, current projects, legislative news, and the state budget.") I'm fortunate that I get to hear much of this information through the grapevine, since I'm now working here!

I'm hoping to see lots of colleagues and old acquaintances at the conference tomorrow. Too bad we're required to wear jeans... at least I'm not going to that "Energize your image" session, which I suspect will be pretty harsh for someone who's wearing jeans and t-shirt (its description says "dressing is a necessity, but clothing is a commodity. 70% of first impressions in visual and 90% of that is what we are wearing... The image you are projecting - your style - is what you want people to know about you...") Besides work clothes, pretty much all I have is ripped or too tight jeans and ratty sneakers (I would make the excuse that I'm just back from moving cross-country, but I'm nigh unto a year back and honestly, I just hate clothes shopping). I have no intention of going shopping tonight to buy an expensive pair of designer jeans that may not fit that well, just to try and make my "casual look" more polished so that I can fit into a professional conference with a strictly non-professional dress code.

2 last CLA conference links:

• CLA Blog
• CLA program