wlapresentationppt10 26 07

Slide1: 

It was a dark and stormy night. The streets had the faint odor of unwashed clothes. A bone-chilling scream cut through the night like a knife through hot butter. It was an all too familiar sound….the sound of a conference planning committee with their… BACKS TO THE WAAL

Slide2: 

Jim Buckett -- Head, Collections, Access & Technical Services, Steenbock Library, UW-Madison Sylvia Contreras -- Library Director, Oscar Rennebohm Library, Edgewood College Julie Schneider -- Assistant Director for Information Resources and Scholarly Communication, Ebling Library, UW-Madison Deb Duncan --Technical Services Librarian, Polk Library, UW-Oshkosh Eric J. Robinson -- Wisconsin Library Services, Memorial Library, UW-Madison OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS

Slide3: 

Valerie Malzacher, Director Chalmer Davee Library, UW-River Falls Karen Dunn, Information Services, Steenbock Library, UW-Madison Ulrike Dieterle, Distance Services & Outreach Coordinator, Ebling Library, UW-Madison Gretchen Revie, Reference Librarian, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI Nathan Dowd, MATC Library, Library Technology Coordinator, Madison, WI Heather Weltin, Interlibrary Loan, Memorial Library, UW-Madison John Elliott, Head of Technical Services and Technology Librarian, Oscar Rennebohm Library, Edgewood College Andrea Kenny, Head of Public Services and Reference Librarian Oscar Rennebohm Library, Edgewood College Maureen Olle-LaJoie, Head of Library Technology and Circulation, Chalmer Davee Library, UW-River Falls

Slide4: 

First call from Valerie Malzacher My call to Sylvia Contreras March 2006 Finalizing the committee & making sub committee task appointments May-June 2006 WAAL 2006 Final Report June 2006 WAAL “Bling”: t-shirts and the WAAL pin

Slide5: 

General Conference Planning Outline First Planning Meeting at the Wintergreen Resort - July 2006 Working with WLA and Lisa Strand – July 2006 Setting a Theme – July/August 2006 WAAL Call to Conference – September 2006 WAAL Luncheon Speakers – September 2006 WAAL Conference Website – September 2006 WLA Poster Session – October 2006 WAAL Program Call and Outline – November 2006 WAAL Social Events and Tours – November 2006 WAAL Poster Session Call – November 2006 WAAL Donor and Vendor Support – January – March 2007 WAAL Program Book – February – April 2007 WAAL Conference – April 17-20, 2007 WAAL Survey – July 2007 WAAL Report for WAAL 2008 – August 2007

Slide6: 

2-Person Program Planning Team August – 1st call for programs sent Reminders sent out in September and October Call for Programs extended by 1 week Team meets in the Rathskeller with the list and a chart of program slots December – Speaker contracts and equipment need documents sent out Slots filled and our work is now done? PROGRAM PLANNING

Slide7: 

More programs than time slots. Programs arriving past the deadline Requests for “other stuff” – meeting space, vendor space, etc. Questions about conference registration etc. Cancellation of program in February Conference starts in 7 weeks, now our work is done? PROGRAMMING CHALLENGES

Slide8: 

July 2006 – Initial email to Stephen Abram about being a keynote speaker August 2006 – Acceptance of keynote speaker offer September 2006 – Stephen Abrams agrees to expenses and honorarium March 2007 – Stephen emails to say that his flight was changed and he can not now be the keynote speaker for WAAL March 2007 – Plan B SECURING A KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Slide9: 

Conference theme Mood and feeling Marketing Events…and more events Flexibility D D E S I G N raphics &

Slide10: 

PROGRAM BOOK DESIGN Plan for a clean design and use fonts that are easy to read PagePlus SE1.0 - freeware program Edit…edit…edit… Learn to back-up your work! .pdf format for final version Be flexible – learn to adapt and adopt

Slide11: 

REGISTRATION Registration materials Signage Volunteers Ready Reference

Slide12: 

FOOD Has to be settled before registration – key Has to be something that you get solid numbers for Think of it as wedding planning – vegans, no shows, cost You will have to give your catering solid numbers & have them do backups Know your catering taxes, tips, and price per item You have to plan for lunches, dinners, breaks and special events Location can drive issues What is available, other options outside the facilities Can you bring in food, catering or equipments from the outside? What is the type of service you want & can the facility cater to that? Why fight where people go – inform them of major choices in the area. Key is you’re just trying to cover cost, but it is an area that if a profit can be made, it can support other costs (speakers, etc.) YOU CAN’T PLEASE EVERYONE!

Slide13: 

ENTERTAINMENT This can go on till later, but make sure that you know that going too long totally destroys contractual timelines Have a back-up plan – something is going to go wrong. (aka The Singer) Everyone has an opinion – and it has probably already been done. Reservations to do something another group has done is unwarranted. They did it for a reason. Be realistic about the crowd that is coming and what the majority is interested in. Librarians don’t typically do Kiss cover bands – they do Sinatra and cocktails. A good starting point can be to simply think about parties you would throw. Then multiply what you need by 10… Everything is cost – find vendors and other means of supporting doing the event.

Slide14: 

Local Problems during the Course of the Event You should always be on your feet a lot floating – you need to know what is a problem and who and if you can solve it. (Just find a way!) You better know the local planner at the facility, and you better thank their crew. The Russian wait staff who runs to find chairs for you is not doing their job for their boss – they are helping you. Let them know you care, because…hell…you may need them again! Have fun – otherwise the persona is that the event is hellish stress and you can’t keep chaos in order.

Slide15: 

Someone is going to be angry – listen to their concerns and truly do what you can for them. If they are being unrealistic, your time is better served helping someone who can be rational – forget it and move on. Something is going to go wrong – negotiate. Find a way to get people to do things, but make sure you know up front what it is going to cost. (An extra table cloth doesn’t come for free). Visualize the event as best you can before hand – again like wedding planning…someone is going to get sick and you will need to deal with it. If you have prepared yourself and those that are helping you – you should have a game plan for some of the stuff that comes up.