I’m finally burrowing myself out from under a pile of manuscripts and other projects that need tending to after the ALA Midwinter Conference in Seattle. As in the case of vacation, the work doesn’t disappear while at conference, but, also as in the case of vacation, conference fuels me with ideas and energy that stay with me throughout the year.

What’s the appeal of conference? Networking. The opportunity to share ideas with like-minded peers, maybe pick up a few ideas and perspectives. I was talking with one very forward-thinking librarian who made a point–that I’m about to butcher because I can’t remember the eloquent way she said it– but it was about the importance of giving of yourself in your networking situations. Coming at it with a selfless spirit. This is a crude way of putting it, but it was something like “You gotta give to get.”

Actually, I think that philosophy goes beyond just networking and is a key element of success: that is, generosity. One of the (non-ALA Editions) books I’ve been working my way through these day is called Never Eat Along and Other Secrets to Success One Relationship at a Time, whose lead author Keith Ferrazzi is a hugely successful marketing and sales consultant…one of those who started out from very humble beginnings, but used extraordinary skills connecting with people to succeed.
Ferrazzi describes the “networking jerk,” who, in some people’s minds may look like the ideal networker…the person who walks into the room armed with a martini, business cards, a “prerehearsed elevator pitch always at the ready”. This is the person who’s eyes constantly dart around the room looking for the most important person to talk to.

To Ferrazzi, the really great networkers are those who aren’t there to schmooze, but those who are there to help others make connections that will help them succeed. In other words, you use your network to help others in your network. A librarian you meet at a conference tells you how the library she’s working at has an increasingly aging population and she wants to create services for seniors. Wait a minute, a former colleague has started some successful senior programs at his library. How can you connect them?

The time for networking isn’t when you need something. A successful person (says Ferrazzi) is working on connecting and building his or her network all the time. To paraphrase him paraphrasing Dale Carnegie: You’ll be far more successful investing a little bit of time becoming genuinely interested in another’s success than you would spending years trying to get other people interested in your success.

In this regard, many librarians I’ve met are natural networkers. Most come into a situation expecting and wanting to help.

Still, it’s a good reminder when you find yourself in situation when you’re supposed to be networking. Think generosity. Think, How can I make this other person succeed? In my opinion, it takes some of the pressure off and makes the whole thing much more fun.

While at conference, be sure to stop by the ALA TechSource booth (1713) to take part in their Dance Dance Revolution demonstration. Note I’m saying “you” should take part…I’m not committing. I tried it over the holidays with my six-year-old twin nieces. I scored a “D” and lots of supportive “You’ll do better next time, Aunt Laura”. Not ready for prime time, as they say. Still it IS fun and pretty good exercise, and I’m thinking of buying a copy as part of my resolution to get in shape this year.

Gaming is an interest very near and dear to my heart right now. Before I leave for conference on Friday, I’m finishing up my work on a manuscript for an upcoming book on holding gaming tournaments in the library by Ann Arbor District Library’s Eli Neiburger. If you don’t know Eli, you’re missing out. A true fanboy with a Nintendo tattoo to show for it, he has run hugely popular gaming tournaments at AADL that have drawn some 100 teenaged boys to the library on a Saturday afternoon. How’s that for impressive?

In addition to knowing everything there is to know about putting together a tournament (why tournaments are the way to go when bringing gaming into the library, what games make for the tournaments, how to set up equipment, how to market to young gamers [no mean feat]), Eli is really funny (when in college,he was Head Writer for the University of Michigan Comedy Company) and holds nothing back (alas, that means a time or two, I’ve had to pull out my editing pencil for some of the saltier language…I know, I’m a killjoy). Here’s one of the sections cracks me up every time I read it:

For example, one of my favorite patron comment cards, received anonymously, politely, requested that the library should “Please offer Prostitutes and Pie.” Both services would certainly find their adherents, but that doesn’t mean that they would be appropriate for the organization. Nongamers may look at gaming events much the same way. Here’s why they’re wrong.

So, reading this is a nice kick-off to what I hope will be a fun and productive Midwinter. You’ll have your chance to enjoy Eli’s advice in prose spring/summer.

When former director of the St. Louis Public Library, Glen Holt, pitched me the idea of a book that will help a library prove its value to its community, politicians, the media—I thought, “Bring it on.” I don’t know about you, but I rarely open a library publication anymore without some talk of threatened branch closings, scaling back of hours, staff layoffs.

The beauty of the method Holt and his coauthors, Leslie Holt, Donald Elliott and Sterling Hayden lay out is that it gives libraries the language that will make those who hold the pursestrings take notice: dollars. As in a great sound bite: for every dollar of tax money going toward the library, the taxpayer is getting three dollars of benefit.

Undertaking a cost-benefit analysis sounds like a huge undertaking…and it is…but the authors break it down into doable, understandable steps. They walk readers through all the steps involved: identifying and sampling library users to determine benefits, developing a survey instrument, determining library costs, measuring return to taxpayers and donors, communicating findings. Funded by grants from PLA and IMLS, the team field-tested the method first at large libraries throughout the country, then small and medium sized libraries.

In addition to seeking additional funding, libraries in the IMLS test used their CBA results in other ways: Determining which materials and services provided the greatest streams of benefits and reallocating resources accordingly in subsequent years. Showing how the library was balancing traditional materials and services with new innovations: staff and users could see how the library was adapting to changes in technology and customer service desires. Raising staff morale and increasing funds to invest in staff…the library’s greatest resource.

Today is getaway day for me for Midwinter, that is last day in the office. Then it’s off to conference town. I’m going to do my best to be aware of what city I’m in, they have a way of blending into one another.

I’m reminded of a piece on conventions from Ira Glass’s radio show “This American Life.” He interviews a woman who works at a bakery counter in Chicago’s McCormick Place, and she talks about how overwhelming it is to serve hordes of people from one profession. To paraphrase Glass: If one Mary Kay salesperson walks up to the counter, you’d think nothing of it. But when 90 come, it’s a different story. The woman tells how her math anxiety from school days resurfaced when an association of mathematicians was in town.

According to a Moscone staff person, all conventions have a life cycle. The first day people come as individuals, there is excitement, perhaps anxiety. By the second day, people are joining groups, finding their peers. In the third phase, people start getting sick of it. It sounds like there is no getting around the third phase, though striving for balance might help. I recall one of our authors told me that she likes to leave early, before she gets burned out.

Jenni is in town already for ALISE. I’ve recommended that she take time off between her conferences.

I’m a subscriber to the Wall Street Journal. The day after New Year’s, groggy in the early morning darkness, I pulled the paper from its plastic sleeve and was shocked by the new format. “They shrunk my newspaper!” Though teasers had plugged a new design coming, I had forgotten. The Chicago Tribune had shrunk a few years ago. The Tribune Company claimed to want it make it easier for readers to handle the paper, but even a book publisher would know they were saving on newsprint.

On my train ride downtown, I read the special Reader’s Guide to the new design. I felt a bit of a geek as we pulled into the station, and I was still reading the special section, the newspaper about the newspaper. From “Publishers Letter: Embracing Change to Build on a Tradition of Excellence” to “Managing Editor’s Letter: New Look Same Journal Quality: Exclusives, Analysis and Insights” to “The Relevance of Good Design,” I kept reading. The Publisher wrote, “You now get updated throughout the day from many different sources, print and online. . . . We’ve re-thought the role of a newspaper as well as what you seek online. Your expectations of media have shifted, making this an era when you expect us to embrace change.” All publishers are grappling with the Internet and repositioning their formats. You get your professional information from many different sources, and you also have expectations that we embrace change. We think about what content is appropriate for the book format. We look for other ways to get our content out to you. This blog is one step in that direction.