Connie at Computers in Libraries

I have travelled to Arlington, Virginia to check out the Computers in Libraries conference. I left booking this to the last minute because I was busy, but then realized I would be mad at myself if I didn't attend. Last year I found it incredible: lots of new ideas in sessions, but more importantly so many smart, savvy people who I met. It didn't hurt that I hung out in "bloggers alley" at the back of the conference (where the power for laptops was) and got to know many of the other library bloggers. As a group we formed some friendships that, fueled by keeping in touch via Twitter, have remained steadfast. So, I hated to miss the convergence of so many friends. Also new friends who I have since met through the social web. And potential new friends who I don't know exist yet.

So, really, I came here for the people and the ideas. Last year was such a great kick in the pants for me! Meeting so many people created opportunities I could not have dreamed of, which in turn played a role in my leaving my library to set up shop myself. Wow. You never know where opportunity will knock.

Over the next few days I hope to liveblog some sessions and, if I have time, post some general impressions and ideas as they come to me. I hope you will come back to read more! If you are extremely keen, you can read the Twitter stream I have set up just for the conference @ConnieAtCIL. Be warned it will be mostly teasing my friends, back channel chat during sessions, and booking lunch with twenty people at the time. Likely only of interest to others attending the conference with me. :-P

So, lessons learned:
- people and their ideas coming together create new ideas
- if you open yourself up to new people and new ideas, you can invite new opportunities
- if you visit this blog again over the next few days, you may even see this process in action
- if you read my twitter feed, you will probably get too much information.

Namaste.

Photo by DymphieH via Flickr (I met her today!). Used under Creative Commons attribution license.