Conflicting conferences
Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 10:28AM 
As I often admit, I swing both ways - I am both an ALA and an ISTE member. (Now get your minds out of the gutter.) Like an increasing number of librarians, I have a tough choice to make nearly every summer: Do I attend the NECC ISTE conference or the ALA conference?
Librarian Diane Chen sent an e-mail to a listserv asking why this situation continues and I sent her question to Leslie Connery, Deputy CEO of ISTE, who has major, major ISTE conference responsibilities. With her permission, I am posting her reply here:
We, like you, are very aware of this problem [overlapping conference dates] and would like to find a solution that works for everyone. We know that some of ISTE’s most engaged leader-members are involved in both ISTE and ALA and that they would like to attend both conferences. We have the same struggle you do with regard to dates. I think we’ve both found the “sweet spot” for people and unfortunately – it’s the same sweet spot. A time when most American schools are out for the summer but before teachers are on vacation. And we, like you, have booked convention center space far into the future.
I’d love to get creative, think differently, and come up with a win-win-win solution for ALA, ISTE, and the educators we serve. I’m having difficulty thinking of creative solutions on this one but am more than willing to give it a try.
Please let us know if you have some ideas on the issue or thoughts about how to proceed or simply would like to brainstorm. I don’t know if Doug chose his closing quote just for us but either way, it fit: The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings. - Wendell Berry
So, any creative ideas for Leslie???
Reader Comments (8)
Here in Atlanta we have vast amounts of conference space. Vast. It's not unheard of to have more than one big conference simultaneously. In fact, it's kind of normal. So if you HAVE to have your conferences during the "sweet spot," why not have them in the same city? Should be do-able, especially if you're planning that far ahead.
Either or both conferences could also provide streaming video (and back channel chat) for the important workshops of the other conference and then have a room where they have computers available for people to watch the videos and participate in the back channel chats. This way you can 'virtually' attend the sessions from the other workshop you want to attend.
I had the same thought as Jim. And I'd also like to see co-ordination of presentations between the two. If at all possible, altho I suspect that can't happen. I mean even though you're in the same city at the same time, it doesn't mean there aren't going to presentation conflicts, which means it doesn't matter that you are in the same city at the same time. (If you get what I mean.)
I would have liked a second snow day. :)
Why not back to back in the same city? People could go to one or the other or both. One issue I have with the ISTE conference is that it usually falls in two fiscal years. I have to pay for part of it in one year's budget and part in another year's budget. This year I decided to forgo ISTE and do FETC instead to avoid that hassle.
providing video streaming is a good idea! And you dont have the problem to move both conferences in one city, cause that seems to be alot of of effort to me?!
I think co-ordination of events and video streaming are both good ideas. Having them in the same venue will be good for networking and video streaming will be good if there are presentation timing conflicts.
One more thing about coordinating conferences. If two really big conferences got together wouldn't it make sense that they could negotiate even better prices from the venues? If by chance this magical thing happened, maybe they could offer reduced rates to each other's members and get even more participants to attend. It seems like a win-win to me.
I'll pass on all suggestions to both Leslie and Julie (at AASL).
Thanks everyone. (and keep the suggestions coming!)
Doug