Pre-conference Preparation
To alleviate my apprehensions, I looked at the conference overview online and at the networking events that were being held throughout the conference and made a brief plan of what I wanted to attend. I decided on the Hidden Brighton guided walk on the Tuesday evening as I hoped I might be able to meet someone in a similar situation to me, so we wouldn’t be on our own for the whole conference. I ended up meeting 5 people, all from different sectors and we ended up spending quite a lot of time together and have since become good friends and even have our own WhatsApp group!
I tweeted a lot during the conference and I found this to be a really useful tool for networking with a variety of people. It’s also really useful for reflecting back on: I plan to use my tweets as evidence towards my Chartership submission. Having the opportunity to speak to lots of different people both on Twitter and in person gave me a feel for the challenges facing the profession and also created opportunities for exchanging ideas. I will be presenting my experience of the conference to my colleagues in the next team meeting, and sharing thoughts about what we can change or add into the service.
I had never been to a conference before, and I truly didn’t expect to win this bursary. Visiting Brighton was a fantastic experience; it’s somewhere I have wanted to visit for years. I must say a huge thank you again to CILIP NW for giving me this opportunity. It was a great experience and I hope to attend another CILIP conference in the future.
2. Comment on tweets in the lead up to the conference - it could spark an opportunity for discussion.
3. I found it really useful to find people to make friends with so I didn’t feel as nervous going to the drinks reception as I knew I wouldn’t be on my own – I still networked and attended breakout sessions on my own, but it’s nice sometimes to have a constant friendly face.
4. Keep an eye on travel arrangements if you have travelled quite far – there were major travel disruptions at a main train station on the day of my return and some people had huge delays getting home.
5. Tweet your thoughts about what you experience as you experience it.
Keynote Speakers
Each of the keynotes was inspirational in their own way and I left each session with a sense of empowerment. The House of Commons (HoC) Librarian, Penny Young described how accessibility is key to the HoC Library and clarified their commitment to ensuring it. Sally Walker, Scotland’s Library and Information Professional of the year 2017, talked of the importance of always thinking about the next step in libraries. She was so impassioned that everyone in the room seemed moved by her words; she really came across as a voice for libraries. Journalist Samira Ahmed spoke about the Windrush scandal and how it should make us realise the huge importance of social history, keeping records/documents and challenging false information in order to stop incorrect information being spread. Helen Dodd, the Head of Data Governance at Cancer Research UK gave an informative speech about GDPR and their view of it strengthening their culture to create a culture of compliance. Lastly John Chrastka and Patrick Sweeney, co-founders of EveryLibrary, got everybody fired up to advocate for libraries. Their speech appeared to make a significant impression on the conference as they spoke about the need for us to think how we market our services and how to incorporate action into our message in order to get people involved.
Breakout sessions
The breakout sessions I was most excited about were ‘Voice and Vision: the importance of diverse representation in literature for children and young people’, ‘An Open and Inclusive Future for the Profession’, ‘Managing Health Information’ and ‘Blurring the Boundaries: the reshaping of library spaces’. Equality, diversity and inclusion are a priority in my Trust and I’m committed to demonstrating the values both personally and in the workplace. I chose these sessions as I thought the discussions would be useful for ideas to bring back to my colleagues in my workplace. Two key themes coming out of these sessions were the need for libraries to be inclusive as spaces (because people are spending more time in them) and also the importance of diversity in library services, staff, literature and spaces. I also learnt more about the significance of knowledge management for connecting people to evidence and correct information.Reflections
The conference was a learning experience for me on so many levels. It was great for networking, for discussions about the development of LIS services and for learning about how to adapt for the successful future of libraries.I tweeted a lot during the conference and I found this to be a really useful tool for networking with a variety of people. It’s also really useful for reflecting back on: I plan to use my tweets as evidence towards my Chartership submission. Having the opportunity to speak to lots of different people both on Twitter and in person gave me a feel for the challenges facing the profession and also created opportunities for exchanging ideas. I will be presenting my experience of the conference to my colleagues in the next team meeting, and sharing thoughts about what we can change or add into the service.
I had never been to a conference before, and I truly didn’t expect to win this bursary. Visiting Brighton was a fantastic experience; it’s somewhere I have wanted to visit for years. I must say a huge thank you again to CILIP NW for giving me this opportunity. It was a great experience and I hope to attend another CILIP conference in the future.
Tips for attending a conference for the first time
1. Tweet about what you intend to go to at the conference and use the hashtags associated with it - it might lead to meeting up with other attendees or finding out useful information about what’s going on.2. Comment on tweets in the lead up to the conference - it could spark an opportunity for discussion.
3. I found it really useful to find people to make friends with so I didn’t feel as nervous going to the drinks reception as I knew I wouldn’t be on my own – I still networked and attended breakout sessions on my own, but it’s nice sometimes to have a constant friendly face.
4. Keep an eye on travel arrangements if you have travelled quite far – there were major travel disruptions at a main train station on the day of my return and some people had huge delays getting home.
5. Tweet your thoughts about what you experience as you experience it.
Comments
Post a Comment