Conference Feedback
One of our committee members, Sangeeta Bhargava, received the following feedback from a fellow staff member, Kathy Bruski. We asked her permission to share her impressions.
This year’s conference was very informative, enjoyable and fun! As always, it was impeccably organized and the staff very friendly.
The keynote speaker (Jim Feldman) was very entertaining and many of his points to ponder left me with a very positive feeling about the future of libraries as a whole. I found myself wishing more of our library staff could have heard this.
I chose a few technology driven sessions and one financial one.
“The Geeks Bearing Gifts: Technology Trends for Library Staff” program was a delight. I enjoyed the examples of how Social Media is used by the Skokie Library. It was interesting to see how these things weave together. I could have sat there another hour and soaked in their great ideas. I know we use these techniques at our library and their demonstration proved the importance of embracing this trend.
”The Ten Money Rules to Live By” with Karen Chan was interesting also. I chose this because I knew she was answering questions from library patrons this month, here at STDL. Most of her tips I have heard before, but I did learn a few things about credit cards that were an eye opener! The additional websites she shared will be very helpful.
I sat at a speaker/author’s table at lunch. This was the first time I had that experience. The speaker I dined with was Zak Mucha (“Heart Transplant: Bullying and Emotional Abuse”). The conversation was very lively and everyone at the table seemed to have an experience to share. We could hardly find the time to eat that delicious lunch we were so absorbed by the interaction with the author.
My last session was the most difficult to choose. There were several that I was very interested in. I decided to attend the “E-reader or Tablet: Which for What,” hosted by the members of the Best Buy Geek Squad. What fun! I learned so much about all those lovely and intimidating devices that are in the marketplace today. They provided a great comparison chart that I will keep at hand. It will be a nice tip sheet if I decide to purchase one of the readers. The questions from the participants in the session were as informative as the presentation itself.
I am glad to have had the opportunity to attend this conference. I would encourage everyone to plan on attending future conferences: They are certainly worth your time!
Kathy Bruski
Schaumburg Township District Library
