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About ALAO Annual Conferences

About the Planning Committee :: Planning Committee Task List :: Conferences 1974-

ALAO 35th Annual Conference

When: October 30, 2009
Where: Roberts Conference Centre, Wilmington, OH
Theme: At the Crossroads: Recharging, Redefining, and Realigning our Libraries

This year's conference will offer an array of opportunities to learn about innovative strategies that library employees, library buildings, and online services help to connect academic library users to the information that they need. [Read More...]

About the Planning Committee

Updated March 29, 2009

The Conference Planning Committee includes volunteers from the ALAO membership and is chaired by the current Vice-President/ President-Elect of the organization. Each year, the committee develops a theme for the upcoming conference, sends out a call for proposals for presentations and poster sessions, performs a blind review of the proposals, constructs the program schedule, selects a keynote speaker, selects the venue for the next year's conference, coordinates the current year's conference facilities, contacts vendors to exhibit at the conference, arranges for the conference attendee gifts, and processes evaluations after the conference. The committee generally meets once a month and frequently correponds by email in between meetings.

The committee work is arduous, at times, but great fun as well. If you would be interested in serving on the 2009 Conference Planning Committee, please contact Rob Withers (rob.withers@muohio.edu).

ALAO Annual Conferences, 1974-

Updated March 29, 2009
  • 2009 At the Crossroads: Recharging, Redefining, and Realigning our Libraries [Conference Website]
  • 2008 Connecting the Campus : Linking Users, Institutions, and Information [Conference Website]
  • 2007 Innovation Generation: Tools, Techniques, Transformations [Conference Website]
  • 2006 Recipes for Library Success: Ingredients, Process, & Product [Conference Website]
  • 2005 Setting the Stage: New Roles in the Library [Conference Website]
  • 2004 ALAO at 30: Positioning Our Libraries, Positioning Ourselves [Conference Website]
  • 2003 Information, Innovation, Inspiration: Making the Connection [Conference Website]
  • 2002 Face to Face or Cyberspace: Redefining the Human Touch [Conference Website]
  • 2001 Thriving on Chaos, Leading Change [Conference Website]
  • 2000 Four Walls and Beyond: Libraries in the New Millennium [Conference Website]
  • 1999 ALAO@25: Celebrating our Past, Claiming our Future [Conference Website]
  • 1998 Today’s Actions, Tomorrow’s Adventures: To Infinity and Beyond!
  • 1997 Collaborative Adventures: Forging New Partnerships to Meet User Needs[Conference Website]
  • 1996 Facing the future: Redefining the basics
  • 1995 Thriving in a dynamic environment: Moving beyond survival
  • 1994 Navigating the information ocean: Charting the course
  • 1993 Pathways to progress: Choices for the 90's
  • 1992 ALAO/OELMA/OLA concurrent conference: Information exploration in Ohio libraries
  • 1991 Breaking down barriers: Access to information
  • 1990 2001: An information odyssey
  • 1989 Resource sharing: Not just for books
  • 1988 ALAO/OELMA/OLA concurrent conference: Growing into the future together
  • 1987 The year of the reader
  • 1986 Strategic planning : today's library tomorrow
  • 1985 Developing library personnel for the 1980's...and beyond
  • 1984 Academic libraries in a changing environment
  • 1983 ALAO annual conference: Effective communication
  • 1982 In conjunction with ASIS
  • 1981 Academic libraries: Image and impact
  • 1980 ALAO/OLA/OLTA/OLF concurrent conference: Library services in the 80's
  • 1979 ALAO annual conference
  • 1978 ALAO/OLA/OLTA concurrent conference: Shaping our image
  • 1977 ALAO/OELMA/OLA - Getting to know... the Ohio library media community, its people, programs, and potential through communication and cooperation
  • 1976 OLA preconference: Bicentennial leap - futurescope on libraries
  • 1975 The subject is books
  • 1974 The traumatic world of serials

Annual Conference Planning Task List

Source: ALAO Procedures Manual, General Information, Program Committee Section
Posted February 2006

Tasks to complete and Responsibilities to be assigned: (All are not necessarily in correct timeline order)

  1. Recruit the conference planning committee
  2. Select a theme for upcoming conference
    • Review previous conference evaluations
  3. Create upcoming conference flyer announcement for current year conference folders
  4. Keynote Speaker selection and confirmation – (in the past the VP/Pres. Elect was the coordinator of this task)
    • Travel arrangements for Keynote Speaker including pick up/return to airport/hotel/conference
    • Gift for Keynote Speaker
  5. Set conference planning committee meetings for year
  6. Web Site
    • Travel Directions to conference site and hotel location on web site
    • Web site presentation submission form
  7. Call for Proposals for Presentations and Poster Sessions – paper announcement and web site submission form
    • Contact to receive proposals should be designated
    • Deadlines for receiving proposals should be set
    • Add to proposal form information about the Support Staff Presenter Grant
  8. Poster Sessions contact person designated
  9. Vendor Contact Person designated
    • Vendor registration form and information to conference web site maintainer.
    • Thank you notes to all vendors after conference
    • Vendor evaluation form (previous year's form acceptable?)
    • Responsible for getting vendor lunch selections (if applicable) to Registration Coordinators
  10. Registration Coordinator(s) designated
    • Registration form created (use examples from previous conference)
    • Add to proposal form information about the Support Staff Presenter Grant
    • Early bird registration deadline should be set to mid to late September
    • Creates Name Tags for conference
    • Creates final list of conference attendees for program
    • Creates receipts for conference packets
    • get in touch with Joyce Harris in the OCA office for the spreadsheet that will help with membership verification as well as final accounting of conference charges and payments
  11. Conference Evaluation form creator/Evaluation compiler designated.
    • Send presenters' their evaluations
  12. Local Arrangements contact person
    • Hotels and parking and travel directions
  13. At-Large Pinch Hitter
  14. Giveaway contact person
    • Researches giveaway product/prices
    • In charge of ordering/getting them to conference site
  15. Conference Program designer designated
  16. AV Equipment/Technical Support coordinator – (try to get speaker's Power Point or other electronic files to load on a computer before the conference. Can prove difficult since some speaker's work on their presentation up to the conference date.)
  17. Listserv Announcements
    • All announcements to ALAO membership should go through the Membership Chair
    • Make sure announcements go to all ALAO liaisons
    • Follow checklist of listserv announcements for conference
  18. Conference Door Prize Coordinator
    • Responsible for getting door prizes
    • How to award them during the conference
    • List of winners, etc
  19. Business Meeting Coordinator (VP/Pres. Elect responsibility)
  20. Award Presentations Logistical Coordinator
  21. Conference planners dinner organizer
    • Selects restaurant
    • Makes reservations for conference planning committee and Keynote Speaker dinner night before conference
  22. Awards Contact Person
    • Submits list of awardees for conference program
  23. Support Staff Presenter Grant Contact Person
  24. IG Coordinator responsible for the following:
    • Notifying IG for information tables
    • Notifying IG for presentations at conference
    • Notifying IG for Support Staff Presenter Grant information
    • IG Coordinator should send out reminder to other committees (i.e. Research/Publications; Government Relations Team, etc.) about possibility of having information table at conference.
  25. Pre-conference Organizer or contact person with organizing body, if applicable
  26. Next conference site selection
    • Sub-committee should be selected to research and offer recommendation to entire conference planning committee
    • Check dates of Charleston (SC) Library Acquisitions conference and other library-related conferences.
    • Check dates of OSU Home football games (if conference will be located in Central Ohio)
  27. Review conference folder checklist to make sure everything is included. (In the past, flyers have been included that are of interest to ALAO conference attendees, such as OHIONET workshops, scholarship opportunities, etc.)
  28. Student Volunteer Help Coordinator
  29. Photographers at Conference designated (good idea to have two individuals)
  30. "Meet and Greet" Arrangements Coordinator
    • Reception for night before conference for conference attendees staying at the conference hotel

2/2006