Harness the Energy! Power Up!
Get energized this Fall with our exciting lineup of guest speakers, seminars, and special events at MHSLA’s 2009 Annual Education Conference. Every day provides opportunities for continuing education credits, for networking with colleagues, and for fun – all at an amazing low price!
We kick off the Conference with two full-day Continuing Education seminars. Measuring your impact, presented by NN/LM GMR Associate Director Ruth Holst and Outreach and Evaluation Coordinator Jacqueline Leskovec, gives librarians the tools to measure and express our value to the institutions we support – vital survival skills in this bottom-line-focused environment. GMR Techology Coordinator Max Anderson will lead Geeks bearing gifts – a fun, fast-paced, informative introduction to the hottest technology trends.
Wednesday night’s opening reception will feature food, friends and fun … don’t forget your dancing shoes! Take the opportunity to renew old acquaintances and make new friends while listening to – or dancing to – an eclectic acoustic band. Lazy Blue Tunas promise tight harmonies and loose guitars. And afterward, maybe you’ll want a dip in the Doubletree’s indoor pool, or even find your way to some of downtown Holland’s nightspots.
Don’t stay up too late! You won’t want to miss Thursday morning’s keynote. Dr. Stephen D. Cohle, Chief Medical Examiner for Kent County, Michigan is the author of the true-crime titles Skeletons in the Closet: Stories from the County Morgue and Cause of Death: Forensic Files of a Medical Examiner. Dr. Cohle’s presentation will be followed by the MHSLA Membership Meeting. After lunch, get up to date with State Librarian Nancy R. Robertson and the staff of NN/LM GMR, then earn some CE credits in Barb Platts’ workshop, Emergency Preparedness for your Library. Take some time to scope out your colleagues’ posters and vendor booths, as well. Be sure to stick around for the Exhibits Raffle at 4:45 – you must be present to win.
In the evening we’ll be whisked off to a dinner cruise on the Holland Princess. The Victorian-style paddlewheel riverboat tours Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan, cruising past the Big Red lighthouse, while we enjoy a leisurely meal. What a great way to relax!
As the week winds down, we’ll still be powering up! Friday morning, we’re off to Holland Hospital’s computer lab for a 3-hour hands-on workshop: PubMed for Experts, taught by Merle Rosenzweig and Deborah Lauseng (InfoPoint librarians, Taubman Medical Library). Update your skills, share your most challenging searches, and find out what’s new as PubMed continues to evolve.
Alternatively on Friday morning, catch your colleagues’ presentations, or try your hand, at Pecha Kucha Dutch! Pecha Kucha (pronounced peh-chak-cha) takes the snooze out of PowerPoint presentations by speeding up the action and squeezing out the fluff. What can you say in 20 slides at 20 seconds each? It’s the bullet-point version – administrators should be impressed!
After lunch, 63rd District Court judge Sara J. Smolenski will give our closing keynote. Here Come the Judge!
And there go the librarians! We’re finished at 2:00 pm, and the downtown shops are still open!
Speaking of bargain-hunting – did I mention what a great deal this conference is? The MHSLA Board has graciously agreed to underwrite part of the cost of this year’s conference. Full conference registration for MHSLA members includes three action-packed days with all CEs (up to 10.5 CE hours), meetings, keynotes, posters, presentations, vendor exhibits, 3 breakfasts and lunches, the opening reception with entertainment and “hearty hors d’ouevres,” and Thursday dinner and cruise for one low price of $250, if you register by August 21, 2009.
Can’t make all three days? There are single-day and two-day registration options for as low as $75. Not a member? Join now; a personal membership is only $15 – or pay the slightly higher non-member registration fee. We’re also offering student rates with proof of enrollment. Find the fees and options on the 36th Annual MHSLA Conference registration form, either at the Association web page (http://www.mhsla.org) or this Conference blog; find the “Conference Registration Form” link just below the banner at the top of this page.
And to seal the deal, the Holland Doubletree is offering a terrific rate of just $79.00 per night! (Plus taxes, of course.) Reserve your room by phoning the hotel at (616) 394-0111 or registering on the Doubletree website, http://www.doubletree.com. Be sure to use code MHS to assure the $79.00 conference rate.
We’re powered up! See you there!
Sandy Swanson
2009 Conference Publicity Chair
