Catherine Alderson is the current chair of the Western University CLA Student
Chapter. She hails from the west coast, and though she understands rain,
she still looks for Thor every time there is a thunderstorm. She has a
totally normal love for female superheroes,YA literature, and the art of
pie charts. This semester she can be found living in the computer lab,
as her apartment is stupidly hot. She doesn't even mind the arctic
temperatures of the lab. No really.
Back in January, I got to experience my first library conference at the OLA Super Conference in Toronto. Having had such a great experience there, when the announcement came that the CLA/SLA conferences would be in Victoria and Vancouver respectively, I jumped at the chance to make the trip back to my home coast (when the west coast is involved, I will always volunteer as tribute). Brief and busy, the trip wasn’t much of a vacation, and I headed to the CLA conference right off the plane. The following week was used to recover from my conference experience, as well as to finally get acclimatized to the new time zone and the next thing I knew I was at the second conference. Then it was off to the airport to catch the red eye because it’s still the middle of the semester, and I have class at 9:00am. I met a ton of interesting, fantastic people in a variety of sessions, and everyone was incredibly kind, welcoming and generous with their time. I left feeling very encouraged, inspired and excited for the big “What’s Next?” when I graduate with my MLIS in August.
My past experience with gatherings of like minds, have been at what I affectionately term “nerd conventions”. In particular, Emerald City Comicon and Vancouver FanExpo. Surprisingly, there are several things that the two kinds of gatherings have in common.
Dress for success!
At various comicons, attendees let their geek flags fly. Whether through a particularly clever shirt, everyday cosplay, or straight up costuming.
Source: https://flic.kr/p/cBPGfC
Sleep? What Sleep?
Up early. Go to bed late. There is so much to see and do, sleep tends to get forgotten about.A good rule of thumb, in an attempt to stay healthy through the conference, is the “5-2-1 rule”. Every day, make sure you get 5 hours of sleep, eat 2 solid meals, and have 1 shower. That shower one should go without saying, but for nerd conventions it kind of needs to be mentioned. Lots of people in a stuffy convention centre is a recipe for unpleasantness unless everyone follows some basic hygiene.
It’s Dangerous to Go Alone! Take This
Source: Know Your Meme
- Comfortable shoes – You will walk more than you think you will.
- Snacks – sometimes you miss lunch. Avoid that blood sugar crash!
- Water bottle – some conference centres have water everywhere (I LOVE YOU SO MUCH VICTORIA CONFERENCE CENTRE FOR THIS), others not quite so much. Stay hydrated! You’ll be talking to lots of people, and convention centres are always weirdly drying with their recycled air.
- A full charge on your phone. The cord so you can charge it again after the battery dies from all your live tweeting. A portable charger in case of a lack of outlet.
- Backpack or swag bag. You will acquire stuff. Sometimes from vendors, sometimes by magic.
Victoria Conference Centre Water Cozy
