First, acronym alert! TCEA (http://www.tcea.org/) stands for Texas Computer Education Association, and LIB SIG stands for Librarians’ Special Interest Group. I am proud to be a part of this group of librarians, who like to gather at the larger technology convention which happens to be one of the biggest in the country and actually has larger attendance numbers than TLA (Texas Library Association). Here are some reasons to attend TCEA:
- It always has fantastic keynote speakers. This year they were: Erin Gruwell, Greg Schwem, and Steve Gilliland
- Sessions are by and for educators and are always good.
- Exhibits are fantastic! They are great for getting ideas and learning more about products and services. There are always tons of great freebies.
- SIG groups like TECH SIG and LIB SIG offer great ways to connect with people who have similar interests to you.
- It is ALWAYS IN AUSTIN! What more can I say?
ABOUT OUR LIB SIG MEETING:
Wednesday afternoon, February 7, librarians attending TCEA (Texas Computer Educators Association) had a chance to meet as a group. We have our very own SIG (Special Interest Group)! Sadly, I learned Monday night that our President, Shonda Brisco, would not be able to attend. She had been sidelined by a nasty flu bug. Since I am past president and have been working together with Vice President Holly Weimar with meeting arrangements, it fell to us to take up the torch. We did so with a bit of apprehension but everything turned out great! We met in a Ballroom which looked cavernous at first, but we did draw a nice crowd of about 150 enthusiastic attendees. Librarians love to seek each other out at larger gatherings, I think. Also important to attendance were two big, and I mean BIG, draws:
- Our speaker was none other than TONI BUZZEO!
- We promised some great door prizes, including at least ONE FREE BOOK FOR EVERY ATTENDEE! What librarian can resist that lure?
- Also we served cookies and iced tea, which was probably not a big draw but was a nice bonus for attendees. I was both happy and sad to note that we ran out of refreshments. That meant that we had a great group but also meant some people were disappointment. NEXT YEAR, EXPECT MORE FREE EATS!
Toni was wonderful! To see her presentation, go to this URL: http://librarycollaboration.pbwiki.com/
It is actually a wiki set up by Shonda, and her presentation is part of what is presented there. She had a lot of great information and tips about collaboration, what the term really means, and how we can work to better our collaborative efforts. After the presentation, we had a great time sharing WONDERFUL DOOR PRIZES! We gave away:
- Over 250 brand new books, courtesy of Sam Houston State University Department of Library Science
- T-Shirts from Gaggle
- Several books provided by Linworth Press
- 60 beautiful bags provided by Mackin
- A wonderful statuette of a girl reading a book, also from Mackin.
After the presentation I also announced a slate of officers for next year. They are:
- President Holly Weimar from
- Vice President Tara Rollins from Aldine ISD
- Treasurers Jennifer Larriviere and Heather Lamb from Irving ISD
- For Secretary, I jokingly said I would gladly step aside if anyone was interested in stepping up for this job, and otherwise I would take it. To my AMAZEMENT and GRATITUDE, someone took me up on this! Heartfelt thanks to her and I hope she gets in touch with me soon! In the rush at the end of the meeting I gave her my email but did not get contact information for her. Unfortunately I did not get her name and contact information but rather gave her mine, so I hope to hear from her soon!
LAST BUT NOT LEAST!! This meeting would not have been such a great success without the generous support of Linworth Press.This wonderful company has sponsored our speakers for the past two years, and has also offered to help us in the future. So stay tuned for announcements in the fall…we are going to have another dynamite gathering!
No comments:
Post a Comment