What is something that you are currently passionate about in library services? Can you tell me about it in 5 minutes? Welcome to spark talks.
Spark talks were born out of a necessity for new ideas to come out in a timely fashion. Conference proposals are often sent in over a year in advance, and we all know that so much can happen in a year! While there are similar programs such as IGNITE or PechaKucha, the only rule for Spark talks is that it must be 5 minutes. Any longer and an air horn will literally go off. You must learn to be succinct in your lecture, argument, or information you are telling.
I was fortunate enough to attend both sessions. I learned about things such as serving military families, library drama from this past year, and why you should be doing your own in-house trainings (Guerrilla Training). In total, there were 16 sessions. The sessions were funny, heart wrenching, loud, and amazing! Hopefully this is a program that we see occurring more at conferences nationwide. Or, as one fabulous librarian suggested, maybe we should make a conference where every presentation is 5 minutes.