{"id":31132,"date":"2024-06-29T13:30:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T17:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=31132"},"modified":"2024-06-29T12:14:54","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T16:14:54","slug":"meet-connect-share-wear-flair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2024\/06\/meet-connect-share-wear-flair\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet, Connect, Share, Wear Flair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Heading into the Saturday sessions at #alaac24, I\u2019m excited to connect with fellow library workers who I haven\u2019t seen in person in a long time, and eager to attend many of the poster sessions, panels and signings offered. There\u2019s so much to choose from when attending a conference of this scale that it can be daunting! I\u2019m also looking forward to making new connections in my field of services for children and teens and with other library professionals too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At any conference or professional event there are myriad opportunities to learn from each other and strike up a potential new friendship\u2014or even collaboration\u2014but it can be tough to start a conversation with someone new. But that\u2019s what we\u2019re here for, and conversations with people outside of our immediate circles are some of the most inspiring and energizing encounters. So how do you start? Over the years I\u2019ve honed in on a few tricks for opening up new conversations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Put on your badge<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is an obvious one, but most conference attendees will be happy to ask you about where you&#8217;re from (listed handily on your badge!), and it\u2019s an easy topic of conversation to start with.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Add ribbons<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Division ribbons and ribbons for your favorite genres are just a few of those on offer at #alaac24. Pick one up and add it to your badge to make connections with other like minded professionals or those who are curious about the topic and want to know more.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"488\" height=\"650\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ribbons.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31154\" style=\"width:222px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ribbons.jpg 488w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ribbons-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ribbons-375x500.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ribbons-68x90.jpg 68w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 488px) 100vw, 488px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo courtesy of Conference Blogger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Grab a bite on-site<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re hungry or thirsty, there\u2019s no place to make a new friend like waiting in line for your afternoon cup of coffee (or, in my case, tea) between sessions at the conference rather than heading off-site.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Take that seat in the front row<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Okay, maybe the seat will be in the second row, or third, but sit down next to someone you don\u2019t know. Librarians don\u2019t bite! There\u2019s no need to space ourselves out with five empty seats between each conference attendee. I\u2019ve met fascinating people by taking a chance and asking if the seat next to them is free.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Wear flair<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I know that not everyone is as big of a fan of fuschia as I am, and not all of you love loud prints and bright colors, but I promise you that if you add an interesting, bright, or&nbsp; loud element to your outfit, you\u2019ll meet someone new. I had a great chat with an academic librarian from Boston today who was wearing the best peacock scarf I\u2019ve ever seen. Flair is a great conversation starter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Celeste Rhoads<\/strong>\u00a0(she\/her\/hers) is originally from John Steinbeck\u2019s hometown of Salinas, California, where she read on the beach, in trees, on road trips, and everywhere in between. She moved to Paris in 2005, and immediately found a home at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/americanlibraryinparis.org\/\">American Library in Paris<\/a>. As the Children\u2019s and Teens\u2019 Services Manager, she oversees the Library\u2019s collections, policies, and programs for ages 0\u201318. Celeste has a master\u2019s degree in Library Science from Rutgers University, where she focused on digital libraries, and children\u2019s literature. Celeste enjoys connecting people of all ages with great reads\u2014especially contemporary titles.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heading into the Saturday sessions at #alaac24, I\u2019m excited to connect with fellow library workers who I haven\u2019t seen in person in a long time, and eager to attend many of the poster sessions, panels and signings offered. There\u2019s so much to choose from when attending a conference of this scale that it can be daunting! I\u2019m also looking forward to making new connections in my field of services for children and teens and with other library professionals too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":395,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[2746,134,151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ala-annual-2024","category-guest-blogger","category-live-blogging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}