[Eg-oversight-board] Final conference thoughts

Kathy Lussier klussier at masslnc.org
Tue May 23 12:19:18 EDT 2017 

I think the conference has multiple purposes that can't be encapsulated 
in one sentence. But I could try doing it through a bulleted list.

- An opportunity for Evergreen users at all levels to become more 
knowledgeable about using, configuring, supporting, and improving the 
Evergreen software.

- An opportunity to learn about developments in the software and project 
since the last conference.

- An opportunity for the community to discuss and plan for the long-term 
future of the project

- An opportunity to engage users and encourage them / educate them on 
how they can contribute to the project, which builds the community and 
ensures that the project continues to thrive.

- An opportunity to meet others in the community, share experiences with 
them, and feel more connected to the other libraries out there using 
Evergreen. This also helps build the community.

- An opportunity for some working groups (developers, DIG, etc.) to set 
aside some time to get project work done.

Those are my thoughts. Although the first bullet-point addresses 
learning about the software, I don't think this necessarily means 
training. I agree that it's very difficult to do real training when 
Evergreen libraries/consortia implement the software in different ways.

Kathy


On 05/23/2017 12:05 PM, Diane Disbro wrote:
>
> Good morning –
>
> This is an interesting discussion. I understand that training isn’t 
> the purpose of the conference. If you could put the purpose of the 
> conference into one sentence, what would that sentence be?
>
> Thank you.
>
> *Diane Disbro*
>
> Circulation Coordinator/Branch Manager
>
> Union Branch
>
> Scenic Regional Library
>
> 308 Hawthorne Drive
>
> Union, MO 63084
>
> 636-583-3224
>
> ddisbro at scenicregional.org <mailto:ddisbro at scenicregional.org>
>
> www.scenicregional.org
>
> *From:*eg-oversight-board 
> [mailto:eg-oversight-board-bounces at list.evergreen-ils.org] *On Behalf 
> Of *Ruth Frasur
> *Sent:* Tuesday, May 23, 2017 11:01 AM
> *To:* Grace Dunbar
> *Cc:* Oversight Board
> *Subject:* Re: [Eg-oversight-board] Final conference thoughts
>
> Grace,
>
> I, admittedly, haven't picked through everything in the suggestion 
> document.  That said, I really like the idea of highlighting the 
> hackfest more prominently as a part of the conference rather than a 
> "pre-conference" addendum.
>
> On Tue, May 23, 2017 at 11:39 AM, Grace Dunbar 
> <grace at equinoxinitiative.org <mailto:grace at equinoxinitiative.org>> wrote:
>
> I thought it might be useful to provide my suggestions for the 
> Evergreen conference and changes we may want to consider for the 
> future.  Apologies in advance if this is either rambling or redundant, 
> or both.
>
> The conference operates on thin margins.
>
> Every year the conference committee is confident (perhaps overly 
> confident) that this year they will increase attendance numbers and 
> increase sponsorships.  The problem is that we can't increase our 
> sponsorships without increasing our attendance.  And our attendees who 
> increase our numbers are generally just employees of a library in an 
> existing consortia.  This exact complaint was brought up by multiple 
> vendors - essentially, the Evergreen conference is really only between 
> 8 and 10 "clients" and having more circ or cataloging staff attendees 
> at the conference doesn't increase their ROI.  And that's fair.
>
> And the attendees who can increase our numbers (local staff) seem to 
> want very specifically targeted information related to them at the 
> conference.  The conference surveys have been pretty clear that 
> end-user staff want and expect *training* from the conference. But 
> that hasn't traditionally been the aim of the conference, nor can we 
> reliably provide that since the programs are solicited from volunteers 
> in the community. Also complicating things for "training" on Evergreen 
> features is that Evergreen is so customizable that "training" or 
> explanations of how to use certain features may not jive with local 
> policy for their consortia or library system. Regardless, I believe we 
> can, to some extent, provide that kind of training in the 
> pre-conference sessions. However, we will need to be very selective in 
> the process of recruiting the pre-conference presenters (trainers) if 
> we're going to try to actively meet that need.
>
> Also, I firmly believe that the conference should make money for the 
> project.  With that money, the project can provide outreach, build 
> infrastructure, and promote the community.  We want to provide a good 
> conference with stellar programs and a welcoming environment.  But the 
> conference is also for building relationships, allowing developers and 
> community leaders to conduct business and brainstorm, as well as 
> providing space for the EOB, committees, and interest groups to meet.  
> IOW, we're trying to meet a lot of needs and there needs to be balance 
> - we can't make everyone happy all the time.  If you look at the 
> breakdown of attendees, systems administrators and developers are 
> roughly 1/3, end-users are roughly 1/3, and admin/consortia leaders 
> are roughly 1/3. Those are all stakeholders that are important but 
> their needs are very different.
>
> To reduce overhead for the conference and to try to give _everyone_ 
> the best experience we should at least look at making some changes. 
> Based off of my experience and the results of conference surveys, I 
> have some suggestions for changes to the structure and the sponsorships.
> Note that the proposed reduction of the conference to two tracks had 
> wide support in the survey and the track reduction and changes to 
> pre-conferences and when/where IGs, etc. meet, should reduce the 
> overhead for costs associated with meeting rooms, A/V, signage, labor, 
> etc.
> See attached doc for details.
>
> Thanks for sticking with the rambling...
>
> And as always, this is just a suggestion based on my experience - I 
> leave it to y'all to decide what to take away from the information and 
> what direction to go.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Grace
>
> p.s. Exhibitor and attendee surveys also attached.  For anyone who 
> prefers visual representations, just let me know and I can share the 
> Google form with you.
>
>
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>
>
> -- 
>
> Ruth Frasur
> Director of the Historic(ally Awesome) Hagerstown - Jefferson Township 
> Library
> 10 W. College Street in Hagerstown, Indiana (47346)
> p (765) 489-5632; f (765) 489-5808
>
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>
>
>
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-- 
Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 343-0128
klussier at masslnc.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier

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