[Eg-oversight-board] A/V expense for Evergreen conference

[Kathy Lussier]

Hi all,

The Evergreen Outreach Committee held its Evergreen community program at 
ALA Midwinter on Saturday. The focus of the program was to spotlight the 
new web client, its improvements, and the ability to use it at the 
desktop, on a tablet or on other devices. We had eight participants at 
the meeting, four of whom were presenting a piece of the program. 
Turnout is generally lower at the Midwinter meetings than we have at 
annual conference.

Because these ALA programs are officially exhibitor programs, we pay a 
small fee ($120 as a nonprofit) for the room, but we do not get a/v 
equipment for the room as is done for non-exhibitor programs. The cost 
of a/v is high, and exhibitors are required to rent it for an entire 
day, even if the program is only one hour. I therefore have not booked 
a/v equipment for any of our ALA programs. Instead, we have brought 
along a portable projector that could be used in case we need it. We've 
been fortunate during the two 2017 ALA programs because the program 
immediately before ours had a/v, so the portable projector was not 
required.

During this weekend's program, we were in a position where we need to 
use a portable projector and screen because there was no a/v in the 
room. Unfortunately, while the meeting was already in progress, we came 
to find out that union rules prohibit the use of outside equipment in 
the meeting rooms. The resolution was to pay the cost of what we would 
have paid if we had rented the projector and screen through the 
conference - $1,023. I paid the fee because the issue needed to be 
resolved immediately.

After speaking with Tim yesterday about this expense, we both agreed 
that the cost is a lot for the Evergreen project to support, but that 
there might be some Evergreen organizations willing to contribute to the 
cost to help support the project's outreach efforts at national 
conferences. We therefore would like to put out a message to see if 
there are organizations willing to contribute to the Evergreen project 
to retroactively support the a/v costs for this outreach effort and to 
have the project reimburse for this expense. Tim said he is planning to 
to get a vote on reimbursement at tomorrow's meeting regardless if 
anyone contributes.

I wanted to add that before this incident even happened, the Outreach 
Committee had a conversation at its February meeting about alternatives 
to programs that require a/v since the equipment has always been a 
source of stress when planning the programs. At the same time, we're 
trying to create compelling programs that get people interested in 
attending. We'll work on fine tuning these programs so that an expense 
like this doesn't unexpectedly occur again in the future.

Kathy

-- 
Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 343-0128
klussier at masslnc.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier