Day 2: Vegas morning

I am soooo glad I don't live here, as I'd be a helpless gambling addict.  I think that's where all the homeless people come from - arriving in Las Vegas with hopes and dreams of hitting it "big" and succumbing to the vicissitudes of Lady Luck and her capricious nature.  Okay, that's probably wrong, but I can definitely see myself as a young woman getting into some terrible, terrible trouble in Sin City.

So I woke up early, went to McDonald's (after the lousy in-house coffee and danish yesterday, I went straight to the old go-to for cheap, fresh breakfast), and then sat down at a couple of slot machines and ended up 3-dollars ahead!  Woo-hoo!  I'm like my dad, who was game but not a gambler.

Off to Hash House A Go Go to meet up with Facebook (hope-to-be-real) friends and then hopefully make the last hour of the Annual Unconference, which starts at 9am.  Crap!  Just realized that there are THREE Hash Houses in Vegas, and I don't recall which one we were supposed to meet!  Dang!  Okay, deep breath...

Okay.  Okay.  Anyway, just a reminder that I will be live-streaming coverage of two events today, the first session of CraftCon in the Uncommons (2:30pm), and the opening of the Exhibit Floor (5:30pm) - hope you can join me - I'll be filming on my phone so won't have a chance to check chat but I hope peoples who can't make it to either event will take a look and meet some of the great people I've met so far at the Annual ALA Conference for 2014.

Postscript:  Found out which Hash House, duh.

Two Days to GO!!!

I can't believe it's almost time to go to ALA!  What a trip it's been to work on this blog, get funding to go the conference, and now work as a stringer for American Libraries!  Feeling very lucky and very grateful to all the folks who helped make it happen.  Hope to see many of you in Las Vegas, but if you can't make it please subscribe to the UStream feed and keep up-to-date with activities from the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center. I'll also be blogging here, tweeting, and facebooking.

I think ALA.org is also doing some broadcasting, but they've been a little opaque about where and when they are doing this.  When I can't go to conferences I still love watching live-feeds or reading live-blogs about them, and hope those of you who keep up with Zen and Loaning will get as much enjoyment out of viewing it as much as I will in producing it for you.

Return of "So What's Up With Las Vegas?"

My wonderful friend, Houston, agreed to let me capture his soul - wait, no, that's not it - his ruminations and wisdom about Las Vegas. He provides some pretty awesome tips for bars and places to tourist that are off the beaten path. He knows this stuff because he is omniscient, but also because he does some kind of professional videographer type stuff in Vegas every year. I recommend watching both of these videos because I screwed up on the first one and the second one has information that the first one doesn't.

What to pack for Vegas?

I've decided that I will take my medium LL Bean suitcase to check-in on the plane, and carry-on my Jansport computer bag with the heavy laptop and various cords and whatnot.  I'll do most of my blogging on the phone, but the laptop will help with editing and transferring any video or audio.

For clothes, I'm taking mostly skirts that won't wrinkle easily and are light - I have a TravelSmith skirt that I got at Junior League a few years' back that will fit the bill, and my beloved Athleta Whatever skort (if it were legal to marry an article of clothing, I would marry this skirt, that's how much I love it).  I'm allowing myself at least two nerdy t-shirts, and it's going to be hard to choose because they're all so nerdy and wonderful, but mostly I'll take my two Lacoste polos, a Hawaiian shirt, and a couple of American Apparel t-shirts because they look semi-professional when worn with a business-type skirt.

And, of course, my bathing suits.

Two Weeks to Go!!!!

At this point, I seem to be the only person in my library who is outwardly excited about going to ALA.  I mean, everyone is excited for me that I'm going, but the librarians who are actually going to Las Vegas are all "meh" about it.  Maybe they just hide it better than I do?  I don't care!  I'm excited and I don't care who knows it!

Two more weeks, and I'm getting nervous.  The reality of my role in this is becoming more real - I'm blogging for American Libraries, my first legit blogging gig.  I've got big plans (and I'll have to share my technology situation in another post), but will it all come together?  Who knows?  Will the wifi work in the convention center?  Who knows?  Will I have a chance to go swimming in the Circus Circus pool?  Who knows?!  Good lord, I'm a mess!

Hey, but one bright spot is that I get to talk to my wonderful friend, Houston, about his experiences in Las Vegas, in a re-boot of the "So What's Up With Las Vegas?" feature of this blog, happening tomorrow.  I might U-stream it.  If you haven't already, subscribe to my Ustream - my handle is g8rgrrl, or do a search for #alaac14 and you should find it.

New Member Round Table's Mentoring Program for First-time ALA Attendees

Some will inevitably need a hand to hold - or an arm to hold you up, in the case of an after-party, but there is a way to have that presence should you find yourself alone and agog at ALA 2014.  The New Member Round Table has a Conference Mentoring Program, and I think this could be a real winner for those who are going to ALA for the first time and specifically want to network.

Here is more of the information from the email I got earlier today:

The NMRT Mentoring Committee will pair up "newbie conference attendees" with "seasoned vets" as part of our Conference Mentoring program. As a ground rule you must be attending the conference for at least 3 days; and it is recommended you plan to attend the mentoring social Friday June 27th from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at Caesar’s Palace hotel in the Sorrento room. You should plan to meet with each other two  times during the conference.  Membership in ALA is required, and NMRT membership is encouraged.
Applications are due June 6 with the goal of notifying the matching pairs by the week of June 16. For further information and to apply, visit:
http://www.ala.org/nmrt/oversightgroups/comm/mentor/mentoringcommittee

Hope this helps someone out there!

Transportation options for Vegas during #alaac14

So, you're in Las Vegas, Sin City, the land of the bright lights, and other names I could make up for this bustling town - now what?  Transportation is going to be a big question for a lot of folks so here is a handy guide to links and resources for getting to and from and around the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Vegas dot com has a lot of information about getting around Las Vegas, and I just love Trip Advisor because they seem to have good reviewers and lot of excellent tips (if you're a Yelp-er, as well, there's also that!  I especially enjoyed the Yelp reviews about The Deuce, as pictured above, and I'll have to save the discussion thread entitled, "why does everyone hate the monorail?").

Trip Advisor also has a lot of great information about the RTC bus system in town and I'm planning on getting the 30-day pass and doing most of my traveling via bus as I have to shuttle a little further than most folks.

So, what about the monorail?  And why does everyone hate it?  Seems to be that it is only used by tourists and convention goers, which makes sense as the main action is on the Strip, right? ALA Annual Conference Attendees get reduced rates here.

Should also add a link to an article about the shuttle system that runs behind the strip, so if you're decidedly anti-capitalist about the monorail, even with the ALA-subsidized prices, this might just be the option for you although the map they have posted looks a little limited.  Still, it seems like a cool, tourist-y thing to do!

I'll update if I come across any other cheap and/or interesting transportation options in Las Vegas, but in the meantime - did I miss anything?

NOTE:  Thanks to commenter Mary, who reminded me that there is a page on the ALA website that gives you all the transportation information, including how to get the reduced price tickets (there is no promo code, just click through to get the reduced price)

One month to go! #alaac14

Okay, let's try this again - I just deleted the first post, so now I have to rewrite the whole darn thing - how do I manage to do these things?  It is a mystery.  The Google Hangout last night went well, if not a little disorganized on my part, and I definitely learned what NOT to do with hangouts, like try to pause the broadcast, which essentially ended the scheduled one I had been advertising for about a week.  So I had to create another hangout on the fly, got the time wrong, and started later than intended.  I'm sure I lost a lot of potential views because of that, but all I can do is try again with another hangout.  I think what I will do is synthesize the information that folks generously gave during this last one and then present the information at the next one.  Or I'll just post it on the blog.

Hey, and a big shout-out to those who attended and generously supplied their time and expertise to the topic of attending a huge conference like #alaac14.   I am truly appreciative of the people involved in building community online and in person, and it encourages me to keep on keeping on.

Will have to post on some of the activities outside of the scheduled events.

ALA Mobile Scheduler is the bomb

You'll remember when I discovered the ALA Scheduler for Annual and immediately over-booked myself 5 times over.  Well, I was able to figure out how to add the ALA scheduler to my phone, and now I can access all the events and keeps track of all the events I'm attending.  You will see that it is fairly complete with a button to access all the sessions or just the items you signed up for. It has information about the Uncommons, which I'm looking forward to visiting (meaning I will bother the people at the Uncommons desk) and possibly using their equipment to live stream on the exhibit floor.  This is a recommended app if you like using your phone for scheduling, which I do.  Everything is very well organized but the real test will be when I'm juggling between the scheduler, Voice Memo, Notes, Facebook, and Ustream.

Google Hangout May 26th from 9-10pm EST

I decided to do an online Google Hangout this coming Monday to get together with folks who are old and new to ALA conferences (or any conferences) to come hangout and talk about strategies for navigating such a huge event.  I've never done one of these Google Hangouts online so it'll be interesting.  Come join me!

My fascination with 3D printed dice has come to an end

As all good things must end, so does my interest in 3D printed casino dice.  The upshot?  Can't use these in a casino and a friend just told me that they are apparently very hinky about the use of cell phone cameras in the casinos anyway, so I wouldn't be able to talk to any of the dice dealers about using them while on camera.  Dang.  Well, I can decorate them with nail polish in any case and bring them along, just in case!

Love/hate the ALA 2014 Scheduler

I saw the handy-looking scheduler on the ALA Facebook page and they weren't kidding when they said "over-schedule!"  Case in point:

Finally! Video of the 3D-printed dice!

Denise Bennett makes an appearance as she explains what happened to the first set of dice that went kablooey on the MakerBot.

No Video!!!

I had this great video of the MakerBot at Marston Science Library making my set of dice, and I cannot upload it to save my life!  I am despondent!  Well, I'm going to collect the dice today at some point so I will update then with a measly photograph or two!  Dang!!!!11!!

Cheap souvenir problem solved!?

http://www.worldslargestgiftshop.com/cgi-bin/shop/index.html

Cannot Believe...

...I went all the way to Marston Science Library to print out my casino dice and didn't bring my phone to take pictures!!!  Well, it will be ready about 4:00pm or so, so I'll update with pictures then!

Haha, and I was talking to one of the engineering librarians who helped me submit the model and she said, as if preciently, "I wouldn't use these in a casino or anything, because they're not the same weight."  D'OH!

Casino Dice and 3-D Printers

So I totally decided that I'm going to try out Marston Science Library's Makerbot 3-D printer, and decided that I am going to start practicing my dice-throwing skills with a set of 3-D printed dice.  Will update soon!

Cheap souvenirs

Going to ALA does not mean you have to give away precious swag as souvenirs to loved ones back home, but you also don't want to break the bank on pricey trinkets that are the warp and woof of tourism.  Save your money for the black jack table, I always say!

While I'm live blogging at the convention, there will also be posts on issues like cheap/free souvenirs, best hotel pools (haha, like they're going to let me in their pool), and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet.

Exhibits (a.k.a. Swag Central)

Totally going to blog the ribbon cutting and opening ceremonies for the ALA Exhibit hall, taking place from 5:30pm to 7:30pm on Friday.  Not only because it is a massive exhibit experience, but also because there is going to be SO MUCH LOOT!  And probably tote bags and t-shirts, I hope!

Hello! Meet ALA's newest blogger!

Yes, that's right!  I just got the good word from the editor of American Libraries Direct, George Eberhart, that I will indeed be blogging to my little heart's content at the ALA annual!  Live blogging, pool blogging, casino blogging -- every meaty blogstuff that's ready to be blogged for you, dear readers/viewers!  I can't wait!  I've got to start coming up with more blog features.  I'm supposed to look at the conference schedule and decide which things I'm going to blog - DEFINITELY blogging Stan Lee!

05/06/14- corrected to include George Eberhart's correct title, which I erroneously reported to be the editor of American Libraries, which is actually Laurie Borman.  Details, people!