Off to Anaheim!

I came out to CA two days early, to teach a full day gaming workshop for the Black Gold Library System at the Santa Barbara Public Library. I’ve just landed in Anaheim, but can’t check into my hotel yet, so I’m taking advantage of the free WiFi and A/C at the Euclid branch of the Anaheim Public Library.

Here’s some of the stuff I’m looking forward to this year. I’m really excited that there are a number of gaming events – almost enough for a whole track! There are a couple vendor-sponsored events that I’m throwing in for informational purposes only, and shouldn’t be taken as an endorsement of product.

On FRIDAY, I’m not going to miss the OCLC Symposium. They have it at every conference, it’s always on Friday afternoon, they always cover cutting edge topics, the snacks are always tasty, and George Needham always has a new & clever way to remind folks to turn off their cell phones. This year’s presentation is The Mashed Up Library, from 1:30 – 4:30 pm at the Marriott Anaheim in Platinum Ballroom 1-5. Registration is free.

After a dinner meeting with the YALSA Social Event Task force (we’re planning something very exciting to blend technology and networking at Midwinter!) it’s off to the ALA Open Gaming Night for board, card and videogame fun. Snacks, prizes, and gameplay! I can’t wait to hear who won the ALA Presidential Citation for exemplary gaming programs. The event is funded by a Verizon Foundation grant, and runs from 7:30-10:30pm at the Hilton- Anaheim Disneyland Hotel.

SATURDAY, LAMA hosts a session on gaming and Second Life. Are You in the Game? Harnessing Millenial Learning Strategies to Market runs from 8-10 AM at the Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland Center in the Ballroom.

I’m going to be sad to miss YALSA’s All-Committee meeting from 10-noon on Saturday at the Anaheim Marriott in the Marquis Center. I almost always go, even when I’m not on a committee, because the YALSA President always has news and information to share, we get introduced to officers and board members, someone always springs for coffee and bagels, and the energy in the room is great. It’s one of THE places to see and be seen. I’m be off at the Games and Gaming Member Initiative Group (MIG) Meeting at the Sheraton Park Hotel Anaheim, Plaza A/B, because I have an obligation there.

After lunch on Saturday, the YALSA Gaming Interest Group meets from 1:30-3:30 at the Disneyland Hotel in the North Exhibit Hall, Meeting Room F. Besides our usual info-swap, we need to elect a convener! So far, Jami Schwarzwalder is the only candidate who has expressed interest in running. She’s an all-around gamer (tabletop and console) and has been a strong presence on the YALSA blog. Get in touch with myself or Kelly Czarnecki if you are interested in running. We are looking for publication ideas at this meeting, too.

From 4:00-5:30pm on Saturday, LITA hosts Science Fiction and Fantasy: Looking at Information Technology and the Information Rights of the Individual. SF/Fantasy writers will be discussing new ideas and new tech, and the future of access to information and the rights of individuals. One of the speakers is Cory Doctorow, whose new YA novel, Little Brother, covers this very topic. I’m planning to finish the e-book version tonight.

I’m still saving up to attend the ALA/Proquest Scholarship Bash, because it’s for a good cause AND this year, it’s at (YAY!) Disneyland. If I can’t swing the $45 ticket or volunteer my way in, though, I’ll be heading to the Anaheim Marriott in Salon E for some free entertainment: Stories for a Saturday evening is an ALSC sponsored program from 8:00-10:00pm. It’s a long-standing ALA tradition, and always wonderful. This year’s storytellers are Willy Claflin, storyteller, San Francisco, CA; Carmen Deedy, author and storyteller courtesy of Peachtree Press; and Spencer G. Shaw professor emeritus, University of Washington Information School

SUNDAY morning begins with the YALSA Teen Gaming Interest group program, Beyond Gaming Tournaments from 8:00-10:00am We’ve started added handouts to the ALA presentations wiki already. Get there by 8:15 to score a door prize entry ticket for free software and other giveaways! Following our panel presentation, we’re trying a hands-on breakout session with activities like avatar creation (bring your computers!), a dance-off to the opening of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya, a reader’s advisory activity, a worldbuilding activity, testing games made by Youth Digital Arts CyberSchool participants, machinima showing, role-playing activities, and a game discussion group. I’m still not sure if the second half of the event will run smoothly, or not… might be organized chaos 🙂 Everyone won’t get to try every activity, but we will have handouts online for you to try when you get back to your library.

If I’m not totally exhausted from our program, I may slip off to ACRL’s session Media Literacy, Artistic Expression, and Copyright from 10:30-noon on Sunday, at the Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland Center, in Magic Kingdom 4.

Following that, from 1:30-3:30pm on Sunday, is ALSC’s gaming program, Hey! I Want to do That Too! Gaming and the Elementary Age Child, with speaker Warren Buckleitner, editor of Children’s Technology Review. That’s at the Anaheim Marriott in Marquis South.

Sunday evening my dance card is overflowing. I have to stop in at the Neal Schuman reception, celebrating Rosemary Honnold as the new editor of their teens @ the library series. Wizards Play Network, a free gaming support service for your schools and libraries, is hosting a wine & cheese reception from 6:00-9:00pm. Learn how the Wizards Play Network can help you start gaming clubs in your school or library, see demos of Magic: The Gathering‘® and Dungeons and Dragons‘®, hobnob with the authors of New York Times best selling A Practical Guide to Monsters, A Practical Guide to Wizardry and Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl’s Guide to Dungeons and Dragons and receive lots of giveaways to launch your gaming club. It all takes place Regent Room at lobby level at the Sheraton Hotel

At 7:00, the YALSA Teen Music Interest Group’s social event kicks off at The Grove of Anaheim. The event features a live band, The High Strung.

After all that, I might just be sleeping in on Monday!