LibraryTechtonics

Blake Carver and I had lunch today after I spent the morning recording one session to podcast for the PLA Blog (file forthcoming) and actually attending another session on “Participatory Technologies,” the most technical and meaningless-sounding misnomer for a session on stuff like Second Life and MySpace (post forthcoming).

After lunch, we decided the proper plan of action was to hit the trade show floor (your people call it “the exhibit halls”). Right now, I’m sitting in a cushy chair with a swing-in laptop desk part at the KI booth (I was charged with looking for furniture like this by my boss, and I’m glad to do it), because we’ve had a priceless time, and I want to share. Besides, I’m test driving the chair.
Today’s trade show experience has included:

• Seeing the booth gal at Unshelved, who also happens to be Bill’s live-in babysitter.
• Talking to the Koha folks.
• Checking out the new Innovative Encore beta installs, and asking all sorts of questions.
• Bumping into Heidi Dolamore shortly after receiving a text message from her.
• Bumping into Pathfinder Linden, head of the Cambridge development office for Second Life.
• Eating free cake at the McGraw-Hill booth.
• After asking a nice man where he got his beer, drinking free beer at the Hale booth, and walking with free beer until…
• Stopping to watch the people at the Google booth, drinking the Kool Aid at the presentation, and snagging weird colored fortune cookies that tasted like blue crunch berries and red Kool Aid and contained Google tip fortunes.
• Looking with humored jest at people dragging shopping bags along the floor as though they were rolly suitcases, and seeing the mother of all rolly crates chock full of ridiculous swag, before…
• Ending up here, in a chair.

Too. Much. Fun.

Tags: conference