It's been exciting to see the great response to the Library 2.011 conference so far! We've had over 1,500 people from over 60 countries sign up since we announced the conference.  Wow!  This is an update email for those interested in participating in the Library 2.011 Virtual Conference being held November 2 - 3, 2011 (to learn more about the conference, you can go to http://www.Library2011.com).

Our call for speakers has begun, and information on submitting presentations is at http://www.library20.com/pages/call-for-proposals. We are very excited about how the speaking proposals are being made visible on the website as soon as they are submitted, which allows you to connect with speakers interested in the same topics that you might be, and to begin a dialog with them right away or to comment on their proposal. You can monitor the "Strands and Submissions" page on the website to see the session proposals that have been submitted--by strand or all of them: http://www.library20.com/pages/strands-proposals. If you have submitted a proposal already and have not joined the speaker announcement "group" please do so at http://www.library20.com/group/library2011conferencespeakers to make sure you receive specific notifications for speakers.

Here is more conference-related information:

1.  Please help us promote the conference! We are very excited to be holding an international event which is free and doesn't require travel, and we are hoping it will dramatically facilitate the making of world-wide connections with those interested in the future of libraries and librarians. That means that we need your continued help in getting the word out about the conference.  Please post it on websites, on networks, in forum discussions, through email, or in any way that you can!  :)  You can use the announcement on the main conference page for standard verbiage:  http://www.library20.com/page/2011-conference.  Logos and a "two-up" document flier are available at http://www.library20.com/page/press-promotional (please link any images/logos to http://www.library2011.com). The Twitter hashtag for the conference is "LIB2011".  

2.  Volunteering!  Thanks to so many of you who have already joined the volunteer group and indicated you are willing to help in some way (http://www.library20.com/group/library2011conferencemoderatorvolunteers).  If you haven't joined that group yet and want to help, please do so as that's where we'll be sending any specific notices to the volunteers. While we are hoping the volunteers will help promote the conference and be supportive on the site in connecting with others, responding to postings, and encouraging presenters, we do have a big task for some of the volunteers during the conference:  helping moderate session in Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). While all presenters will be required to take some basic training in Collaborate, sessions are much more likely to go well if there is a second person in the session to provide support, to watch the chat for questions, and to help make sure things to smoothly. We'll have some announced trainings coming up for both presenters and volunteers in September/October, and then we'll give you a chance to sign up by time slot for helping. A big THANK YOU to all who are able to help in this way!

Additionally, I'll be looking for a small cadre of "super-volunteers" to help manage and oversee ALL the sessions and volunteers during different global shifts (and when I will not be awake!). If you are willing to be part of this elite team, email me directly at steve@hargadon.com!

3.  The International Advisory Board.  To apply to be on our advisory board, use the form at the bottom of this page: http://www.library20.com/page/international-advisory-board. You can be both a volunteer and a member of the advisory board--in fact, many of you will be. Specifically, the International Advisory Board will focus on: promoting the conference globally, helping us find partner organizations in their geographical regions, and helping to train and support presenters in their region and local languages. As a conference focused on being "inclusive," our desire is to have international attendees not see this as a North-America-centric event--and to see themselves as full participants and presenters, not just an international audience. Once you've been accepted and your name appears on the advisory board page, be sure to join the group advisory board group to receive related announcements (instructions are on the page above). Our advisory board chairs are Scott Brown (http://www.library20.com/profile/scbrown5)  and Kim Dority (http://www.library20.com/profile/KimDority), who have committed to modeling the global outreach we're asking for, and who will help us convene two advisory board online meeetings in the next two months (we'll send you separate information about these through the group, and they will be scheduled at different times to accommodate the global makeup of the group as they will also be recorded).

4.  Conference Partner Organizations!  We recognize that much of the outreach for this conference will come from libraries, schools, or organizations who advertise the conference to their memberships, and we want to recognize and "reward" you for this. Whether you are a small school library or a multi-national organization, we want to encourage you to become a conference partner. You apply using the form at the bottom of http://www.library20.com/page/conference-partners and must be non-commercial and primarily or substantively focused on libraries, librarians, librarianship, or library programs to be approved. Once approved, your organization will be listed with a link, logo, and a short description; and you will be provided with a "spotlight" speaker session in the conference. There are no financial obligations for being a partner organization--all we ask is that you actively promote the conference to your membership and network, and encourage participation as well as presentations and submissions. Partner organizations also have their own announcement "group" on the network, so once approved be sure to join at http://www.library20.com/group/2011conferencepartners.

5.  Conference Sponsors.  We are actively seeking additional commercial sponsorship for the conference. Contact me directly if you are interested (steve@hargadon.com).

Thanks for your attention, and see you online!

Steve

Steve Hargadon
Conference Co-Chair