How can you tell that it’s time for the 72nd annual meeting? Well,the “picnic”posts on the A&A listserv by non-attending archivists is one way…and another is the appearance of the un-official SAA meeting wiki (thanks to Jeanne Kramer-Smyth). This year,Kate from Archives Next is taking a page from library bloggers and posting her anticipated SAA schedule. I think that’s a great idea,and I’ll do the same below–not for my (non-existent) groupies,but as a guideline for what I intend to talk about in future posts.
Aside:my longstanding vent about conference hotels is still in effect here. Pay-per-day wired-only internet access in guest rooms and hourly wireless rates in public areas? I’m not happy about this. I know it’s fairly standard,but it’s also ridiculous. At lower-cost hotels in this chain (Hilton),wireless access is free in guest rooms and public spaces. Why do we accept this charge as a group? Can’t we plan to take our business somewhere else? Do each of us really want to pay an additional $14.95/day for internet access during this conference?
Further,it looks like vendors wanting to earn business from us have plastered their names on everything from water bottles to our special “Archivists 2008″room key cards. Couldn’t that sponsorship have extended to something that’s less disposable and more useful like providing internet access to attendees? All of this talk about “being green”and not providing tote bags this year is fine–but let’s continue to think of ways in which we can waste less resources and provide more benefit.
Maybe I’m the only one who is grumpy about this,though I’m guessing that some folks would say “Just don’t pay the fee,then.”That’s not the entire point–it’s more that I think we’ve adapted to the use of technology in collections and professional work–why not include access to the internet as part of the annual meeting about “R/evolution and Identities”? Perhaps being able to connect in real time would allow us to collaborate and coordinate more as a group.
</end rant>
Anyway,back to regularly scheduled programming.
I’ve already taken the Academy of Certified Archivists exam this morning,and now I’m taking a breather to look at the final schedule. The meetings that I would like to attend this afternoon include:either the Records Management Roundtable or the EAD Roundtable,and either Issues and Advocacy or the Metadata and Digital Object Roundtable,and perhaps the blogger meetup (if it’s still on for tonight). I’ll have to flip a coin between those sessions,as they occur during the same two blocks of time. If you see me in the halls or in the ballroom,stop me and say hello!
Glad to hear I’m not the only one who’s cranky about the lack of free wireless access in the conference hotel. I’m local,so I don’t have a room at the Hilton,and I was shocked to learn that wireless access in the public areas costs $6.95 *per hour*. The three e-mail kiosks that one sponsor provided are NOT cutting it.
We’ve got some awesome archivist bloggers at this conference,and I’m sad that there won’t be much (if any) liveblogging of sessions because wireless access is so cost-prohibitive.
Here is a useful tip about the wireless fees…if you DO choose to pay for the 24 hours of access in your hotel room you can then call down to the front desk to get a code that will give you access to wireless. I would rather not have had to pay for the access in the first place –but at least you can get the wireless as part of the deal.
I wasn’t planning to live blog the conference,but it’s frustrating to be limited by the facilities that are available. I’ve talked to a few folks who mentioned that because of the hotel’s age/structure,wireless isn’t an option in the rooms. However,from my room on an upper floor,I can see that there are 4 different area wireless networks “available”to me,with at least 3 bars of service. I know that’s often not an indication that they actually work,but I couldn’t test them (all password protected).
Jeanne–thanks for the tip. I did the same thing–yesterday at 6:30am I was wandering the lobby and wanted to log in. Upon noticing the hourly fee,I asked at the front desk and they gave me the code for the day because I had already paid the wired fee. I guess I’m surprised that they have the public area wifi “locked down”too but I’m sure that it’s a moneymaker for them.