NMRT (New Members Round Table)

 View Only
last person joined: 9 hours ago 

NMRT

 🏆 March Madness: Library Conference Essentials Edition! 🏆

Melissa Herzberg's profile image
Melissa Herzberg posted Mar 01, 2025 07:35 PM

Fellow librarians, it’s that time of year again—conference season is upon us! And what better way to celebrate than with a little friendly competition?

Welcome to Library Conference Essentials March Madness, where we’ll be battling it out to determine the ultimate must-have item for attending a library conference. Think of it as a battle of the book totes, a smackdown of the swag, a showdown of the session survival gear!

Here’s how it works:
đź“Ś This week, we need YOU to help build our tournament bracket! What are your top 2 essential items that you never attend a library conference without? It could be something practical (hello, comfortable shoes!) or something that just makes your experience better (your favorite travel coffee mug, perhaps?). Drop your two picks in the comments below!

📌 Next week, we’ll take your suggestions and create the official tournament bracket. Each round, we’ll send out a Google poll where you can vote for which item should advance until we have a champion conference essential crowned at the end of the month!

So, what’s in your conference survival kit? Let’s hear your top two must-haves! Drop them below ⬇️ and let the madness begin!

#LibraryConferenceMadness #EssentialShowdown #PackLikeAPro

Gregory Dachille's profile image
Gregory Dachille posted Mar 02, 2025 10:02 PM
  1. Portable charger
  2. An extra suitcase for swag
Alyshia Bagley's profile image
Alyshia Bagley posted Mar 03, 2025 08:13 AM

I'm a new academic librarian and I've only been to two conferences; however, the last one I attended gave out lanyards so that you can wear your name tag on it instead of putting in on your chest and I thought that was SUCH a good idea! So, my top 2 things (right now) are a lanyard for your name tag--complete with enamel pins, of course--and I second the portable charger/power bank. 

Cecelia Lasley's profile image
Cecelia Lasley posted Mar 03, 2025 08:29 AM

I love this idea! A power bank/portable charger would have been in my top two, but it's already been suggested a bunch, so here are two others: 

  1. A sweater/jacket in case the conference venue is cold 
  2. Comfortable walking/standing shoes (especially for a large conference) rather than stylish ones
Chereeka Garner's profile image
Chereeka Garner posted Mar 03, 2025 09:09 AM
  1. A reusable water bottle
  2. Business cards
Morgan Brickey-Jones's profile image
Morgan Brickey-Jones posted Mar 04, 2025 09:03 AM
  1. Business cards (I always forget them, don't be like me!)
  2. A backpack (carrying out tons of bags on your arms gets tiring quick!) 
Janina Siebert's profile image
Janina Siebert posted Mar 04, 2025 04:51 PM

Also new to conferences, but I did get to go to San Diego. Loved it, but lessons learned (among those already shared):

  1. Extra space in your luggage for added weight.
  2. Individually wrapped snacks for times when you have back-to-back awesome sessions.

And though I don't want to give myself bad luck... the San Diego venue covered such a long expanse... I nearly wrote "electric scooter" as one of my two items. Maybe someone else will agree and write that one down too. Hah!

Amanda Gray Perry's profile image
Amanda Gray Perry posted Mar 05, 2025 08:58 AM

Definitely business cards! I connected with a lot of folks through. conferences, and I'm grateful I had business cards on me.

And a mostly empty suitcase! Too many ARCs and whatnot came home with me from ALA 2024. 

Runner up: a good reusable water bottle (filled up with ice in the hotel before the start of the day!) and a sturdy backpack.