- 2004 Annual Conference Membership Meeting
- 2004 Annual Board Meeting, June 27, 2004
2004 Annual Board Meeting - June 28, 2004 - 2004 Spring Board Meeting
- 2004 Mid-Winter Conference Membership Meeting
- 2004 Mid-Winter Board Meeting - Part I
- 2004 Mid-Winter Board Meeting - Part II
- 2003 Annual Conference Membership Meeting
Submitted by Charleen Davis Board Secretary
ALA EXHIBITS ROUND TABLE
MIDWINTER GENERAL MEETING
January 12, 2004 8:00-9:00 a.m.
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55 people were in attendance. John Ison called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Minutes of the Annual meetings are posted on our new and accurate ERT website. They were approved with two minor changes that will be corrected online.
Treasurer's Report: As of 10/31/03
Beginning Net Assets were $9,266. for 2003
Income: $1,711; Expenses: $232;
Net Revenue: $1,479.
Membership Report: Membership is down by 4.47%. 2003 (2002): Overall: 413 (418) : Personal 127 (117);Organization 41 (43)); Corporate 213 (243)
Website Report: All were encouraged to view the site and make suggestions for increased user-friendliness/usefulness. The site is only going to get better.
Recognized & Introduced: Alice Calabrese, new to the ERT board. Karen Cook just off the board. Geneva Holliday, ERT Webmaster, Gary Kirk from the Library Corporation for our new logo and forthcoming brochure design and Nancie English from Brodart for printing the brochure, and Tom Wilding, chair of the Conference Planning Committee.
AAP Library Committee: Karolyn Anderson from McGraw Hill gave information on the American Association of Publishers library committee to get publishers more involved in fundraising. There is a meeting in Washington March 3rd to set meetings to lobby for federal and state funding for funding for libraries. Another contact is Emily Sheketoff Executive Director of the Washington Office of ALA. http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/ogr/ogrofficegovernment.htm Silent Auction: Corporate donations were down last year. We need more donations this year. The proceeds go to the ERT scholarships with the number that we can give dependent on the amount we raise. The Chris Hoy ERT scholarship is endowed $3,000 each year and we have a commitment to increase this to $5,000.
Bash Report: The Bash is to be Sat. night from 8:00-11:00 p.m. at Universal Studios. The park will be closed for librarians. Tickets are $35 with half price for Islands of Adventure. Tickets are included in registration unless the box opting out of the Bash is checked. Extra tickets may be ordered online. Go to registration; fill in info and skip to Scholarship Bash Tickets; put in the number of tickets and credit card information. Tickets are mailed. The park can accommodate 15,000 people. A minimum of 4,000 tickets must be sold for us to clear our expenses. Exhibitor sponsorship opportunities exist. Contact Amy McGuigan if interested.
Attendance Report: (meeting announced figures for Sat. January 10th:***updated to reflect Mon. Jan. 12th figures): Overall 10,788(SD-2004) 13,644 (Philly-2003)
Librarians & Exhibits Only 7,944 (2004) 10,254(2003)
Exhibitors 2,844 (2004) 3,410 (2003)
No Conflict Time: A 4-person ERT delegation went to the Conference Planning Committee and were on that committee's agenda for two hours of discussion on no conflict time and the necessity of implementing it to keep vendors at the conferences-essential to the future of the conferences. The Conference Planning Committee advised them to write a letter that could be carried forward to the Executive Board voicing their concerns. Some at the meeting deemed this a threat. It was decided instead that John Ison would attend the meeting as an ERT representative. ***Follow-up*** Deidre Ross & John Ison met with the Executive Board regarding no-conflict times at the Midwinter conferences. The Executive Board aproved the skeleton schedule for the Boston conference with no-conflict or low-conflict times on Saturday from 3:30 to 5; Sunday, 2-3:30; and Monday 9-10:30.
The Executive Board also approved a request submitted by Tom Wilding, Chair of the ALA Conference Committee, and Mary Ghekas that the Conference Committee conduct a review of the Midwinter meetings to determine if long-term changes are needed. A report of that review is to be submitted to the Executive Board at the 2005 Midwinter meeting.
Friday night opening: Some concerns were voiced regarding the Friday reception and the Chair asked that the exhibitor's survey following the conference include questions to determine exhibitors' opinions. . *More on the website when the results are in.* Jon Malinowski agreed to chair a committee to develop ideas for prizes to be raffled at the reception.
New person committee: discussion underway about forming a new committee that would work to identify and mentor new staff with exhibiting companies; and also work with NMRT to mentor new attendees. Nancie English from Brodart is spearheading this effort.
Internet access committee: committee formed to work with ALA on requirements for technical support contractors. Kudos/suggestions: Signage was great. A suggestion was made to put a flyer in each booth about ERT and the general meeting time and location.
Technology Showcase: Interest is so high that we have raised the number of opportunities to present at Midwinter from 8 to 12 and added another theater. Twenty-five groups were turned away last year. LITA judges the applications.
Author Forum: Dr. Bertrice Berry from Random House and Angeles Mastretta from Penguin spoke on an author panel with John Ison moderating. Over 600 people attended. Baskets: Over a 100 booths raffled baskets up from 80 last year and 40 the first year. It's growing in popularity and seems a big hit. Could we consider having baskets at Annual, was a question raised? Others were not as sold on the baskets. Some booths find placing the basket at the back of their booth eliminates the drop-my-card-and-run group, a contingent seen as nonviable for potential sales. Annual Exhibit Closing Reception: At Annual 2004 in Orlando ERT will sponsor a closing reception for the first time. A $50 per booth sur charge will fund the food and entertainment. The sur charge lets us keep this separate so it can be cancelled if we discontinue the reception. It was queried whether we could change the plans and on the last day raffle off 4 big prizes? ERT members attending PLA will be meeting there to work on ideas and plans for the closing reception. Ideas, concerns, or interest in joining those committees may be forwarded to John Ison. Feedback on this big, new effort will be on the ERT website.
ERT-sponsored programming: We have two programs that were approved for submission to the Annual program. State Associations: Cindy Boyle TLA "A few spaces are still open!"
Return to topSubmitted by Charleen Davis, Board Secretary.
ALA EXHIBITS ROUND TABLE
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING June 23, 2003 8:00-9:00 a.m
50 people were in attendance. John Ison called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Board Election: There are four seats voted on the ballot, one librarian and three vendor. Ballots are both mail-in and on-site. Corporate representatives for a company who are also personal members can vote twice.
Silent Auction: Kelly Bullock is doing a great job. The location is good, the traffic is very busy, and the directional signs are fabulous. Donations are down from last year. Some are lower in dollar amount. Most vendors that canceled their booth space honored their commmitment to the Auction. Last year's Silent Auction raised $19,000.
Bash Report: ERT's board voted in March to increase scholarships from $3,000 to $5,000. The Board is committed to adding $2,000 to the endowed scholarship to raise it also from $3,000 to $5,000. The Bash this year was cancelled. The act went into receivership. $22,000 was paid as a deposit. ALA is in line with the rest of the creditors to get their money back The committee is at work on next year's Bash. Registration next year will have an opt out for attendees, " If you do not want this bash ticket, check this box.". For group registration there will be a separate bash option on the form to buy extra tickets. Since the beginning of the Bash $350,000 has been raised for scholarships. This was spearheaded by Ann Symons.
ERT Website: The ERT site is badly out-of-date. We have a volunteer and a committee in place to work on it. Most of the info for exhibitors will be on that website. Periodically you will get an email that will direct you to info on our website. This will eliminate long emails and mailings.
Attendance Report: as of the end of the day on Sat. June 21st:
Overall 16,588 (2003) 19,134 (2002)
Librarians & Exhibits Only 10,677 (2003) 12,898 (2002)
Exhibitors 5,991 (2003) 6,236 (2002)
It was observed that at other conferences that there is a count done at the door. It would be useful to exhibitors to know how many people are going into the exhibit hall. John Ison replied that on the attendance survey that at least 94% indicate that they spend at least one hour on the exhibit floor. It is hard to click attendance in and out as many people are repeats.Keith Fiels Addressing Rumor: Keith was amazed at what he has heard. He wanted to stick to the facts. Registration hit 17,000 Saturday evening. ALA tried to make it easy for attendees to cancel and tried hard to give good information. They thought that was the best thing going for them. There were 1,700 cancellations. But for economic problems and SARS this would have been the largest show in history. Keith thanked ERT for sticking with ALA and going with the facts. He also thanked the committee and John Ison. Keith said, "Rumors were flying and it was a tough position.
Reality and manufactured news were different. There is no $1.8 million payment to ALA. When the WHO placed the travel advisory in place for three weeks and we were at four weeks from the conference we had to make a plan B. We would not have gone ahead with the conference here if that had not been lifted. An alternate site was not in place. There were two possibilities. One with hotels two-fifteen miles away and the other half the size of the space needed for the conference. We couldn't just zip over to Anaheim. We would have had a conference less successful than it might have been. Risk advisory disclaimers cover backsides financially. Change in policy to support vendors who did need to cancel, transferring part of rental to credit to next year was the right thing to do. ALA signed a contract responsive to the situation. They met with the WHO and the Toronto Health Organization and Dr. Boswer and gathered facts. Would this turn into a huge disaster? Tues. afternoon they met to discuss this. WHO lifted the advisory. This removed reason and legal basis for canceling the conference. $5.5 million would have been lost. We went to Toronto and said this will affect attendance we need some help. Deidre and Greg Calloway were responsive. Another $1 million shortfall. Last week negotiated attrition clause removed concessions on convention center buses cost reductions. Trying to reduce shortfall from the reduction in the convention. Special situation confdentiality clause. Toronto didn't want to replicate these exceptions. $1.8 million not a real figure! Managed to negotiate reductions in most areas of the convention. The specific conversation allowed is this conversation: ½ to ¾ million concessions on approximately $2 million cost. $1 to 1 ½ million shortfall. Furlough for ALA staff, reducing staff, and delaying IT development implementation for the next couple of years until we are back in calmer waters. Thanks for sticking with us. I don't know how to put on the Web "Denial of Rumor". We did a pretty good job. We couldn't do anything else. It was an agonizing situation. We were dealing with a unique situation in the best way we could in the circumstances. There is a special joie de vivre and camaraderie at this show. Everyone had to make tough decisions."
A question was raised about seniority. Keith said that exhibitors who were not here do not get a point, but do not lose their seniority. Those here get a point. ERT and ALA made this joint decision early on.
Anyone needing to talk to Keith Fiels for small amounts of time was encouraged to talk to him and he was happy to answer questions. One of those was about hotel rates. Rates for the hotels were negotiated ahead. Taxes will be less. One of the taxes will be taken off. You can get the GST back with a form. Ontario reduced PST. Expo Exchange tax reduction won't apply if individual. You can work with Deidre to get tax back.No Conflict Time: No conflict time on Sunday was during Ralph Nader! Deidre Ross said tracks were planned before speakers. It was suggested that there be a no conflict time that had no conflict as it is hard to plan in the booth for no conflict when it isn't. Promises were made to work better with the Conference Planning Team. Each track has sub tracks. This was a complete oversight.
Two Sides Again: In San Francisco we had two halls and great attendance. It was a trade-off. The only time this is going to happen again through 2014 is in Boston Midwinter 2005. There are two floors of exhibits. That will be the only time in the next ten years.
Don Butcher CLA Director: Welcomed and thanked everyone. He said that he was "so proud that the library community and international vendors weighed the evidence and made a decision that is so supportive of the value of the library information community and access to information and authentic information." He also encouraged everyone to get their GTS tax refunds and said that they do send checks to refund the money.
Technology Showcase: Interest is so high that we have raised the number of opportunities to present at Midwinter from 8 to 12 and added another theater. Twenty-five groups were turned away last year. LITA judges the applications. Author Forum: This will be in the Convention Center at Midwinter. ALA is doing everything possible to put this close to the exhibit floor and the reception. Random House and Penguin are working to have two authors and an interviewer for one author event instead of two authors in two different rooms.
Annual Exhibit Closing Reception: Starting in 2004 in Orlando ERT will sponsor a reception. It was decided that there needed to be something on Tues. to get people into the exhibit hall after luncheons and until closing. We will pay for the reception with a $50 per booth sur charge into a fund for food and entertainment. The sur charge lets us keep this separate so it can be cancelled if we discontinue the reception. It was queried whether we really needed what would amount to $73,500? The answer was "yes to do it right". The Guerilla Girls will be at the closing reception compliments of Penguin. They have a new book Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerilla Girls' Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes that comes out in July. We think this will be a good draw for librarians as they are so often stereotyped.
ERT Sponsored Programming: We had our first ERT sponsored program from Firefly and Annick Books "Storytelling by Robert Munsch". Submissions for an informative program for Orlando Annual 2004 can still be made to John Ison or Amy Rosenbaum.
Cancellation Policy: A $100 fee and half the booth cost was charged, the remaining money was credited to Orlando. Midwinter Friday Night Opening: From the floor the question was will be doing this in perpetuity? The answer was yes in the foreseeable future. There will be a survey for both exhibitors and librarians that asks if we want to have a Fri. night opening for Boston 2005 Midwinter. The results will be posted on the ERT Website.
Housing: Confirmation numbers were late. It was tough to make changes. Can this be better? Hotels did not get back to us in a timely way was another concern from the floor. Kevin from the housing service said that there are 21/14/7 days lists as convenience options. If they eliminated the 7 day cut-off, rooms would be let go and then we would be charged 100% for cancellations and no rooms would be held after 14 days if we went to a shorter window. Most changes are made in the last 10 days. Kevin's advice was to train staff to work the ALA system.
Applause: For Paul Graller and staff-place looks terrific; worst location best traffic. Requests: It was rumored that South Hall was just Canadian publishers. It was believed that there was only one hall. Could there be announcements in the separate halls directing people to the other one? No chairs were in the North Hall ERT Exhibitors' Lounge, could some be brought in? Disabilities and other groups not served. Some groups wanted to be in and weren't, some were shifted in that weren't appropriate; please work to make this go smoother.
State Associations: New England Conference dates Oct. 26-28. Colorado Oct. 18-20.
Board Election Results: Exhibitors: Jay Askuvich (re-elected); Marcia Purcell (re-elected); and Gary Kirk (new). Librarian: Kay Kretschmer Runge (new).
Return to topSubmitted by Charleen Davis Board Secretary
ALA EXHIBITS ROUND TABLE
MIDWINTER MEMBERSHIP MEETING JANUARY 27, 2003
The meeting was called to order at 8:00 a.m. by John Ison. John introduced the vice-chairs, treasurer, and secretary. At the start of the meeting we had 55 people in attendance. 77 were there by closing.
ERT Website: John asked for a volunteer for an ERT webmaster. Geneva Holiday from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill volunteered.
Vendor Programs: Firefly Books program was announced and vendors were encouraged to offer informational programs at annual sponsored by ERT. Peg Sullivan recommended that the programs be juried before they were submitted to ALA. Ann Symons was to write up information on the program guidelines.
Closing Times: Information was shared about the vote to not request the closing be moved up for Toronto. Peter Birch recommended that we close early for Orlando.
After Toronto a survey will go out again and everyone was encouraged to answer the survey to improve the response rate and to please remind others to send back their surveys.
Silent Auction/Scholarship Bash: It was announced that the two groups had been reunited and background was given on this.
Scholarship Bash: Peg Sullivan is chairing the Bash Committee. She announced $104,000.00 cleared from the Indigo Girls concert. There were no administrative fees and all proceeds went to scholarships. Three Mo Tenors is the 2003 group. All were encouraged to buy tickets and talk up the concert.
Silent Auction: Kathy Young gave a silent auction report. Net from last year's auction was $12,445.00. She gave tips for what could be auctioned, most popular items, and logistics to think about for Toronto.
Friendly Booth/Kohlstedt Awards: John Ison and Kathy Young were to meet with NMRT and discuss the awards. Some discussion arose about the background of the two awards and whether they had outlived their purpose. Both awards are on hold by ERT and NMRT at this time while they are being reassessed.
Canadian Library Association: Don Butcher the Executive Director was introduced and he talked about Toronto and thanked everyone for ALA coming there.
ITS Housing: Marlene Hetzel and Kevin Nuff discussed ITS improvements and took complaints/advice.
GES/GES Canada: John Loveless and Blake Mintz talked about customs and labor and reporting needs on information and equipment. They strongly advised against using UPS or Parcel Post. If more than 1 hour of set-up we are required to use 1 labor person per every 2 of ours. Gifts and taxes and the rate of exchange were discussed too.
Attendance: Paul Graller gave information on Philadelphia versus New Orleans attendance figures. NE: 7,591 Philly: 8,538 Attendees. Exhibitors: NE: 2,863 Philly: 3,192.
Promotions: Amy Resendez talked about the baskets (42 last year 85 this year), the author forum (350 attended). A recommendation was made to move the author forum closer to the exhibit hall.
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