Aloha, safranim ve-safraniyot, I thought I'd jump into this discussion as I am investigating the possibility of hosting the 2007 convention here in Honolulu. (Yes, there is kosher food in Hawaii, you just have to know where to look for it.)
For a long time I have thought that too much of a burden is placed on the local organizers, who, as Liza points out, usually have to learn "on the job" how to pull a conference together. Sure, it makes sense for the local folks to take care of the hotel and catering arrangements and the tours and whatnot, but there's no reason why many--if not most--of the other responsibilities could not be spread more widely. I'm thinking here of soliciting presenters (and then soliciting their bios, abstracts, A/V needs, waivers, etc.), soliciting exhibitors, soliciting advertisers, registering attendees, and a lot of other tasks. I know I'm going to need some assistance to pull off a Honolulu convention and already some AJLers have volunteered to come out here to help. And lest you fear that Honolulu is too expensive a venue, consider that the cost of a room here will likely be less than half the price of your hotel room in Boston. --Nancy >Fred implicitely points out many of the real issues >involved (see below): >1. The AJL conventions are run by its members who are >amateur event planners, from the national committee through >all the local volunteers. These librarians have to learn >how to run a convention and its component parts anew in >each new city and venue. >2. AJL does not hire professionals to head its major event >of the year, nor (in NYC) pay anyone anything but expenses >to put on the convention. (I'm not talking about >presenters) >3. It does take two+ years of work to put on a convention. >4. For the core group of organizers, plan to devote up to 8 >hours a day during the last 3-6 months (at least). How >many people have that much time to give while working full >time? Or even part-time? >5. Other models might be possible if the AJL had enough > > >Let's take AJL seriously as a professional organization. >Everyone who made suggestions please volunteer to join the >convention committee and work on this. > >Best wishes, > >Liza Stabler >NYC Convention co-chair >Member of Convention Committee Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
