Thursday 13 June 2013

Umbrellas and UNbrellas

Photo credit: zilverbat. via photopin cc

We thought we should clear up any confusion about the ticketing policy for UNbrella at CILIP's Umbrella. In particular, whether a ticket for Umbrella is needed. The short answer is yes, a ticket is needed.

Our part in any befuddlement arose from plans, half made, 6 months ago. After our proposed paper for Umbrella was rejected, we started to plan a fringe event. I'd already booked time off work and wanted to make the most of it.

We quickly found an audience for the event, others who were keen to meet up and talk shop, but for one reason or another (mainly cost), couldn't go to Umbrella. There was a real Librarycamp virtual buzz and, with hindsight, we should have put more effort into it. We've said countless times before Librarycamps are easy to organise - build it and they will come.

What happened? We took the easy option, CILIP asked us if we'd be interested in running an unconference at Umbrella, we said yes and have concentrated on that rather than the fringe event. Sue and I have both been surprised, flattered and more than a little embarrassed by the level of interest maintained in our initial plan. We foolishly thought the few conversations would have fallen from the twittersphere. Once again we underestimated the enthusiasm for librarians to want to sit in a pub and talk about libraries ;)

We chose to appeal to CILIP (the opportunity to court all those unconference virgins) and not to honour our original commitments. This is another reason we are exploring the possibility of a salaried LibCamp-er. "We're only volunteers" can only be an excuse for so long.

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