Comments on: ALA: jenny doesn’t speak here anymore

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 01:35:22 +0000

I used to live in Alabama.
I graduated high school there in Foley AL.
I do agree completely:)
Anna

By: elswhere

elswhere — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 21:05:09 +0000

It seems to be standard practice at small conferences to not comp the speakers– I’ve spoken a few times at regional library conferences and never gotten comped (except at the pacific northwest private school librarians’ conference, which is REALLY small).

Whether it *should* be standard practice is another question. I understand these organizations are nonprofits and need all money they can get, but it does seem like comping speakers is the least they can do. And if ALA, with its zillions of members, doesn’t do it, who will?

The authority/big-name issue is tricky; it does seem like if you’re going to comp some speakers, then you should comp all of them. Or else have some criterion, like, speakers who present more than x number of times, or who present a keynote, get comped.

By: KR

KR — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 18:56:53 +0000

I definitely understand being annoyed about having to pay registration to speak if you’re not attending, and to a certain extent I agree. That said, though, I am uninterested in hearing about how people are authorities in their field. Being an alleged authority is irrelevant in this instance; does that mean people who aren’t authorities (like me, for example) who are invited to speak should pay? That part of the argument just smacks of entitlement to me, and it really doesn’t help things any.

Also, saying that ALA not comping speakers means it doesn’t value the profession is too melodramatic to be believable, sorry.

By: Lynn Jones

Lynn Jones — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 19:16:44 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. Frankly, I believe ALA could even pay their speakers, but the least they can do is waive the registration fee. One of the reasons I haven’t been a member for years.

By: j's scratchpad

j's scratchpad — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 07:49:57 +0000

Charging Speakers to Speak at Conferences

Jenny, the Shifted Librarian , and Jessamyn of librarian.net are conversing about speakers having to pay to speak at conferences.