• Joan Lippicott (Day 1)
• David Weinberger (Day 2)
• Liz Lawley (Day 3)

If you’re in the mood for an extra day in Salt Lake, two LITA members are sure to dazzle with their pre-conference offerings.  Jason Griffey will be talking about the future of Mobile, a great pre-conference that extends the excellent article Jason wrote for netConnect last year.  And Nina McHale will help libraries navigate the tricky issues surrounding Accessibility with updates, a live tour of several assistive technologies, and industry updates.

I love the programming at the Forum, because it is literally the only conference I go to where I am torn between which session to attend.  This headache for conference organizers (just too much good stuff!) should be joy for conference attendees with shrinking professional development budgets or concerns about getting the most for their money.  I should mention that I have never witnessed such a hard-working and dedicated group of volunteers as the ones who put this Forum together.  They are to be congratulated.

But I have thus far neglected the best part about LITA Forum–the people.  If you want to socialize, network, chat with vendors and sponsors in a relaxed atmosphere, or make that connection that will spark an idea or solidify a fleeting thought, then LITA Forum is the place to be.  LITA is fun and inclusive.  LITA is valuable.  These are tough financial times for travel and professional development.  Librarians, IT professionals, and support staff need to choose wisely from an array of conference offerings.  If I had to narrow my choices down to one conference per year or pay for extra professional development out of my own pocket, you’d find me at the Forum.

Did that sound too much like a commercial?  If not, then let me add that you should ACT NOW! and save $50 off of registration.  I’m already registered, are you?

Seriously, this year’s Forum is shaping up to be fantastic.  I’ll be in Salt Lake City the first weekend in October and I hope to see lots of people there.