Save the Date: National Library Unconference Day ’11 sponsored by the ALA Learning Round Table and organized by 8bitlibrary.com‘s #TeamRock8.

SIGN UP NOW!!!!!

1. Leave a comment here with your name and what uncon you’ll be physically organizing or participating in (including those of your who will be participating in the chat room unconference or twitter unconference). Please use a real email address when you leave the comment, because I’ll be using those addresses to send out a reminder email to you a few days beforehand!
2. A day before, I’ll personally send everyone who signed up a reminder email.
3. This event starts at 1pm EDT. The day-of, come to https://ala.ilinc.com/ about 15 minutes before the event so you have time to work out any tech issues you may have.

What if you don’t sign up?! Don’t worry about it! The day-of, come to https://ala.ilinc.com/ about 15 minutes before the event.

RSVP ON FACEBOOK!

(tweet that link if y’all want -> http://on.fb.me/h2DG7r #libuncon)

Why you should participate in #libuncon & Planning an Unconference, by Michelle Boule

What?

• National Library Unconference Day ’11. What IS an unconference, you ask? Try out this video by Allen McGinley & I talking about our recent Remixing Libraries unconference, and check back often for more info. We’ll be posting how-to guides, videos, and tips on how to run a great unconference.
  

When?

• Save the date: May 2nd, 2011, 1pm EDT.

Where?

• At your library for a staff development day. Or an unconference for a regional library cooperative. Maybe something hosted at a state library? Or hosted by your state or regional library association. A great place to hold an uncon for National Library Unconference Day ’11 is at an LIS school. It’s totally up to you!

Why?

• The sage-on-the-stage lecture presentation style of a traditional conference is losing relevance in our world of immediate communication. At an unconference, the participants are the experts, and ideas grow organically. I’ve watched this video over and over, and this is exactly the type of motivating event that the speaker is talking about!

Who?

We’ll be streaming a free keynote session full of lightning talks to all participating librarians, libraries and library organizations. Our confirmed speakers so far include:

• Michael Stephens, Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois and founder of http://tametheweb.com/.
• Jaime Hammond, Reference and Serials Librarian at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, CT., library-as-space advocate and chair of the ALA’s Emerging Leaders IG Steering Committee.
• JP Porcaro, aka me, founder of 8bitlibrary.com, Virtual Services librarian at New Jersey City University, and world’s self-described expert on Pokemon & libraries.
• Justin Hoenke, founder of 8BitLibrary.com, Teen Librarian at the Portland (ME) Public Library, contributor over at Tame The Web.
• Eli Neiburger, librarian in the Ann Arbor MI District Library, author of Gamers…in the Library?! The Why, What, and How of Videogame Tournaments for All Ages, Library Renewal board member, and Patron Saint of 8bitlibrary.com.

How?

• Organize your group, and get ready to change the world. Once you sign up, we’re imaging you’d use a computer + a projector to screen the keynote to your local participants, then you’d get to your individual unconference.
• We’ll also have a Twitter unconference via hashtag #libuncon and a chat-room unconference at tinychat.com/8bitlibrary. Also, we’re hoping people share what they learned and accomplished via blog posts and youtube videos with the tag libuncon!

It’s time to #makeithappen! signed, JP & 8bitlibrary.com’s #TeamRock8.