Midwinter 2008 Roundup
Some general conference information:
- * The Midwinter event is not a “conference,” but a “meeting.” I often forget this and keep calling it the “Midwinter conference,” but I’m trying. This language reflects the fact that the event is a working meeting of the Association. Whatever you want to call it, next year’s event will take place in Philadelphia, January 11-16, 2008. The exhibit floor is open January 11-14.
- * The Midwinter 2008 wiki is up and open for business, so feel free to start adding content. I already put myself down for blogging it, and there are badges you can add to your site if you’ll be there, too.
- * Apparently our online form gets slammed hard when registration first opens, in part because that’s when housing opens (if I understand things correctly), so naturally the fact that advance registration for Midwinter 2008 started this week means you may encounter slow response times. If that happens, please bear with us while the rush dies down and keep trying.
- * A lot of people called to register, too. In fact, I heard that there are 60 people in the call center, but at one point there were 70 people waiting to get through. Guess folks really want to get registered and signed up for housing! There’s also an article in Tradeshow Week that notes attendance at Annual 2007 was up 1.1%.
I think this is probably due to the increased collaboration between our Conference Services staff, the divisions/units, the relatively young Conference Communications Committee (first started for the 2006 conference in New Orleans), and strong outreach from our Membership Development office.
