There’s a new thing

 

Sometimes someone throws out an idea and suddenly loads of people are on board and it’s a ‘thing’. Exactly that happened the other night, with the end of #blogjune prompting a “let’s continue this, but maybe post every week instead of every day?”.

The hashtag is #glamblogweekly and the aim is to post every Monday. This seems doable and if you register your blog at Glam Blog Club, their lovely Twitter bot will share your posts for you (follow the instructions and use the hashtag!)

So, a new writing challenge, it’s going to be good and hopefully I’ll be able to work through my long list of topics and ideas I’ve been storing for about a year (lifetime).

 

The power of doing something

It’s the last day of #blogjune and I’m sad to see it end. The month started with a determined flurry of posts, I really created some momentum that was always going to disappear once I left for Canberra and NLS8. However, the response to some of my posts has been fantastic and really made me feel like my words are worth reading. So that’s a win for me! Thanks #blogjune, you rock.

NLS8 is over *insert sad and happy faces*

I always knew that there wouldn’t be much for sitting in on sessions and keynotes and yes, that’s totally correct. Instead I relied on Twitter (mostly after the weekend) to see what people were talking about and which sessions really struck a chord. It has also been really quite wonderful to scroll through #nls8 and read blog posts on experiences, revelations people had during and after the symposium and laugh at all the great memories that are (still) being shared. Conferences and symposiums are really where Twitter shows its value – sharing, connecting, consolidating things we’ve learnt, sharing images, it is so good.

So my reflections? Well, the committee did something really big and important for the LIS community in Australia and beyond. It keeps hitting me in little jolts that we created exactly what we set out to and that people (other than us) loved it. It feels . . . incredible.

Personally, I’m still trying to gather my thoughts and make sense of the last two years. It’s a cliche but I’ve learnt so much about myself and right now, know that I can accomplish a lot. Even the big secret dreams that are in my head. I’ve felt the power of #dosomething and Clare, Alyson and Kate are right, you can make things happen.

Find a friend, a colleague, someone who gets the same glint in their eye that you do when talking about *insert your favourite subject here*. That sounds a little too simple, but actually it is. Talk to that person on Twitter who shares the articles you love. Reach out. If they say no or don’t reply, no-one gets hurt (maybe your ego just a little but you’ll survive).

And if they say yes, let’s try this thing, take the next step and begin. Or go it alone, that’s doable too. I can’t tell you how many attempts I’ve had making a blog/website/book/thing/activity/workshop/experience/thing. So many. And for each flop, I’ve learnt something. It’s like sorting through all the fluff to find the shiny gem.

NLS8 was one of my shiny gems. And now I’m going to start polishing a new gem and see where that takes me.

I’ll finish with this post with a challenge and a tweet. Reach out to someone you met at NLS8 and say hello. If you loved a session, find that speaker and tell them just that. See what happens next. (Remember, action then inspiration then motivation).

And check out this great tweet from Clare Wix. It sums up the spirit of NLS8 for me.

Time travel

I’m still decompressing from NLS8 and trying to gather my reflections into something more coherent than a long rambling sentence without any punctuation, so Kathryn’s writing prompt is just what I needed to do a spot of writing. The questions are:

  • If you could go back and tell your 20 year old self one thing that was going to happen to you between then and today, what would that be?
  • In 20 years time (presuming the world gets better, not worse) what do you think will be the biggest technological difference between your life now and your life then ?

Well my 20 year old self was a red hot sweaty mess. So I would tell them that life will change, it won’t be easy, and it will also be spectacular. As a 20 year old I was so unprepared and unable to cope with the demands of life. I was working, renting, in a relationship, but my mental health wasn’t great and I didn’t know. I just thought life was really really really hard all the time. It would be tempting to give myself a heads up on what lies ahead, but you know, I wouldn’t. Because life has been all those things I just wrote, but they got me to here. All the twists and turns and unexpected friendships, moves, jobs, sadness, joys, frustrations… I love the person my life experiences have created.

Technology in 20 years time? I don’t think technology is going to change that much in the next 20 or so years. Maybe driverless cars? This isn’t something I think about much as it’s easier to marvel at where we have come from, rather than what is ahead, for me anyway. Wish I had a longer answer for this, maybe I should ask my children!

At the pointy end

So NLS8 starts tomorrow and I can’t quite believe it, although I’m sure I will when people start arriving for workshops in the morning.

Bags have been stuffed, scarves are ready, programs folded, signs printed, post-it notes packed. Our committee has been arriving all week, and Amy and I have tried to balance our days with quiet nights, movies in our rooms and the discovery of a great pho restaurant last night.

Today we all move into our committee accommodation and we have a final team meeting tonight.

Having just typed these sentences, it’s hit me, the hair is standing up on the back of my neck.

NLS8 is happening. Nearly two years of hard work, ideas, collaboration and a big dose of frustration and angst is about to start and the end.

But first we need to begin, and we are doing that in style with a photo recreation at the Albert Hall. If you’re in Canberra, come join us before we hit the NLA with 200 students, new grads, GLAMR, LIS, information professionals, library lovers to Battle for Library Island, go on a data mystery adventure, learn library carpentry, tour ACT libraries, find digital skills in a post-truth world and learn how to tell everyone that libraries are awesome – that’s just Friday!

See you on the flip side.

 

 

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