Conference may be seven months away, but we’ve already started our marathon jog of planning. On January 23, the conference committee spent all day at the Koury Convention Center. We toured every room we’ve reserved for conference, ate the soon-to-be-NC-school-librarian-famous cornbread from from Joseph’s, and finalized details for our events. Things are going to be different this year in our new location, but these changes are upgrades and I know you’re going to love them!
Koury Convention Center and the Sheraton make for a convenient conference attendance experience. Without dealing with weather, you can leave your hotel room and walk quickly to any session. All of our conference sessions are right on the same floor, with the exception of the ballroom, which we’re only using for our group sessions, breakfast, and lunch. Not only are they all on the same floor, they are all pretty much in a circle so if you think you’re lost, you can just keep walking! Our vendors will be set up on the same floor out in the beautiful foyer by all the session rooms! You are going to LOVE how convenient everything is this year! We also have a wide variety of sizes and styles of session rooms! There is a large tiered theater-style room, a large mini-ballroom, and more traditional sized session rooms. No matter what our presenters need, we have a space for them to give their best possible presentation. There’s also a Starbucks in the conference center if you need an afternoon pick me up, and lots of places to relax and chat with your fellow school librarians spread throughout the convention center.
However, Koury isn’t surrounded by walkable restaurants like in downtown Winston-Salem. In fact, unless you’re eating at the Four Seasons Mall or at Joseph’s (previously mentioned with the stellar cornbread), there isn’t really anywhere to eat without driving. To solve this dilemma, we’re feeding you! Included in the cost of your conference this year you’ll be served breakfast and lunch both days! Thursday evening we have all kinds of goodies available for you at our 2nd Annual NCLSMA Jama so if you skip dinner Thursday night we’ve got you covered!
Speaking of NCSLMA Jama, there is an actual CLUB in the Sheraton and it’s a time capsule you will not want to miss! Right outside of the club full of dancing and music, you’ll find another bar and lots of couches and cozy chairs for relaxing. We plan to have a Dungeons and Dragons game you can join, board games you can play, or just a space to talk to your library friends! Whether you are looking to dance or relax, NCSLMA Jama is the place to be!
To make the best use of the space and your time, conference is now officially beginning on Wednesday night! You can register as early as 5pm on Wednesday, October 2, so we hope you’ll head to Greensboro, check in to your room, register, and then get ready for our opening mini session! We’ll do our NCLSMA yearly business meeting and also do a “Conference 101” presentation. We’re all new to Koury, so let us make life easier by helping you know everything you need to know about the two days you’re about to enter into.
If you are getting excited about conference, you may want to consider submitting your proposal to present during the open call to present. You can submit your proposal through April 7th. We’ve even created this doc to help you create the perfect proposal. All proposals are scored blindly, which means the committee members working on this do not see who submits which proposal. Focus on crafting a solid title and description for your best chance at acceptance.
There are so many more things to talk about, but I need to save something exciting for my April blog! I knew from reading Kristy’s blog posts last year that planning a state-wide conference was an intense undertaking, but the complexities still take me by surprise sometimes. Through each question, concern, and stumbling block, the conference committee is right there beside me. I couldn’t do any of this without them and I’m thankful for all their hard work every day. You’ll be thankful, too, when you experience what a walk in the park (the non-Jurassic kind) the 2024 NCSLMA conference turns out to be!
