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August 15, 2012
The Future of the PLL Summit
Here is the one thing I can tell you: Nothing has been decided yet and nothing has been finalized. I have read a lot lately about how AALL is taking over the PLL Summit and that it is a "hostile" takeover. Yet everything I have read has been short on details as to just what this "hostile" takeover involves. I can tell you that PLL leadership and AALL leadership are in discussion. The discussion is continuing and nothing has been finally decided. I believe that we should let the PLL leaders we elected continue to talk with AALL to see if this can be resolved in a mutually beneficial way.
Seattle will be the perfect venue to try something new as few East Coast librarians would be willing to come just for a day long summit.
I also want to address Joe Hodnicki's statement that "Contributions to the Summit were not under the direct control of AALL" made in his blog post on Tuesday, August 14th. It is my understanding that all contributions to the Summit went through AALL. PLL is a Special Interest Section existing within AALL and as such has no ability to have vendors make direct contributions to it.
So until such time as I hear concrete plans for the summit or for the lack thereof I will wait before making any judgments.
Caren Biberman
August 15, 2012 in Education & Professional Development, Firm & Corporate Law Libraries, Library Associations | Permalink
Comments
I am a private law librarian and I attended both the 2012 PLL Summit and the AALL full conference. I disagree with the commenter "law firm librarian" that the conference programming was irrelevant. I found much of the programming (especially the ILTA track and the licensing restrictions presentation) very relevant. The Summit was also very informative. I think the problem is that many of our law firms do not pay for conference attendance every year; perhaps every 2-3 years, so for many of us, attendance in Seattle won't be possible in 2013.
Posted by: jct | Aug 17, 2012 9:20:14 AM
All I am trying to say is that discussions are ongoing and before we suggest drastic measures let us give our current PLL leadership the opportunity to try to work out something with AALL. Certainly all concerns and suggestions should be brought to the PLL Board as they engage in these discussions.
The reality is that given the cost of airline flights today and the amount of time it takes to get the West Coast it is my opinion that most East Coast librarians won't go to Seattle for just a one day Summit unless they plan on attending all or part of AALL. If I am wrong then I am delighted.
Posted by: Caren Biberman | Aug 16, 2012 10:16:13 AM
I, too, hope east coast law librarians, particularly in the private sector, don't take a pass on attending Seattle 2013 merely because of the travel distance. But if they do, Seattle will certainly be less than a perfect venue for trying something new because lower than regular attendance won't be representative.
As for details about AMPC's plans, we have the FAQ, the Open Meeting Forum exchanges and plenty of Boston 2012 hallway conversations, albeit unpublished. The official postion in Boston was pretty damn clear. If, as I hope, the situation is no longer finalized, my bet is it is because the combined clout of the vendor community and the PLL membership is forcing AMPC to reconsider.
I certainly do not fault Caren for quoting "Contributions to the Summit were not under the direct control of AALL" in my post. In my blogging as thinking out loud manner, I competed my thought early the following morning and most likely before she read me addition to that thought:
"Contributions to the Summit were not under the direct control of AALL for expending on activities other than the Summitt [sic]"
at
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/law_librarian_blog/2012/08/you-better-watch-out-pll-summit.html
Joe
Posted by: Joe Hodnicki | Aug 16, 2012 5:20:13 AM
Caren, I don't agree that few east coast librarians would be unwilling to travel for a one-day program. The total cost of the meeting would be reduced thanks to the shorter hotel stay, plus the attendees would not miss work days. Where conference dollars are closely monitored (and where aren't they), approval might be more likely.
Put it this way: having attended AALL once I will never again waste three days on that association's irrelevant conference programming. Having attended PLL once, I will gladly travel to attend one day of highly focussed and relevant programming.
Posted by: law firm librarian | Aug 15, 2012 11:55:31 AM
