Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know the grand gathering begins shortly, the ALA Annual conference taking place in Chicago this year. Those of you attending are probably finishing your packing, confirming a schedule with the petsitter and making sure the family will be able to take care of themselves while you’re away. I hope you’re not running around like a chicken with your head cut off with too much to do before you head out. (I’m doing some of the above but mainly the lattermost.) 
               

GAMING AT ALA
There’s a lot of gaming love at ALA this year. As with last year, the exhibit floor has a Gaming Pavilion which will specifically be showcasing the link between gaming and literacy. Demco, Gen Con, Screenlife Games, Wizards of the Coast are among those who will be there.

If you’re not one of the decision-makers in the purchasing department (or even if you are), I hope you'll attend the Games and Gaming MIG meeting, which takes place Friday July 10th from 5-7 pm at the Chicago Hilton, International Ballroom South. This is an open meeting and I heartily encourage anyone with an interest in games to show up. We need to show ALA that librarians' interest in gaming for everyone is here to stay. We do that by voting with our attendance at events like this and by signing up as a member.

After the meeting and if you’re looking for fun, come to Open Gaming Night! This will take place right after the Gaming Interest Group meeting, from 7-10pm and also at the Chicago Hilton, International Ballroom South. (You will be able to spot me because I’ll be wearing this shirt and necklace. (For the record, I’m noting these so you can find me. I am not getting paid to promote these items or companies.) Open Gaming is a great way to try out different games, connect with other gaming librarians, and show off your own l33t gaming skillz. There will be electronic, board and card games, and lots of cool folks to talk to!

Check out all the other game-related events, programs, and presentations at ALA too! The awesome Shifted Librarian Jenny Levine has assembled all the information in one place, right here.

TWITTERING FROM ALA
If you’re not attending but remain interested, get yourself a Twitter account if you don’t already have one. Many librarians have adopted Twitter enthusiastically and I know a lot of folks will be tweeting their way through the conference. Watching conference tweets is what sold me on Twitter originally. You can follow my peregrinations under @LizDanforth. If gaming is your particular interest, be sure to follow Beth Gallaway @infogdss29 and Scott Nicholson @snicholson. Since I mentioned Jenny, above, I will point her out as tweeter @shifted while I'm at it.

To get a more complex overview, follow the hashtag #ala2009. (Why not #ala09? When limited to 140 characters, we could use those other 2 characters!) People will include that hashtag in their tweets so you can see what they have to say related to the conference, regardless of whether you know who they are.

You might find it interesting to follow a few authors — Neil Gaiman is attending, and tweets as @neilhimself; Laurie Halse Anderson is too, and she tweets as @halseanderson.

And of course you can follow @alaannual for the official word throughout.

Hope to visit with you in Chicago! Seriously, feel free to come up and talk to me. I don't bite, I promise.

Game on!