The Tech Fair last week was lots of work, but very rewarding! They were expecting 150-200 people, and 380 showed up over the two day fair. They had lots of tech demos (and quite a Wii contest going at one point, I understand) and booths with adaptive technologies, self-checkout machines, and as many gadgets as you can imagine. I talked to TONS of folks, and my part was a mixture of formal presentations and informal discussions, depending on who attended each session (I was scheduled for five sessions each day). Everyone was very engaged and eager to know more about Web 2.0 applications for Libraries–and particularly about what we’ve been doing here at MSU. Most of the attendees were from public libraries or community colleges across the state, from Jackson County on the Gulf Coast to First Regional up in Hernando (near Memphis).

I learned a lot from several libraries who are doing very interesting things. For example, the Lamar County Libraries (particularly Lumberton and Sumrall) are heavily invested in Flickr–and they were very excited about hearing more. The teenagers in their summer reading programs have been particularly thrilled to see pictures of themselves on the web. They’ve also put up Flickr badges on their library web pages. AND they’ve got a MySpace account for the county library system.

I posted pictures of the sessions on Facebook during the Fair, and the one above is of the half of my Flickr workshop comfortable with having their pic online! I couldn’t have done any of it without Pattye Archer and our in-house Instructional Media Center who helped me put the booth and (seven!) handouts together in record time. I don’t know how I would have done this without them. I also put together a handout on libraryh3lp with help (!) from Pam Sessoms and Ellen Hampton. Pam has posted it on the libraryh3lp wiki and blogged about it on the libraryh3lp blog!

You can read more about the MLC Tech Fair on their blog. It turned out that the Fair was open to the public, and 10+ people from Mississippi Public Broadcasting Online attended. They were very interested in what we’ve been doing with emerging technologies, and they’ve got quite a 2.0 program growing at MPBOnline! They are using Facebook and YouTube to promote MPB, as well as Twitter (a microblog) where they “found” me originally.

A very successful event!

I’m speaking at the Mississippi Library Commission’s Tech Fair on July 16th and 17th. They’ve got a great blog going (which I’m supposed to be contributing to–and I’m working on it…). It’s an unusal setup for me. I’m doing five 20-minute presentations throughout Day One, all on different topics regarding applying 2.0 technologies in Libraries. I’m focusing on the ones we have applied at MSU–20 minutes just isn’t that much time! So Facebook, Flickr, Podcasting, YouTube and a general one on RSS feeds (we’ve got one for our new books).

Anyway, just a quick update!

Amanda