I have been following this topic with great interest. I had longed to attend my first convention for years and had been turned down before. Finally I got company sponsorship last year and attended the New York Convention, and I enjoyed it very much. Cost is definitely a big issue for someone from half a globe away. If colleagues in North America think the cost is high, you can imagine how much more I have to pay for the airfare, insurance and even buying a bankdraft for the registration fee etc. It would be rather impossible for me to pay it out of my pocket. However having said that, I really think the convention looks much more professional the way we do it in a 4 or 5 star hotel with all the facilities we require. Librarians have a high standard. I am proud of being a member of the AJL there.
I sincerely thank those who have been or are involved in planning and running the conventions. They do it out of their good heart and professional ethic in an amateur status. I have organised some local and overseas trips for my local Hong Kong Library Association, though in a much much smaller scale, and I know the time and energy involved is enormous and still receive comments that we'd rather not hear. We are volunteers too. I think if we put ourselves in the position of the organising committee, then we would see things differently. I was not in Oakland this year because of the cost too. I have decided not to burden my company with the convention cost too often but to ask for sponsorship every other year or even one in three years. If I can afford or find resource to attend the convention, that is good news. If not, I'll save up until I can afford it. This is my philosophy. Brenda ************************************************* Brenda Yi, Librarian Jewish Community Centre One Robinson Place 70 Robinson Road Mid-Levels Hong Kong S.A.R., China http://www.jcc.org.hk E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (852)2589-2660 Fax: (852)2877-0917 ************************************************* Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
