I have two sections to this email - first to announce the selected site for the Hack-A-Way in 2016 and secondly to bring up a question to the community about the 2017 selection process.
First, the good news! Evergreen Indiana will be hosting the Hack-A-Way in 2016! As everyone knows, Indiana is home to some wonderful community members and they are excited to be hosts. They did a wonderful job with the conference a few years ago so I know we will be in excellent hands. The host location is Indianapolis, which is central to the US (and fairly north for our Canadian brethren). They have three international airports within a few hours drive and is a popular conference city with budget friendly options for our participants (an ongoing goal is to keep the event relatively cheap). Evergreen Indiana will fully sponsor the site and two meals plus snack each day of the event for all participants and work with negotiating hotel discounts. They will also arrange for shuttles to and from travel hubs and help coordinate some evening events. Yay! So, what comes next? As usual we need to arrange dates, hotel plans, etc... but the extended time line allows for a more deliberat pace. And that leads us into talking a bit about the 2017 process. We changed the process this year for selection to provide for a longer time line. The feedback I'd had from potential hosts and participants who reached out to me was that they wanted more time for making decisions than the old (admittedly very low key) process allowed. This is something that we will continue to follow in the years that follow, 2017 and beyond. Specfically in regard to 2017, however, Indiana would like to have thier bid considered for 2017 as well as 2016 and host it for two years. I want to continue moving the Hack-A-Way around for the same purposes that we move the conference but I also appreciate all the effort they have put into their proposal and there would be some definite virtue to this. I don't mind the idea of doing the Hack-A-Way in Indiana for two years but a) don't want it considred a precendent that it will always be in the same places for two years at a time and b) want to put it up to the developers for feedback as this event is to facilitate thier activity. Thoughts? -- Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services, York County Library System “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” ― C.S. Lewis <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis>
