All the #alamw11 Videos in order

Here is the story of the Think Tank Crew and our experiences at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in 2011.

I originally uploaded all of these videos in a fairly random order because of time and editing constraints. So, in order to tell the story in a more significant way, I decided to list them chronologically here to give you the full story and here it is;

On the way to #alamw11 Andrea and I had to stop and buy a digital camera. We were going to buy a flip until we got talked out of it. This guy was awesome, one of the most knowledgable folks I’ve ever met. He knows way too much about e-readers, cameras, and all other tech. Andrea had an amazing conversation after leaving Best Buy about the need to have these kinds of characters presenting at Library Conferences. This guy even throws in a little bit of gaming in libraries.

Andrea and I finally made it to San Beardiego and stopped by the airport to pick up the Think Tank folks. We had a special visit from Flat Justin too!

Megan McFarlane explains ALA’s campaign for library advocacy at the Library advocacy booth at #alamw11

I ran into Kirby McCurtis at an after hours social at ALA MW 2011. She talked to me about why she is running for council and what being involved means to her.

LibrarianJP discusses the importance of his kicks and librarian fashion at ALA conferences. Don’t forget to check this video to the end. Its my favorite vid of #alamw11.

The Think Tank folks were up way too early on Friday Morning. Tiffany Mair had to get to Emerging Leaders, JP and Allen had to get to the Unconference and Patrick and Jenn had to get to meetings. Why are these things always so early? Andrea had nowhere to be so she just got up for no good reason.

We ran into Maureen Sullivan on the way out of the convention center at #alamw11 and she talks about running for ALA president.

I sat down at ALA council and spoke with Michael Porter at the ALA Council Session about his campaign for ALA Executive Board. He also talks about why it is so important that you get involved and run for ALA Council!

During a break during the second council session of #alamw11 I met up with Sol Gomez who is a 2008 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, an Emerging Leader Graduate, ALA Councilor, and all around good guy. Sol talked to me about why is decided to be on ALA Council and his work with Reforma.

Tom Wilding gives me a couple of minutes in front of the camera to talk about ALA Council.

At the 2011 American Library Association Midwinter meeting, the crew of the Think Tank infiltrated the conference with a guerrilla guitar lending library just to see what would happen. We invited all kinds of folks to “check-out” a guitar for a few minutes or a few hours. Many librarians and other good folks sat and played. As it turns out, our profession is filled with talented musicians. This video is the mashup of many of the patrons of this guerilla library.

We had a lot of great people at the Think Tank House on Saturday night and built a small library community inside the house. We were all library family and we made some great connections, had some good ideas, and brainstormed a lot of awesome for libraries in general. Unfortunately, the next morning the house was a mess and we had to get to sessions and meetings. But it was all totally worth it. Although it might not look like it, we learned a whole lot from some of the smartest people I have ever met at an ALA Conference. We didn’t film a whole lot that night so we thought we’d at least get some footage of the morning after.

This is the video that shows the story of how the trip south occured. It originally spawned from a idea to bring Camper Con to ALA. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get that together in time so the Think Tank crew did the next best thing… Rent a Jeep Wrangler, head south, and MAKE IT HAPPEN!

On the road trip to the south, The Think Tank set up a guerilla Beach “Library” and assigned JP to the ” Help Desk.” JP gives a tour of the library to Justin Hoenke who we all miss here at #alamw11.

I spoke with Librarian JP on the Beach at #alamw11 while we were taking a Think Tank road trip to Mexico about why he became a librarian. This is truly heartfelt story about JP’s history in librarianship.

The Think Tank crew took a road trip down the Pacific Coast and stopped along the way at a beach just north of the border. I asked Allen why he became a librarian… Awesomeness ensues….

On Saturday we all decided to take a drive down to Tijuana in a rented jeep and experience some of the world. We met some great folks and had some playtime outreach with some of the local kids. #alamw11.

Just before she left, Andrea Davis says goodbye to the Think Tank and what her experience meant to her. She also talks about the importance of making it happen at other conferences. Those of us at the Think Tank highly encourage more professionals to create these kinds of collaborative, educational, and entertaining spaces at conferences for sharing ideas and creating opportunities!

On Tuesday morning after #alamw11, Librarian JP and I ran into Alex Walker and got his thoughts on ALA, his career prospects, and of course… The infamous Lady GaGa video that he was a part of.