Dear colleagues,
I have received inquiries from colleagues who asked if they missed the advertisement of the ANNUAL MEETING BLOG SIGNUP SPREADSHEET. It is encouraging to know that people have been waiting eagerly for the chance to sign up and blog from the Montreal meeting! Well, here it is….
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QVD4qpSiALd9urUKnlYHPjv8m66YiZMEzSNeN8NFf3E/edit?usp=sharing
There is a separate tab down at the bottom for each SG or session. Next, input your name and email next to the talk you are interested in covering. Easy! The limit for signup is two talks so that nobody feels overwhelmed.
ALL VOLUNTEERS WHO COMPLETE TWO ENTRIES WILL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING TO WIN A FREE 2017 ANNUAL MEETING REGISTRATION! Better odds than the PowerBall.
If you are attending the upcoming AIC-CAC annual meeting I hope that you will volunteer to blog from the conference. Writing a good blog post can take some time but covering a couple of talks is very manageable. Here are a few things to know:
· You do not blog in real time so you don’t need a laptop or internet access at the conference– the best way is to take notes and then write up your thoughts later (ideally by the end of the conference or shortly thereafter).
· You need not be an experienced blogger nor particularly tech savvy. The Wordpress blog format is extremely easy to use and any necessary hand-holding will happily be provided to make you feel comfortable online. You will receive an account on the blog and instruction sheets and guidelines. If you can send an email – you can create a blog post.
· There is no pressure to be particularly witty. Active tense, first-person and personal style are all encouraged in blog posts - this is a chance to free yourself from the writing constraints of condition reports! While all posts should be professional overall, the tone is somewhat between reporting and “what I did over my summer vacation”. The best posts tell why you were interested in the topic and what you learned, you aren’t expected to be writing the speaker’s postprint so you don’t need to capture every detail. The goal is for readers to learn more about the talk than they would gain from the abstract. Tips and Guidelines will be provided for all volunteers.
· In addition to the talks we also value reviews of the workshops, pre-sessions other network events.
Each year we receive feedback from colleagues who couldn’t make it to the annual meeting that the blog posts were interesting and informative. For the past several years we had so many fabulous concurrent session that even those present at the meeting couldn’t attend all the talks they were interested in and found that they could get a taste of what they missed using the blog(www.conservators-converse.org). Our blog sees a huge increase in traffic due to annual meeting posts with almost 600 unique visits per day. We know that many colleagues are looking forward to hearing more about the conference and hope that some of you will volunteer, share your thoughts from the meeting. If you are interested in volunteering or hearing more, please contact me off list using the information below.
Thank you,
Rachael
AIC e-Editor
Rachael Perkins Arenstein
A.M. Art Conservation, LLC