Instead of working my conference experience into all the other sights and activities of my California trip, I have decided to just write a separate post completely dedicated to the conference alone.  I have made it my first because: A.) most of you will find it the most boring, and B.) I haven’t totally gathered all my thoughts about what I would like write about for the rest of the trip.

I attended the Internet Librarian 2008 Conference in Monterey, CA.  And while this does sound like such a geeky event, it really was a wonderful conference.  I met lots of interesting people, attended some really great sessions, and chatted with some vendors about how their products could potentially help our projects here at home. 

Most of the workshops I attended were specifically geared towards web design, web 2.0, and tools & gadgets that can help distribute and use information in much more efficient ways.  Of course, as is the trend, most every speaker hammered in the principles of collaboration, freedom of information, and bridging the technology gap. 

There were a handful though that when I stood up and walked out of the room, I felt fired up and ready to go take on the world – or at least my workplace.  A couple of these speakers really hit home on some issues and presented in a style that made the room electric, the ideas start flowing, and I, along with everyone else, just felt extremely motivated.  It is always refreshing to hear these types of speakers.  It always seems that just at the moment I get a teensy bit burnt out or am just feeling stressed and overworked, someone like this comes along and provides the exact pep talk I need to hear.  It’s just the fuel I need to refill the tank and keep fighting the good fight. 

I also met some really interesting people in my field from all over the world.  One specific individual is a researcher for the president of her country and prepares his information packets on current events, dignitaries, history, etc…  It was fascinating chatting with her over dinner one night and again for lunch the next day.  We discussed politics, our cultures, current events, and sports.  I was very impressed with her knowledge of all these things.  I will be looking forward to keeping in touch with her over time and continuing to compare notes on our profession and the world around us.

So anyway, I am extremely glad for the opportunity to have been able to go.  It was well worth the time – I brought back so many ideas, helpful tools, and motivation.  My boss even told me he almost hates to send me to these things because I always come back full of information to dump on him.  I tell him though, isn’t that why he sends me????  Go figure…  Anyway, as I noted earlier, the actual trip experiences I will share in later posts.  But the conference was great and I really enjoyed it.

I have gotten a few questions recently regarding the title for this blog so I thought I would take some time and provide some background. 

First off, I was surprised to find out who some of my readers are and, more honestly, that I even have readers.  But it is nice to know that I’m not just sending my thoughts completely into the dark, black void of the internet.  Even if it is only a small handful of people it makes me feel that its not a complete waste of my time.

Back to my inquiry though. 

Growing up I always had a fascination with insects and so my mother and father among others started using the nickname ”Bug” when referring to me, their youngest child.  They didn’t use it all the time, but it did latch on and became an affectionate name that was used in pleasant conversation.  

One of my father’s nicknames, the most popular one, was “Spot.”  I am unclear about the details on how the name was bestowed on him… something I think to do with the family pet, but later in life, I feel most people called him this because of the perfect circle on the very top of his head that had become bald.

When my father passed away in 2006 I found myself in a hurricane of emotions and discovered that writing seemed to help me cope with the grief and loss I felt.  I have always loved to write but never felt that I had enough material for anything purposeful.  But after he died I seemed to have more than I could have ever wanted. 

A job change also coincided with my life transition that year and I moved into a position that required me to use more technology than I had ever had a need for before. 

So on a whim one night I created a personal website and started a blog.  In part to help me become more comfortable with the ever changing facets of my job, but also too, I found it to be a public way of expressing my thoughts and opinions.  For months I had been typing them up in documents and saving them on my private computer where only I had access to them.  Expressing my emotions verbally has never been my strongest asset so I thought too that my family and friends could keep up with what’s going on in my head a little better if they could read it instead of having to try to force it out of me.  Who knows, maybe sharing my feelings about things might help someone else… or maybe not, but regardless I felt this would be a good way for me to continue to write and publish.

When I was trying to come up with a name for the site, I thought of a hundred different possibilities, but finally settled, obviously, on A SpotsBug’s World.  I thought it encompassed everything I needed it to be and would allow me to cover any topic that entered my world and thought was worthy of some text.  And since my father, in a way, inspired me to begin to write about my world I thought it only appropriate to give him credit… I am after all Spot’s Bug.