Spinning up for another great year

While I cannot stress the importance of my friend and colleague Mia Ridge's assessment of first year necessities for a successful MW, I did felt the need to add some supplimental tips for first-timers, being as my first time was the not-so-long-ago MW2008: Montreal.

Seriously, rest up now.

My typical conference schedule is up at 8, in bed by no earlier than one, sometimes even two or three in the morning. There's so much to see and do, so many colleagues to talk to and learn from, that it can be daunting to sort it all out at first.

Take advantage of all opportunities to rest.

You will be in Philadelphia.

The cradle of American Government. For you folks traveling internationally, Philly will be a fantastic place to take some of the limited self-directed time (get there early, stay late!) to see some real cool cultural-heritage-ish stuff.

Also, we will certainly need to lead a group trip to either Pat's King of Steaks or Ginos for an authentic Cheesesteak (when in Rome...).

Bring Business Cards.

Mostly because I can't read my own handwriting. Srsly, I get rid of almost all of my business cards every time I go. The first year I went I actually won an ipod shuffle from one of the many fine vendors present at MW2008.

The most valuable part...

By far, the most valuable part for me has been the ability to meet and network with the other overworked, under-apprecaited professionals in this field. Whether it was meeting the fine folks at Flickr in '08, or establishing MW's first spin-off non-profit (Spinny Bar Historical Society) in '10, or advancing my own knowledge by lightyears.

All of this, thanks in no small part to the combination of fine presenters, knowledgeable participants and shiny, shiny vendors(Hi Paul!) insuring that my brain never left empty, nor did my schwag-bag (because who doesn't love a nice branded thumbdrive?)

You'll quickly find Museums and the Web has a very.. summer camp vibe to it. It's scary at first, with so much to see and do, but before long, you and your new camp friends are commiserating about terrible XML (redundant?) standards, vapid social media marketers, and the sorry state of cross-instituion collection search.

-Good Luck.

Ryan

Director, Spinny Bar Historical Society &
Manager of Information Systems, George Eastman House