If you didn't see Part 1, you can find it here: [msg]242401[/msg]
As you may have read, Part 1 wasn't so much about the PLSO Conference as it was me waking up to the fact that I don't want to lose touch with PLSO and my friends. This post will cover the details of the actual conference a bit more.
I arrived on Wednesday morning at 6:30am for a volunteer orientation. I started out by hanging around the registration desk to see if I could help check people in, help them find their name badges, etc. As it turned out, 17 students from the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) showed up, so I wasn't needed much for that. There was a schedule change, so I placed signs in areas to help folks find their proper class rooms.
So I went on a hunt for the Executive Secretary, who was preparing for a Board meeting. She handed me a camera and sent me off to take pictures. I wandered all over the place, snapping photos of the classrooms, most of which were pretty full. I also took photos of the vendors and their exhibits. Along the way, I ended up talking with many people, some of which I already knew and others I'd never met. It was these experiences that started the gears turning in my head about my PLSO participation, hence Part 1 of this summary.
I went back to the Board meeting, already in session, with the intent of simply returning the camera and finding something else to do. The discussion that was taking place caught my interest and so I stayed purely out of curiosity. Some interesting situations had presented themselves to the PLSO Board over the last few years and it seemed to be culminating into a "big bang" at this very moment. The scenario is probably worthy of it's own article, so I won't get too detailed here. Basically, there has been a string of health issues with several people involved at the higher levels of PLSO which have caused interesting command changes. At that moment in time, the Chairman-Elect was serving as the Interim Chairman because the incoming Chairman couldn't take the position for health reasons. The Past Chairman was offering to reassume the Chairman position for another year (leaving a hole in the Past Chairman position) and another Past Chairman from years ago was offering to also fill the space. After some interesting discussion about the ByLaws and how they pertain to the various positions (since Chairman position is technically a 3-year term of Chairman-Elect, Chairman and Past Chairman), a vote was made which allowed 2013's Chair to continue as 2014's Chairman. For the record, all 3 of the potential Chairman volunteers are/were very capable of the position.
At lunch that day, the big announcement from the Board meeting was made without controversy. We were served a lovely teriyaki chicken and rice dish for our meal and I sucked down another 50 gallons of coffee. I really should just strap one of those huge coffee makers to my back and insert an IV.
Back to class. There wasn't much for me to do at this point, so I just milled around and visited with friends when they weren't in class. At one point, I went home and started putting some thought into the BeerLegger that would happen that evening. See: [msg]241436[/msg]
Part 3: [msg]242807[/msg]
Part 4: [msg]242810[/msg]
