Talk me into going to ALA

I looked at the registration and hotel information for the Annual Conference of the American Library Association in Chicago this June. I've been assuming for more than a year that I would be going to this conference. It's close and it coincides with when I want to get serious about a job search for an academic library job beginning in December or January.

But.

I read a lot of things from frustrated conference goers after last summer's conference in Orlando due to inadequate shuttles and dispersed hotels and programs. Just looking at the hotel map makes me think this conference will have similar problems. That slow-loading pdf map isn't very clear--but the big circle at the bottom surrounds the conference location and the red and white circles many blocks north are the many conference hotels.

Although Chicago is close to St. Louis, driving anywhere near Chicago is not my idea of a good time (I have made long circles through Wisconsin just to avoid it). And flying into O'Hare is no treat, either.

One last problem. June will be a good time to start my job search, but is ALA Annual a good place? Or is it so busy that it will be hard to hook up with people?

In all likelihood, this negativity has a lot to do with not feeling well today. So I would be happy to hear about positive arguments for going to the conference. Starting with, is the Lake Shore Drive area as lovely as I remember? Email me at joy [at] mollprojects [dot] com. Or AIM me at "iama411expert." Yes, I know I should figure out how to turn comments on if I'm going to ask questions like this in my blog....But not today.     #

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