![\"Playground\"](\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3169\/3040961248_ccbfb6da43.jpg\")
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For some other interesting observations about ALA, see Agnostic, Maybe (1)<\/a>, Agnostic, Maybe (2)<\/a>, and Opinions of a Wolf<\/a>.<\/p>\n I think I am near the entrance of this playground peeking in curiously. But ALA feels slightly closer to me now that I have some faces that I can associate ALA with. At the Midwinter, I actually met people I didn’t know because I marked social events in my schedule. NMRT social was fun. The tweet-up I organized was great because I met lots of librarians with whom I had a chat on Twitter. (Thank you everyone who came!!!)\u00c2\u00a0 After Hours social was awesome because we were all sort of drunk, and it was quite late. On the other hand, LITA happy hour was kind of awkward. (Networking dinner was nice though.) The reception for young librarians was interesting, but I wasn’t sure about who was invited on what basis. (Was it for all new members or for all new and young members…?)<\/p>\n I discovered that small groups such as interest groups and discussion groups at ALA are great for new members because they are small in size. There are also so many of these that there is a good chance there is something you may find interesting. If you show enough interests, it may not be terribly difficult to get involved in these groups. I was – to my surprise – drawn into organizing a program for 2010 D.C. annual, which came out of the discussion that took place at the LITA Emerging Technologies Interest Group meeting I attended at the 2009 annual. I am a new member and organizing a program (hard to believe in my mind). Well, this is definitely something exciting. But then,\u00c2\u00a0 I may not get a chance to work on a committee I volunteered for in the next 10 years (I actually saw someone tweeted about this) and\/or I may not succeed in getting involved at the level of divisions and sections.\u00c2\u00a0 (Well, that would be kind of disappointing. Or not, I am not sure…)<\/p>\n For new members’ information, I was also given a great advice at the midwinter that it is a good idea to be active in listservs and online because it gives one something to talk about and connect with others when you actually attend a conference. (But of course, one needs to find out what listservs would be a good fit and how to get on to them first.)<\/p>\n I am not yet sure if I will continue to play in this playground. But I think I will give it a shot. I had more fun in Boston than in Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What happens when you join ALA? I am not sure about other professional organizations. But at least in ALA, nothing happens unless you are awarded with some scholarships, fellowships, internships, etc. I called up and paid my membership fee. A … Continue reading
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