Despite all the planning and double-checking, it was inevitable that something would be forgotten…
Having arrived at the Northampton Mercure Hotel on Thursday evening, in readiness to exhibit our wares at the SLA Weekend Course for the next couple of days, I quickly discovered I was missing the power lead for my laptop! 🤦
And so starts an early evening panic to try to locate a store that sells a compatible adapter. Argos, it turns out, does not, despite purchasing one that claimed to be. A swift repackage and return and a dart to a local Currys and it was panic over, with the battery at a critical level!
SLA Conference: Day 1
At 7am on Friday, I started setting up our stand with brochures, our eRLS Halo desktop self-service unit and, of course, the freebies for our exclusive prize draw giveaway!
Everything tested okay and it looked like the weekend would continue without any further stress. However, this moment of calm was tested early on when all the power was suddenly lost.
Fortunately, we discovered one of our fellow exhibitors had pulled a plug out to charge their phone, unaware that said plug was powering all the other exhibitors’ stands!
We were located in the second hall, near one of the main conference spaces and directly opposite the coffee and tea stand, so it felt like a prime position. Had I packed enough notepads to give away?
By midday, it became apparent that I probably had.
As with all conferences, the highlights are the speakers, networking opportunities and discussions, so browsing the Supplier Exhibition (and being sold to by various vendors touting their library-related offerings) isn’t a high priority for most delegates, especially on Day 1.
Having promoted our ‘Lucky Dip’ giveaway across social media prior to the conference, we were quietly confident that it would be just a matter of time before our stand was engulfed with prize seekers, and of course, school librarians and library managers interested in future-proofing their libraries with our best-in-class Infiniti LMS, LibPaths learning portals and eRLS RFID stock control solutions.
No doubt they were all leaving it until the second day?
SLA Conference: Day 2
By midday on Saturday, it became apparent they weren’t. 🙁
The weekend felt quieter than it had in previous years and I certainly did not speak to as many delegates. Whether this was down to a drop in attendance, a lack of interest in what PSP has to offer, or that old bottle of cologne I found in the hotel room (needless to say, I’d forgotten mine), it’s hard to say. Quite possibly, it was my inability to entice people into exciting conversations about library stock management and control. Surely not, I hear you cry. That’s very kind.
On a positive note, the conversations I did have all referenced how much visitors were enjoying the conference and what great ideas the discussions had sparked. In that sense, it felt important and gratifying that PSP had been able to support this fantastic opportunity for school librarians to get together, learn from each other and return to their libraries feeling motivated and energised. ☺️
A Fond Farewell
At 2:30pm, magic was in the air with exhibition tables, products, banners and other promotional literature vanishing at breakneck speed. Truly a wonder to behold! Perhaps if we’d taken a little more time with our packing away, the unpacking on Monday morning would not have been so stressful! On the bright side, I hadn’t left anything in Northampton. Progress.
Despite returning with some of the prizes from our Lucky Dip (get in touch if you’d like a chance at winning something 😉), I’d like to thank and congratulate the delegates who did pay us a visit on Stand 20 and won a library-themed prize.
Special mentions go to Una from The British School in the Netherlands who won the £150 book hamper, Jane at Kenilworth School who won the £95 SLA voucher and Rosalind at Ripley St Thomas who won the Desktop Henry Hoover. No more excuses for biscuit crumbs on your desk!
If you missed us at the SLA conference and would like to know more about the wide range of market-leading library technology and services we provide to school and college libraries, please get in touch with our expert team for a free, no-obligation consultation. You’ll be surprised at how simple, cost-effective and stress-free a switch or future-proof upgrade to our solutions can be!