From the Desk of Susan E. Fox

97th Annual Meeting a Smashing Success

We had 2,400 total attendees at our Annual Meeting this year, with 103 exhibiting firms occupying 181 exhibit spaces. We offered 67 programs and five workshops, which kept Boston's Hynes Convention Center a lively place indeed.

2004 Post Annual Meeting FAQs

Q.	I registered and attended the meeting in Boston but am unable to locate the URL for downloading and printing educational program materials - where do I find the materials?

A.	Contact Gina Bordelon, member services assistant, at AALL to assist you. She can be reached at 312-939-4764, ext. 12

Q.	Who do I talk to about questions and concerns regarding my registration or reimbursement form submission for the Annual Meeting?

A.	Contact Steve Ligda, director of finance, at 312-939-4764, ext. 23.

Q.	When will scheduling begin for the 2005 Annual Meeting in San Antonio?

A.	The 2005 meeting will be held July 16-20. Preliminary scheduling forms will be mailed out in mid-September to all committee, SIS and caucus chairs and chapter presidents followed by an October mailing to all affiliate groups. The deadline to receive forms is November 1, 2004, which will ensure listing in the Preliminary Program. Direct any questions to Pam Reisinger, director of meetings, at 312-939-4764, ext. 23.

Inspired by Boston, AALL members are already looking ahead to the 2005 Annual Meeting in San Antonio. The Annual Meeting Program Committee is soliciting program and workshop proposals until August 15 for next year's Annual Meeting and Conference.

This year we are pleased to bring you our new and improved online proposal submission process. For complete details and answers to all kinds of FAQs, check out the Program Planner's Handbook or visit the 2005 Program & Workshop Proposal Collection site.

Once you create your profile, you can work on your proposal(s) in your own virtual workspace, saving your work as you go in order to return to it later by simply logging back on. You can share your draft proposal with fellow colleagues prior to submission. You can upload supplemental materials (speaker biographies, etc.). You can keep track of proposals in progress and proposals already submitted. You can be an integral part of next year's meeting!

Our new programmatic year begins at the conclusion of each Annual Meeting, at which point we also inaugurate our new Executive Board. Continuing in 2004-2005 will be: President Tory Trotta, Past- President Janis Johnston, Secretary Catherine Lemann, and board members Kathy Carlson, Anne Fessenden, Nina Platt and Merle Slyhoff.

Newly elected last spring are: Treasurer Joyce Manna Janto and board members Anne Myers and Kathie Sullivan.

Our schedule for the 2005 elections will change dramatically this year. Instead of sending the ballots out by postal service in March, we will send notice of the slate by September 15 with a deadline of October 15 for petitions. We will distribute the ballot electronically by November 15 with a return deadline of December 15.

For those members who do not have e-mail or do not wish to participate in an online election, please contact Gina Bordelon, member services assistant, at AALL by October 1 to assist you, and we will provide paper ballots. Gina can be reached at 312-939-4764, ext. 12.

The newest addition to the State, Court and County Law Library Resource Guide Law Library Insights series, sponsored by LexisNexis, is complete and ready for distribution. Resource Guide No. 2, The Value of a Public Law Library: A Guide for Government and Court Decision-Makers, examines the benefits of public law libraries, how public law libraries can raise awareness, and innovative programs for sharing resources and consortium-building.

New this year, SCCLL-SIS members received a PDF version of the Guide to read, print out or pass along to colleagues. In addition to the PDF version, printed copies of the Guide may be ordered through AALL Headquarters. Each SCCLL-SIS member may order up to 10 free copies. Copies may also be purchased through AALLNET ($10 for AALL members; $12 for nonmembers).

If you wish to order print copies of SCCLL Resource Guide No. 2, please contact Gina Bordeleon, membership service assistant. If you are an SCCLL-SIS member and did not receive your PDF version of the Guide, please contact Julia O’Donnell, director of publications.

I am very pleased to introduce you to our newest staff member, Christopher Siwa, AALL Web administrator. Chris comes to us with a BS in information systems from DePaul University and a solid grounding in the full life cycle of Web site development and database management.

When not at his desk at AALL, you'll find him on the softball field, the basketball court, or snowboarding anywhere from Lake Tahoe to Vancouver, Canada! "I always try to participate in at least one sport in each season," Chris says. "I believe that staying active is a great way to keep your body and mind young and fresh."

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible, and achieve it, generation after generation."