Annual Meeting SIS VIP program

Revised and Approved by the Executive Board November 2021, Tab 11

WHAT IS THE AALL SIS VIP PROGRAM?

The AALL SIS VIP Program gives your SIS the opportunity to invite up to two special guests from a legal, government, or other related field who may find value in attending AALL’s Annual Meeting & Conference. The guest(s) selected by your SIS to be a VIP cannot be a former or current AALL member. Also, this person cannot be a law librarian or legal information professional. The program is designed to attract attendees who are not members of the law librarian and legal information profession.

See Appendix A for the SIS VIP Program timeline.

HOW DOES THE VIP PROGRAM BENEFIT YOUR SIS?

The VIP program can benefit your SIS in many ways. It is a good way to build a strong relationship with someone important to your SIS. Inviting a VIP to attend the AALL Conference will also give them an idea of what issues are important to law librarians and legal information professionals. It can even be used as the starting place for a specific project or collaboration on a presentation, publication, etc.

IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL VIP GUESTS

The VIP Program allows your SIS to establish new relationships or strengthen existing ones with someone who is from a field related to your SIS. The individual(s) chosen may be someone influential in the legal or government community. You may consider persons with whom a relationship would provide long term benefits, in the form of cooperative projects. Among the individuals that your SIS might consider as potential VIP guest(s) are:

President of your local or state bar association
Chief administrators of your local or state courts
Dean or faculty members from library schools (non-law librarians)
Dean or faculty members from law schools
Judges of any local, state, or federal courts
Presidents/chairs or members of local law library boards of trustees
A state representative, senator, or other official who has been active in library or legal information issues

HOW MUCH WILL THIS COST OUR SIS?

AALL will provide two complimentary registrations for the invited guests to attend the Annual Meeting & Conference. The SIS must decide whether it will offer any financial support for transportation, meals, and hotel.

To help estimate your SIS’s share of the expenses for the VIP guest(s), consider the following expenses. Remember that your invitee(s) may offer to pay for some of their own costs. You may want to offer them a certain reasonable expense allowance and let them handle the rest. Individual SISs may decide to invite only one guest, to keep costs down.

Example of Expenses:

Hotel accommodations
Airfare
Meals
Ground transportation

HOW DO WE INVITE THE VIP TO THE ANNUAL MEETING?

Before extending an invitation to your intended guest(s), please share the name(s) with AALL so that we can make sure they were not already invited by another leadership group or that they are not a current or former AALL member. Please send the name(s) to the leadership services coordinator at leadership@aall.org. Once you receive confirmation from AALL, you may extend an invitation. We will send you a registration code so that your guest(s) can register online for free. Please note the use of this program is for your SIS only and cannot be transferred to any other groups.

If you have any questions about the SIS VIP Program, please contact the leadership services coordinator at leadership@aall.org.

It is up to each SIS to decide who will extend the invitation to the VIP guest(s) to attend the Annual Meeting & Conference.

We recommend that the invitation include details on where and when the Annual Meeting will take place, dates, why the person is being invited, and the benefits they will gain from attending the meeting. You may also specify in this invitation whether your SIS will be covering some of the travel expenses. A letter or an email explaining the theme of the Annual Meeting and giving examples of programs, speakers, and opportunities for informal discussion may accompany your invitation.

It is recommended to follow up with a phone call to make sure the VIP has received your invitation and to answer any questions. Before you make your phone call, be sure that you know as much as possible about the Annual Meeting and be able to personalize the experience to fit the characteristics of your VIP.

AFTER THE VIP ACCEPTS

Assure your VIP(s) that your SIS will keep them informed about all details related to the AALL Annual Meeting & Conference.

WILL THE VIP(S) NEED A HOST THROUGHOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING?

You may ask your VIP guest(s) their preference. Some guests may know many AALL members and wish to be on their own. If your VIP(s) want a host, ask your SIS members to volunteer as hosts. This is an excellent opportunity for the members to have one-on-one time with your VIP(s). Try to include newer law librarians as well as the more experienced ones. Promote your VIPs’ names and biographies to your membership. The SIS members attending the Annual Meeting should be able to identify your VIP(s).