2024 ALA Annual Conference & Expo in Aurora, Colorado

BY JANET MOLLOY (Administrator,  Sweet, Stevens, Katz, Williams)

What a beautiful sight of the Rocky Mountains! I have been to Denver before, but I forgot how beautiful and high the mountains are. The Gaylord Hotel is beautiful as you can imagine. It is a little remote from Denver itself, but just a short train ride from the hotel to get to Denver.

The first event I attended was our Independence, Philadelphia, and Capital Chapter joint welcome event. Some of our business partners also attend this event. It feels like a reunion of old friends when we all get to see each other again.

On Monday, the opening day of the conference, the Keynote Speaker, Matt Vogl who is an internationally recognized leader and in-demand speaker in the mental health field, spoke about his own issues with depression and his planned suicide attempt. He shared that if it was not for a neighbor calling him over to her house to ask if he was ok, he would have completed his plan to kill himself that morning.   We underestimate how far a kind word will go. Or, how important it is to stay connected with each other.

On Tuesday, the David W. Brezina Memorial Session speaker was Liz Murray. Some of us remembered her from the 2009 conference in New Orleans. Liz was the subject of a Lifetime Movie (not sure any of us want to be that) “From Homeless to Harvard” sharing her struggles with homelessness while trying to complete high school. She was fortunate to have a few teachers who helped her along the way, and she herself had to put in the work. She talked about the outreach she does now to help teens who are in the same situation as she found herself.

As for the educational sessions, I attended a few in particular on artificial intelligence, and how our software may be able to help with document preparation. From what I gather, we have a long way to go, and a lot of work to do to make that happen.

I did take a little break on Wednesday afternoon and took a tour up to Echo Lake. The scenery was just breath taking, the lake with the snowcapped mountains behind it was so lovely.

The next ALA Annual conference will be in Nashville, TN from May 18 to 21, 2025. I encourage attendance if at all possible. There are so many reasons besides the education that is provided. To have the chance to meet and talk with other administrators, to meet the vendors and to have some fun are all good reasons as well.