PNBA Fall Tradeshow 2011: Thursday’s educational sessions

The PNBA staff keeps things going in Portland

Thursday represented the first full day of activity for the 2011 PNBA Tradeshow, with a host of educational sessions, workshops, and speaker panels taking place all day at Portland’s Airport Holiday Inn.

Things piped up bright and early at 8am. Throughout the day, sessions were divided amongst three primary target audiences: author/publishers, booksellers, and librarians.

For author/publishers, sessions included panels for

PNBA Fall Tradeshow 2011: Bringing publishing industry types together

Over the next couple of days, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) is hosting its annual trade show in Portland, Oregon.

The event brings together publishing industry types, and features workshops for authors, publishers, book sellers, librarians, and others attached to the industry. There is also an exhibition floor, and opportunities to interface with

Northwest Bookfest: Some History, Panels, Exhibits, & Staying Power

Let’s see. Where do we start….let’s start two years ago, just to confound ourselves.

In 2009, a magical event took place in Columbia City….it was known as Seattle BookFest. It was part of an effort to bring back the “old” Northwest Bookfest that had taken place on the Seattle Waterfront and later at Sand Point in the earlier part of the last decade….however it ended up morphing into a “new” Northwest Bookfest in Kirkland earlier this month.

In my humble opinion, Seattle Bookfest had the makings of something spectacular, and

Making the unsearchable PDF searchable….finally!

Something new was brought to my attention the other day….something new and wonderful for those of us who work with the “search” feature on PDFs.

I was part of a project team for a land use matter involving town planning and a hearing examiner, in which we were working with a high number of PDFs….which can be more accurately described as a wasteland of literally thousands and thousands of pages of content. A huge chore. Biblical in size.

Originally these PDFs were

A Visit to Five Eagles Peak

In early August, we had the pleasure of visiting indexing colleague and current PNW-ASI Past-President Nancy Gerth’s homestead in northern Idaho, located on a mountaintop overlooking Lake Pend Oreille.

It’s quite an amazing place she has up there, incorporating the old with the new, as she is advancing her efforts to thrive through the seasons in a sustainable lifestyle.

When I say “old,” I’m referring to practices that

A View on Industry Volunteerism

Through your business dealings within your industry, you probably have a few organizations you are a member of….at least one or two.

You are probably drawn to these organizations because they help you in your business or weekly life in some way. Some inform you on developing matters within the industry, or perhaps they provide networking opportunities. Others might help you with different aspects of what you do; such as running and growing your business, marketing, or simply developing ideas.

If there’s an organization you’re a member of, and it benefits you or your business in some way, you might think about

PNW-ASI Spring meeting at Bastyr

The main courtyard at Bastyr University

The Pacific Northwest chapter of the American Society for Indexing met at Bastyr University in Kirkland, Washington last weekend for its spring meeting.

Attendance consisted of a couple dozen; both longtime indexers, some folks who had not been to a chapter event in some time, and some indexers new to the profession. Attendees came from British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, throughout the state of Washington, and from back east.

ASI Providence: Day 2 and Beyond

I know, it is technically not Day 2 of the conference any longer.  I was hoping to get some of the Day 2 stuff posted yesterday, but sheer exhaustion and a 6:00 a.m. flight this morning had other ideas.

So, let’s catch up!  Day 2, Friday, was an action-packed, fun-filled day from start to finish.  In his Keynote Address, Joshua Tallent gave a fabulous talk summarizing his thoughts about

ASI Providence: Day 1

The first full day of the ASI 43rd Annual Conference offered up a heaping helping of information, new faces, and lots of fun!  With another whirlwind day ahead in a few short hours, figured I better get some initial thoughts written before I refill, and possibly overwrite, the information tank tomorrow.

As someone new to indexing, I found myself “skating dizzy” as the day’s events wound down.  “Skating dizzy” is actually a catch-phrase from Seth Maislin’s fabulous workshop, Principles of Indexing, which I attended for the full day today.  (If you don’t know what the phrase refers to, you’ll have to ask Seth.)  Staying true to this year’s conference theme of transformation, Seth effectively

Let’s Go To Providence!

The fun starts tomorrow afternoon!

The abundance and variety of seminars and workshops scheduled for the 43rd Annual ASI Conference promises something for everyone — from seasoned veterans to new indexers like me.  As a new indexer and first-time conference attendee, I’m looking forward to making new connections and meeting new friends!

As the “official” ASI Conference blogger, let me pass along a bit of information about the Hilton Providence hotel. As a person who is generally tied to my electronic devices, I contacted the hotel to find out more about our meeting room facilities.  While information was sparse at best, I did find out:

• Workshop rooms on Thursday are primarily set up with tables, either in a “U-shape” or in rows. Great for those bringing laptops or other note-taking devices.
• Break-out locations on Friday and Saturday are mostly set up as theater-style seating (rows of chairs only). Ashley in the Sales department was unable to be more specific, so it’s probably safe to assume tables won’t be available in many of those rooms.
• Internet access is $9.95 per day in guest rooms.  Sounds like internet access will be hit or miss during the workshops and seminars.  I’ve heard from some presenters that internet access will be available in specific meeting spaces, but not in others.  Let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best!

That’s all I have for now.  I will post any new information as I get it.  It’s going to be a full house and lots of fun!

I look forward to meeting many of you in Providence!

~ Jennifer