Opportunity for LIS Students!! Call for Interns!

Why the Charleston Conference?

• As many attendees will tell you, this is one of the most exciting if not the most exciting conference they have ever attended.
• It is a unique environment where publishers and librarians are partners in the future of information resources, not vendors and customers.
• Presentations are often at or beyond the cutting edge.

Who can participate?

• Currently registered students in Library and Information Science Programs
• Currently registered students in other disciplines related to publishing (especially scholarly publishing)
  

Why be a conference intern?

• Student interns pay less than 10% the regular conference rate and 50% the student rate
• Student interns have opportunities to write meeting reports for publication
• Student interns are mentored throughout the conference
• Student interns have a community of other interns attending the conference with them and a LIS faculty coordinators (Heidi Hoerman-South Carolina, Elaine Yontz-Valdosta)

Student opportunities at the Charleston Conference:

• Meetings - Students are welcome to attend as many sessions as you wish throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday (morning -- the conference ends about 1 or 2 p.m. Saturday).
• The sessions have a wide range of topics. If you find part way into a session that it is not what you expected, you can always change rooms and go to another session. (Preconferences are only available to those specifically registered for them. There are no student discounts for preconferences.)
• The Exhibits on Wednesday Afternoon - The Vendor's Showcase on Wednesday afternoon from 12-6 p.m. is the only time that there are any exhibits at the Charleston Conference. Vendors do not do the same kind of general display they do at other conferences. These are small, special displays wherein they are usually showing some new and unusual product or initiative. It's great fun and you will see the latest thing coming down the pike.
• Lively Lunches - Charleston Conference meetings go right through lunch. The lunch-time sessions tend to be even more informal than other sessions. You can attend the sessions even if you don't buy the box lunches.
  
• Writing meeting reports - After known conference attendees (the "old guard") cherry-pick some individual conference sessions upon which they wish to write a report, students may volunteer to write the remainder of the 100-200 word meeting reports that are published following the conference. This gives you good experience AND a by-line that you can include in your resumes!
• The Juried Product Development Sessions - In these sessions, held 5:15-6:30 Wednesday and Thursday, publishers and vendors show new products or products under development to librarians (only those who work in libraries or students) to seek their opinions. Employees of other vendors/publishers and the library press are kept out. These are closed door sessions with pre-session sign-up and identity checked by students at the door. Students are welcome to attend these sessions, too.
• Tweeting the Conference & Other Social Networking - This will be the first year that the conference will have a Twitter Feed and Facebook presence. Students will work with the conference organizers to optimize use of social media during the conference.
• The Conference Reception - The all conference reception is on Thursday from 7 until 9 p.m. The food and drink are usually really wonderful - but even better is the conversation. You will have a chance to rub elbows (or perhaps bend an elbow -- there is usually wine) with people you heard speak during the day. You may hear entirely different points of view from those given in the formal sessions.
• Conference Photographs -Students are invited to bring cameras along to take pictures of the conference for the conference organizer to use in Against the Grain and on the conference website.

Student Intern duties at the Charleston Conference:

• The more interns there are, the less the burden on each. Although there will be a specific schedule set up for the registration desk, interns should expect to be asked to do things on the spur of the moment as well. Consider that interns pay less than 10% of regular registrants when deciding if interning is worth it!
• Who's in charge? - A variety of conference organizers will assign interns a variety of duties. Two LIS faculty, Heidi Hoerman (South Carolina) and Elaine Yontz (Valdosta) are the intern coordinators and will make sure you are not over-burdened.
• Registration desk and other sign up desks - Student interns are asked to man the conference registration desk and the sign-up desks for the juried products sessions.
• Juried session door checks - Interns check sign-up sheets and restrict admission to the Juried Product Development Sessions. Those who are interning can slip in to see what is going on at the door they are guarding as long as they continue their “bouncer” duties. There will be conference staff around to help you if someone wants to argue that they should be let in.
• Twittering the Conference, etc. - Interns who Tweet and are familiar with other social networking media will work with conference organizers to utilize these tools.
• Lively lunches - Interns help organize distribution of the box lunches. There are often left-over lunches that people paid for but didn't pick up that will feed some of the interns. So you can take pot luck. But have munchies in your pocket in case there aren't enough of these to go around.
• Guiding folks around the Conference and to the Reception. Interns may be asked to help guide people to meetings in other buildings and to the receptions.
• Other duties. Interns may be asked to perform other duties like grabbing extra chairs, paging someone in an emergency, etc. Usually, there isn't too much of this.
  

Hotels & Accommodations

• Conference hotels in downtown Charleston are listed at http://www.katina.info/conference/travel.php
• Hotels in downtown Charleston can be expensive. We have had good luck staying just over the new bridge in Mt. Pleasant at the cluster of motels at the bottom of the bridge ramp.
  
• We are working to find a good group rate for students somewhere in this cluster.More hotel information will be forthcoming as a bargain is identified.

Transportation & Rides

• Parking for the conference is relatively easy. There is a parking garage just a couple doors up King Street from the Francis Marion Hotel. I've yet to find it full. I usually end up paying less than $10/day.It's parking garage number 6 on the map of garages at http://www.ci.charleston.sc.us/dept/content.aspx?nid=282

• Those of you without cars should let the rest of us know so we can work together to get you where you need to be.
• If you wish to car pool, need a ride, or can give a ride, use the comments to this post as a "ride board."
• We will also use the comments to see about picking up students who are coming by air.