Home again, home again

You know you've had a great conference when you've crammed your suitcase full of brochures, pins, pens, and postcards-- and it explodes when you unzip it in your living room!

While I am happy to be tip, tap, typing from my computer at home, largely because the screen is much bigger than my laptop and easier on my eyes, I also feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to travel north. Our Alaska colleagues were gracious and welcoming, obviously proud to share their wonderful collections and beautiful home with us. It's hard to avoid cliches when writing about the trip, but the power of those mountains and the enchantment you feel when watching a young moose chomp on a bush is second to none.

Of course, I wasn't there for sight-seeing, and I spent most of the trip home yesterday scribbling notes for the 2009 NWA/OR Heritage Comm joint conference on my Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau notepad.

I'd like to share some percolations before returning to my morning java, though I must fully disclose that these aren't actually all my own-- great conversations make great ideas!

• Various Google map mash-ups with restaurants, activities, and shopping
• "Angel" project to link early archival arrivers with local repositories/historical societies to work on projects (i.e. one-day blitz processing)
• "Crawls": jazz clubs, coffee houses, bookstores, brew pubs
• Poster sessions: grad sutdents from a variety of programs (Western WA, Emporia State, WSU, distance/online) and disciplines (Urban Planning, Public History), panelists without a panel (the great ideas for presentations that don't quite gel into a session), high school students (History Day)
• Ning.com site for connecting people before, during, and after the conference (I've set up a "beta" site and will send out the link when I am aesthetically satisfied)

And these are the things I'd like to steal from this year:

• Silent auction: this time including framed prints of images from repositories
• Sign up for local archivists to arrange dinner outings to their favorite Portland restaurants for meals
• Message board ("real" and virtual ) to link people, post notes, ask questions
• Navigator program: including a program that would link an archivist to a heritage participant

In the words of our current fearless leader (T Bond), "let's make 2009 the best conference EVER"-- we have some pretty big shoes to fill...

Spruce Moose

As the conference winds down, I am reflecting on what a great success it has been. I attended two sessions yesterday afternoon: student papers and a focus on collections of Alaska. Kevin Tripp showed some amazing film clips from the Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association's collection including what is thought to be the last footage of Will Rogers before his tragic death in a plane crash in Alaska. Another clip he showed was taken by a local Anchorage resident the devastating damage caused by the Good Friday Earthquake in 1964. I had seen some photographs of the damage before, but somehow the moving image captures it in a different and more stark way. Most striking to me was the image of a house on its side from which a couple of guys were extracting a sofa from a door or window.



















Immediately following the final presentations, we were shuttled off to the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum for the All-Attendees Reception. The food was quite delicious (as it was consistently throughout the conference, I should mention) and it was fun to meander through the exhibits which included a flight simulator and, of course, a bunch of planes. Enjoy this sampling of photos. Unfortunately I don't have a knack for including people in my photos, so you'll have to take my word for it that the reception was well attended! In fact, the conference as a whole had something on the order of 75 attendees which is pretty impressive considering that we are in Alaska, which is pretty far from pretty much everything!

















This morning we had the NWA breakfast business meeting followed by a set of sessions and the Closing Plenary luncheon. The plenary speaker was Mike Doogan, former newspaper man current Alaska State Legislator and mystery novelist.

We have crammed a lot in to these few days up in Alaska and we have been graced with great weather and of course a lot of daylight. Still no moose sighting but I still have some time before I leave tomorrow, and if not I took this picture at Alyeska of the faux moose just in case the real thing didn't happen.

Lunch Break!

So, still no moose sightings (at least by me) but plenty of great discussions and presentations about the current state and the future of the archival profession.  Thus far, I have enjoyed talks about the ins and outs of archival consulting; the importance of finding out what archival users (i.e. students, historians, genealogists, and others) want from your website and how they expect to find it; and finally a "State of the States" presentation by the representative State Archivists of the Northwest Archivists.  

We are about at the half-way point of today's sessions--so more to come!  

No Aurora, No Moose

So, I tried to see the Aurora both last night and the night before. There is a forecast website that showed Wednesday as the best hit. No luck. I think it's just too light It is just a little too weird to be romaing around at 10 or 11 in the evening and just seeing the sun set! It isn't really dark at 3 in the morning. I am getting a feeling for how Pacino felt in Insomnia . . .

There is also supposed to be a moose roaming around the park between the library and the dorms. I haven't seen it, but would like to get that special Northern Exposure moment.

My only responsibility was the Board meeting and that was fun. We were going to get a presentation from Gordon Daines, but his plane was struck by lightning and delayed. Luckily it was on the ground. I got a little misty about my last board meeting as president, but I sucked it up and we were able to finish.

The reception was right after and I had to run back and get on big boy clothes. The reception was in full swing when I got back. It was a joint reception with the local ARMA chapter. Good food, good company, and good music from some local artists. I got to see my old friend and mentor Jerry Handfield. He was excited about finally visiting the last state he'd never seen.

After the reception, people grouped up for hosted dinners. My group ended up at the bear tooth. In between bites of halibut (yummy) and sips of Prince William Porter, I enjoyed about two hours of great camraderie. A special treat was the presence of the central european archivist, Grina.

So now, I probably should listne more attentively to Tony Kurtz and his description of his long-lost Plymouth Valiant. More to come.

Opening Reception

After a day of enjoying nature's bounty (by way of Portage Glacier and the Alyeska Tram) I am headed to the opening reception at UAA's Consortium Library.  Join the fun by following along with the conference schedule!

Looking for large, wild beasts?

Hello from Alaska!
We slid in on a glacier last night and parked in the University of Alaska dorms. Quite pleasant and unlike my own experience in the tiny, tiny rooms at the U of O ages ago... We even have a coffee pot!
The conference is still in its infancy, so there isn't much for me to report on that front...
I spent the morning talking with colleagues, enjoying this beautiful city, and planning an outside dinner with friends. And, as if being here wasn't enough of a treat, we've been graced with sunshine and warm temperatures. The mountains hug the edge of the city, you can smell the sea air from downtown, and I am actively hunting a moose sighting.
Stay tuned, the opening reception is this afternoon and rumor has it a "dorm based" moose can be spotted around 10PM.
Tiah

Welcome fo NWA 2008 in Anchorage!

Well, it really kicked off with the Northwest Digital Archives meeting on Monday and Tuesday, but since reality only happens with in your own existential experience, the conference starts today. After three days in Denali (pics to follow, either here or on Facebook), it was nice to roll into Anchorage and see old friends and meet new ones. The weather has been beautiful -- sunny and "warm" (65 degrees qualifies here). Dorm life is nostalgic. Bunks beds, tiny rooms, bans on alcohol, RA's -- there was even a pajama party in the NWDA chicks' megaplex after the movie last night.

The Progressive Archivists meeting was last night and five people attended. Following the standard method, we introduced ourselves and talked about what we were doing or were interested in. It was a nice group and there are some interesting things out and about.:

• There is a book prospectus being developed around the subject of green archives.
• Advocacy in the possibility of a new political regime
• The impact of MPLP on basic archival practices as well as on the profession's carbon footprint

"What is a Progressive Archivist?" was asked at least twice. That's a question that comes up at most meetings. My answer is usually "whatever you want it to be." I mean there's the usual suspects -- greenies, peaceniks, lefties, really lefties, commmies, pinkos -- you know the ilk! But I think the group welcomes anyone who looks to a better world in the future, not in the past, and is willing to work to make it happen. And in answer to the question "how can we keep in touch with other like-minded archivists?" Join the prograrchs listserv and start a discussion.

The meeting moved into the evening showing of the movie "Eskimo". It was 16mm on 3 reels and the way the sound revved up as the reel started reminded me so much a high school movie nights. That's back in the pre-vhs, pre-dvd, pre-cable days, boys and girls. The showing was introduced by Dr. Ted Mala, who is the son of the lead actor in the 1933 movie, Ray Mala. The stories about growing up in Hollywood and Alaska in the early 1940's was fascinating.

The movie itself is pretty melodramatic, but the fact that it was shot live and on location provides wonderful insight into the life of Native Alaskans 80 years ago. Be warned. If you don't like to see live hunts of whales, birds, fish, polar bears, seals, then this movie might not be right for you.

So that was then and this is now. I'm about to head off to the Board meeting. More to follow.