In January, I began working for the Charleston Hub as their Marketing and Digital Communications Manager. It has been a fantastic experience that has given me a behind the scenes look at one of librarianship's top annual conferences. Here is a look at what the first hybrid conference was like in person.
Sessions from the 2021 Charleston Conference are now up on the conference YouTube Channel. The available sessions feature two keynote addresses and the ever-popular Long Arm of the Law session. Speakers include Joy Connolly, Paul Saffo, Lila Bailey, and Kevin Smith.
This year’s conference was unique as the conference moved to a hybrid format in light of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. For the first time, attendees and presenters could choose to participate face-to-face or remotely. This made the conference more accessible to those who were unable to travel, while allowing those who missed in person events over the last year to enjoy the face-to-face conference.
“The Charleston Conference was thrilled to host its first completely hybrid conference this year,” said Leah Hinds, Charleston Conference Director. “It was so good to see friends and colleagues face to face for those who attended in-person, while still making conference sessions and exhibits fully available to virtual attendees.”
Going hybrid allowed for the full participation of everyone in a way that was never accessible before. Virtual attendees were able to attend sessions in real-time and ask questions alongside in person attendants. Though, as with any new venture, it was not always smooth sailing.
“We had some technical difficulties to work through on Wednesday due to staffing shortages, but overall the event was a success and we're looking forward to using lessons learned for an even stronger event in 2022,” Hinds said.
Conference organizers overcame the challenges they faced from running a hybrid event and attendees of both formats were able to participate in potential field-changing discussions of access, equity, and collections. Big plans are already in place to ensure next year’s event is even bigger and better.
In the meantime, staff are organizing Charleston In-Between sessions and other webinars to keep the conversations that began at this year’s conference going. All representatives of the library field and scholarly publishing community are invited to watch the conference presentations and join the dialogue of change at Charleston-Hub.com.
About Charleston Hub: Charleston Hub was created in 2020 to bring together the various entities associated with the Charleston Conference and Against the Grain into one site. The Hub’s aim is to bring together librarians, vendors and publishers to discuss areas of common interest and find relevant information. The Hub is also the gateway to the Charleston Conference, the Journal Against the Grain, and a host of resources on jobs, news, and other relevant industry information.