Update – ok. It’s really for SXSW 2013. Not changing the link, since it’s already been tweeted out. Hee. Maybe I should write a post on proofreading? 🙂

Have you ever thought about attending SXSW Interactive (March 8-12, 2013)? It’s not a librarian conference, though a growing number of librarians have been going the last few years.

But it IS a great technology and emerging trendsconference, and usually has some really big names in the tech world presenting on a ton of topics – everything from monetizing blogs to how to use social tools for businesses, to the future of the web.

It’s a really good learning and networking opportunity … which is why I want to present there! SXSW has a unique way of figuring out who presents – they let their community vote on the potential topics, using the SXSW PanelPicker.

This year, one of the potential sessions includes me, Michael Porter, and Amy Buckland. Michael and Amy presented at SXSW last year, so here’s hoping! Here’s what we plan to talk about:

Title: We build online communities. Really, we do.

Description:

The concept of an online community means more to libraries than simply having a chatroom and a blog for folks on which to comment. It involves making resources freely available, teaching our communities how to access these resources, and getting local community members to interact and work together in ways no other civic institution can.

Be it digital collection or ask-a-librarian, libraries have been building online communities since before we were “supposed to be” online. In most cases, our technology is not particularly cutting-edge, and our SEO tactics are sometimes lacking, yet our communities love and use our online resources and want more.

Even with the unique success stories we have there is room for you to help libraries build community and succeed, especially as technology evolves and makes new services and outreach possible. Hear about how libraries made it online, and help us figure out how we can keep making it better in the future.

Here’s what I’d LOVE for you to do – vote for our session! You’ll need to set up an account to do it (it’s easy to do). We really want to see more librarians at SXSW Interactive. We have some really good insight into user communities and content trends that the business world simply doesn’t have. So this is just one way to get librarians and our unique knowledge out into the greater world.

So please vote us in!