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Dear Colleagues,
After 39 years, the
Charleston Conference regrets to announce we are unable to meet in person
as planned this year. We are committing ourselves to providing a
top-notch, interactive, and immersive online experience for our attendees.
We want to do our best to bring what you know and love about Charleston to
you remotely! The event platform we're using will provide a virtual vendor
showcase, several networking opportunities, and a user-friendly interface
for conference sessions. We're working on schedule details now but plan to
bring a mix of our usual high quality keynote and plenary speakers, along
with concurrents and some fun social options.
We are extending the
proposal deadline for our Call for Papers to Friday, July 17. Remote
presentations will include a mix of live and pre-recorded sessions, and
both options will include live Q&A for attendees. Submit your proposal
now for our virtual event at https://charlestonlibraryconference.com/call-for-papers/.
Moving to an
online-only event was not an easy decision to make, and we appreciate
all the feedback and suggestions we've received. We sent a survey to
conference attendees from the past five years, and received a huge return
rate of over 900 librarians, publishers, vendors and more. The overwhelming
response was that although attendees love and value the conference, they're
simply not able to come this year. We all know budgets have taken an
enormous hit this year as colleges and universities struggle to determine
how to re-open in the fall, and publishers and vendors are therefore also
feeling the crunch. Beyond those budgetary constraints, however, there is
real and valid concern over travel safety as the majority of our attendees
are coming from out of state, or even internationally, to attend. Even with
following all of the recommended social distancing, protective policies,
and disinfecting protocols, the travel to the venue and the hotel stays are
problematic for attendee safety. For all of these reasons, we agree that it
is the best to move to an online-only conference.
We're sad that we
can't be with you in person for 2020, but we look forward to hopefully
going back to an on-site event for 2021. Contact Leah Hinds,
Executive Director, with questions at leah@charlestonlibraryconference.com.
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