Library Conference

1. Library Conference Project Team: Esme Busch, Collette Kirby, Michael Jones

2. Problem • The problems for the Idaho Library Association (ILA) attendance was down at their regional conference. • The purpose of the conference is to bring together those interested in library services to promote the organization and development of growing library services in the State of Idaho. • The decrease in the number of attendees has also decreased the number of vendors

3. Scope • The ILA would like us to create a marketing plan with suggestions of how to increase attendance at the regional conferences. • Our recommendations will fit within the ILA’s desire to remain eco-friendly. Our recommendations will also take into account that the ILA would like to spend less than $250 per year for marketing on this conference. • This project is not intended to increase attendance at this year’s regional conference.

4. Marketing Ideas for Increasing Librarian Participation • create a database with the names and contacts, including email, of all the invitation prospects. • can be used year after year in order to continually invite people from the 105 libraries in the region. • can keep track of who has not attended and can be used to survey the ones who don’t attend • a mass email invitation will save money and paper • can be designed in any sort of publishing software and emailed out and constructed with an RSVP option for the conference • a secondary email could be sent out periodically to the invites who have not replied • a yearly flier can be created and sent to the 105 libraries where they can be posted as a reminder to attend the conference.

5. Marketing Ideas for Increasing Vendor Participation • compile a list of vendors that have participated in the conference in the past • Can keep track of who the ILA would like to have come in the future • research and partner with the different Library Associations in the areas • such as: Montana, Oregon, Washington and the other Idaho Conferences. • send out a thank you card to all the different vendors that participated in the conference • the cards could be created in a software program such as Microsoft Publisher and then emailed as an attachment to the vendors.

6. Marketing Ideas for Receiving Feedback • put surveys on the ILA Facebook page • participants can fill out the surveys at their leisure and not have to mail them to the conference directors. • hand out paper surveys at the beginning of the conference. • the participants could fill the survey out while attending the conference. • once the survey has been turned in, the person’s name can be entered into a drawing for a small prize. • email the survey to the participants after the conference • allows for instant feedback via the internet through a medium that sorts the data automatically.

7. Marketing Ideas for General Purposes • A simple check-in system • allows the ILA to determine how many people are attending the conference and which library they are coming from. • can be used to target the areas not attending and market more heavily to those areas • update the Facebook site regularly with pictures or a slideshow from the previous years’ conference. • allows the participants to share their experience with their friends • provide a hot food buffet for the attendees. • Increases morale and incentive for participation

8. Lessons Learned Positive • The meetings went really well. • met regularly and showed up to all of the meetings • kept the possible tension between teammates low. • The team had strong communication • we were able to discuss what we needed in order to get everything done. • we were able to share ideas and thoughts Negative • We should have done more research • only researched three states out of 50. • we could have gotten better ideas about how to bring people to the conference • We should have started earlier on everything. • as time went by we had to do more work with shorter amount of time • when we finished something early, we sat back and didn’t continue to the next thing until we had too.

9. IDAHO LIBRARY ASSOCIATION To Learn More About the Idaho Library Association you can go to their facebook page search: Idaho Library Association Or go to University of Idaho Library for more information!