What Lori said. Saturdays are family time for me - my kids are in sports and Saturdays almost always mean a soccer, basketball or baseball game, and I hate to miss them. Also, getting childcare on Saturdays is tricky.

Because the idea is popular with some, perhaps the post conference idea for Saturday instead of preconference on Wednesday, or even holding Saturday to a half day might work. But I personally prefer the conference as it is.

I probably would not attend conference on a Saturday. I have young children and family time is a top priority for us. What if we would do the pre-conference session on Saturday as a post-conference event? That way we would still be offering a professional opportunity on Saturday but not the actual conference.

I would most likely not attend Saturday sessions. We already give up so much of our own time for work. I would hate to give up the time with my family.

Including a Saturday as a conference day certainly does provide a viable option for those who are otherwise unable to attend during the week.

I may be swimming upstream so to speak… but I also feel that we shouldn’t go to holding conference sesions on Saturday. I guess I am to the point where I am getting a little more selfish with my weekend time. Weekdays are so busy and I cherish my personal time on the weekends. I do remember when we used to have Saturday sessions and the attendance really dropped off on Saturday.

I really like the Thu-Sat idea. It can’t hurt to try anyways. I like both the idea of a half-day on Thursday (pre-conf?/author-pallooza) full day Friday and then Saturday could be optional all-day or not, but no later than 2-3PM for people who are anxious about getting home to families with a longer commute.

I might hesitate about coming to the conference if it were thursday thru saturday. i have commitments on saturdays which means i would have to reajust by schedule anyway. Administrators should be helped to see that going to a convention helps their librarians to keep up with trends and thus makes the library more viable. i hate the idea that moving to saturdays will get more librarians to attend because we make it easier for administrators.

I think we should try the Thursday-Saturday format, even if Saturday will only be one-half day. I’ve always wanted to attend some of the pre-conference sessions, but getting another professional day was not possible. What would the vendors think about this change? Will it affect revenue?

I love the Thurs-Saturday set-up that is being considered. When I take off days for professional dev. my district often does not give subs for the media specialists (which make me so popular- not!). HAving only one day without the library would be great for the staff I work with and for me. Because of the dates chosen this year, I will probably not be able to come to the conference at all and I do love coming. Thanks for considering this idea.

The Thursday -Saturday is great for me. End it by noon or 1:00. I agree with Michele that moving it to different parts of the state would be a good idea. Travel and housing expenses can be as high as or higher than the cost of registration.