WiLSWorld 2015 Updates: Keynote Kelvin Watson, Format Changes, and Workshops

There are lots of exciting updates to share on the WiLSWorld front!

First, WiLS and the WiLSWorld 2015 planning team are very excited to announce our keynote speaker for the conference, Kelvin Watson.Watson is the Vice President Digital Services & Strategy and Interim Vice President Information, Technology, and Development at the Queens Library and President of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.  His primary responsibilities at the Queens Public Library have been to move Queens Library’s e-book initiatives forward, along with developing other digitally-delivered content in English and other languages.

Read more about Mr. Watson here.

Second, we are excited to share some changes to the conference format this year.  As a membership organization, it is crucial that WiLS is responsive to our members’ needs.  In response to recent caps on professional development for library staff, looming cuts to the UW System budget, and other pervasive budget concerns, WiLS and the WiLSWorld planning team have moved the WiLSWorld 2015 conference to a single jam-packed, fun-filled day on Tuesday, July 21st, to reduce registration and travel costs for our members.  The second day of the conference on Wednesday, July 22nd, will be full and/or half day workshops, targeted toward topics of interest expressed by you, our member community, to help you make the most of your time and dollars.  To that end, we’d like your opinion on topics for those workshops. Please share your input about topics for workshops with us.

Third (yes, there are three!), we are also proud to share that this year’s conference will be sponsored in part by the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies.  Thank you, SLIS, for your support!

There will be more information on the site soon about the conference.  We hope to see you there.