What did you learn at ALA?

More of you attended this year's ALA Annual Conference than ever before.

If the programs I attended (and I attended more programs than usual) and the crowds I saw in exhibits are any indication, you were active at the conference, not just there for the sunshine. (Yes, "active" includes schmoozing; seeing e-acquaintances from all around the country face-to-face is certainly one big reason I've been attending ALA for the last 34 years...)

So here's a challenge for y'all:

What lessons related to leadership (or other topics covered on the Library Leadership Network) did you learn in Chicago?

There's a brief Letter from the editor posing that challenge and a skeleton article waiting for your contributions.

• If you're already a registered LLN member, log in and add your lesson or lessons.
• If you're not a registered LLN member, this is a good time to find out what you're missing--a wealth of material, free for you to use and comment on. (The registration process requires two email confirmations and an approval step--just to deter spammers--but you only need registration to add or edit material, not to read it.)
• If you'd rather not add text directly, feel free to mail it to me (waltcrawford at gmail dot com), or even add it as a comment on this post--I'll mark it up and add it.
• It's not just about leadership as such. LLN also covers aspects of management, innovation, technology, policy, marketing, services and people that leaders need to know about. If you don't see something discussed in LLN that you believe leaders should know about, great: You may inspire a new article or cluster.
• If (when?) the challenge shows good responses, I'll distribute some of them to other articles as appropriate, leaving links in the "Leadership lessons from ALA 2009" spot.