NELA was fun

Greetings from Manchester, well, okay, greetings from Waltham. I wanted to post something from the NELA Conference in Manchester but there were some Internet issues at the conference site. I enjoyed the conference very much, and will make individual posts about the workshops I did attend. I drove up with Paula and was able to see some library acquaintances, including a couple of former co-workers, Simmons' classmates, and Rick and Paige from the Minuteman staff. In addition to the workshops, I wandered around the conference hall, went to a video gaming demonstration, attended lunch and listened to local author, Michael Palmer, a doctor who writes medical thrillers. Mr. Palmer was a wonderful lunch speaker. I was unfamiliar with him prior to yesterday, but he discussed how he became a writer after a dying patient made a death bed wish. (Despite this sad annecdote, Mr. Palmer was actually very funny). He mentioned that publishers are demanding rapid production from their writers, and his latest contract obliges him to write four books in four years. He also talked about what led him to write some of his titles such as The Sisterhood or First Patient (about the President's doctor). Sadly, First Patient was sold out, so I bought a book called Natural Causes and had it autographed.
The gaming demonstration was also fun. A lot of libraries are using video games and gaming systems, such as Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and Nintendo Wii with patrons of all ages. (Check out this article about seniors in Newton using the Nintendo Wii). So librarians had a chance to utilize the equipment. After making a fool out of myself playing Rock Band at the MLA conference, last spring, I forced poor Paula to try out Dance Dance Revolution, who held her own. My former MLA colleague, Cathy from the Central Region, tried the expert version of Dance Dance Revolution which looked pretty impossible.