Thank you,
Thank you to all the delegates, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, and behind the scenes staff who helped make the LIANZA 2010 Conference a memorable and successful one. A great way to finish off the year and celebrate 100 years of LIANZA Conferences.
Linda Geddes
Conference Convenor
Tena koutou katoa
Ka nui te mihi atu i te pito whakararo o te motu nei.
I am delighted to introduce myself as Convenor of the LIANZA Conference in Dunedin at the St David Lecture Theatre Complex, University of Otago, 28 November – 1 December 2010. It is my privilege and pleasure to be able to welcome you to Dunedin, where on 26th and 28th March 1910, fifteen delegates from seven libraries originally formed the Libraries Association of New Zealand.
The conference theme is ‘At the Edge’ - Te Matakaheru and allows us the freedom to celebrate many aspects of librarianship at the Edge –history, innovation, space, integration, people and the list goes on.
Many of us on the Conference Organising Committee attended the wonderful conference in Christchurch 2009 where we listened and learned and feel confident to stamp Dunedin’s mark on another conference which we promise will be as memorable.
Exhibitors and Sponsors wowed us with their absolute commitment to attend the Centennial Conference in Dunedin and celebrate the extraordinary development of LIANZA through the efforts of many dedicated people through the decades. We will celebrate our history as well as look forward to being forever at the [cutting] edge of the developing information landscape.
We’re not going to be over earnest though – we are planning a full range of social events to suit all tastes. We encourage delegates, who make the very easy journey to Dunedin, to spare a few more days to explore what Dunedin offers - flora and fauna, train trip to rail trail, harbour cruises, fashion shops unlike any others, wine and food, magnificent architecture and a scarfie zone to mention only a few. Half our delegates will I’m sure be ex students of Otago and the other half will have yearned to visit Dunedin all their lives so we’ve chosen dates which will suit many schedules.
As we develop our programme we will be mindful of meeting lots of different expectations from delegates eager to learn more, network with friends and colleagues, experience new ways of achieving existing goals and to connect with library friends from the exhibitor/sponsor stands. We welcome retired current and former members of LIANZA to reflect on a past in a profession still full of opportunity and promise.
No reira, nau mai, haere mai, tauti mai ki roto i a matou i raro i te maru o ka mauka tapu o te rohe nei.
Linda Geddes
Convenor, LIANZA Centennial Conference, 2010
At the Edge – Te Matakaheru
