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EDITORIAL., F',.;:
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Nora R4wUnaon
ALA: Please Don't Make STs Eaiwr.ln-Chief ,
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Return to Miami Beach!
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Dear ALA Executive Board: generally held over a pitcher of daiquiris be-
The publishers who regularly ee ihit et the neath a slowly revolving ceiling fan, As a solu-
annual Amer:cen Library Association confer- tion, ALA Conference Services is negotiating
once are dreading next year's eventin Miami to ;:se the Miami Convention Center—in
Beach, and with good reason. Many f them downtown Miami—for the majority of the
know firsthand the drawbacks of tYifs city as a meetings, with shuttle buses running between
conference site, after the recent American them. Consider that Miami Beach is on an is-
"Booksellers Association Convention held there. land and that travel to downtown Miami can
The stories about the inadequate hotels are al- take 20-30 minutes. In addition, the timing of
ready legendary (my favorite comment: "I hat- the meeting coincides with South Florida's
ed Barton Fick, but now I knew why I saw rainy season (in truth, hurricane season). The
it—to prepare me for this";. But',beyond per- midafternoon downpours in New Orleans re-
zone.: comfort, t.'. ere is the mere *portant duced exhibit attendance; given the greater
concern that Miami Beach will not-be coele- distances from meetings, rains can have an
dive to publishers ing business with their' ii- even more dramatic effect at the Miami Beach
bran customers. On behalf of publiehe.rs: who, eenferenoe.
represent 70% of your exhibitors, I ask you to Transport t n was often mentioned as a
do whatever has to be done tbemove neat . problem at ABA; shuttle buses were difficult
year's eonferenre to another city. to find, driver were surly and the regular
Along with this letter to the Board,`I air• + storms made negotiating the short distance be-
mailing a copy of an article from the Jun 13 tkeen lobby and the bus door a drenching ex-
Miami }jera'.ct, entitled "Meeting r' .esistatice• ' perienc* Cab service in Miami Beach is expen-
The article begins by saying that the ABA sive and irregular at best. Receptions and
convention became a "primer on the city's parties, which will have to be held in surround-
shortcomings as a convention city," and then ing areas, will necessitate long, expensive cab
provides reeks:ie detailing of those ehbrtcom- rides. Many librarians will just stay in their
inga. Reed at carefully. Then consider how dingy hotel rooms, competing with each other
these drawneeke will epecificaily affect an in vain for room service.
ALA, Moreover, Miami Beach did not work as a
On the bright Bide, the 'diatni Leax: C.cn- draw for attendance at ABA. ALA '94 was
vention Cenv.:: is an outstanding fac''ity. A_:.+ or:gnall;' slated for New York City, but the
given that ALA exhibits take just 4}.eut ha'f Executive Board thought librarians would be
the space of an ABA, you might ha•.e less put off by the cost of New York. The majority
trouble with the poorly trained labor peel that of booksellers are no less well-heeled than li-
comes with the site. brarians, yet bookseller attendance in New
However, ALA has far more meetings and York in '91 was '1815; in Miami Beach it was
programs-2300 its,New Orleans—than does 6427, a whopping 30% decrease,
the booksellers convention Stich a. full slate is If you take the bold step of moving the Ion-
a notorious competitor for librarians' limited Terence, you will lose money on canceled con-
time, drawing them away from the action on tracts, but you will earn it back in better at-
the show floor. Thus it becomes crucial te the tendance'by both exhibitors and librarians.
exhibitors that the meetings be as close to the
convention center as possible, i' not right in
N the center itself. ,
Unfortunately, the Miami Beach Convention.
Center has limited meeting room space. The
hotels in the imielediate area are barely reno- -
vated relics of an era why::. "meetings" were /Al.. 1 •. '
1 I s `- Fouh:.(8}ti nt5 WKLS'/JULY H.3119P ,