Speaking of ALA, I have been trying to find a way to put into words the frustration I've been feeling lately with some of the things I've been trying to work through on ALA Council. Karen has summed up her feelings on some of the same issues. Most recently, we've been working on the issue of getting wireless capabilities at ALA. At the last conference, ALA splurged for wireless connections for councilors only and everyone else had to share the several dozen public access terminals in the convention center area, check email/web stuff from their hotels, or pay for access elsewhere. At other more tech-y conferences I know of, wireless access for attendees is part of the registration price. At ALA to date it hasn't even been available. Karen Schneider and I and others have been trying to push more Wifi accessibility, even if it comes at a price, just as an option. Looks like we'll have it for ALA Midwinter, again only for councilors, maybe by Annual we can have Wifi for everyone. Since all of ALA's Council discussions are public, you can read some of the more interesting comments on the wifi discussion.

- a "why wifi?" query
- my response
- a different sort of response
- an offered parable about efficiency
- Karen's offer of wifi assistance for folks who want/need it
- a response from a colleague that surprised even me with its vitriol