We were excited to kick off 2012 at ALA Midwinter this past January. It was great to catch up with clients and meet a lot of new people. One of the things that made this conference particularly fun was that it was the first ALA MW for Bob Bonocore, one of our Client Services Managers. Check out his recap of ALA MW below to find out his highlights and takeaways!

Susan, Erin Chesnutt, and Bob!

Starting with Tutor.com just under a year ago meant that this January I was able to attend my first ALA Midwinter conference. I packed up my Pennsylvanian home office and headed down to Dallas, TX to get in on all the fun. And fun it was. Between the amazing steak and service at Hoffbrau Steaks, to the Tutor.com team’s impromptu photo shoot near the City Hall bulls, Dallas was a great host city for the conference; not to mention all the fun going on inside the convention center. After kicking off the mornings with pre-show dancing to “Moves like Jagger”, it was great to spend each day connecting with clients face-to-face. Highlights included catching up with Dawn LaValle, from Fairfield Public Library in Connecticut, to chat about local news coverage of Tutor.com and its positive impact on the community. Then on Saturday, I was sure to celebrate National Hug Day with Erin Chesnutt, from Beauregard Parish Library in Louisiana.

While all my conversations in the booth varied, each one seemed to touch on one of three main points: adult users, client resources and mobile solutions. If you weren’t able to attend ALA Midwinter and stop by our booth, here’s what you might have missed:

1. Not Just for Students –Libraries are still one of the most important organizations for job seekers in their communities. I had many conversations in the booth about how libraries are addressing this challenging issue. When most people think of Tutor.com, tutoring assistance for students in K-12 comes to mind. However, we also provide adults with tutoring and other resources in our Adult Education and Career centers.  Job seekers in your community can upload their resume and work in real time with a career specialist when they use ProofPoint™ Writing Center. Our tutors also provide job search tips and best practices as well as interview preparation assistance.
2. Fresh, New and Ready to Use! –Promoting your library’s resources to the community is a necessary but time consuming task. Our clients are also our partners. We do as much as we can to provide the materials needed to help create awareness. Recently we added several new resources to the Client Resource Center and updated many others, including posters, fliers, monitor strips, bookmarks, recorded demo sessions and PowerPoints to present to educators, parents and students. Check out the new resources at www.tutor.com/clients. While you are there, take a look at our Demo Resources to view recorded sessions.
3. Tutor.com: Anywhere, Anytime – With Tutor.com’s mobile services, your patrons can use our most popular features in a mobile environment. They can connect to a live tutor, review previous sessions, upload photographs from their textbooks, store important documents in their student locker, and search thousands of resources including videos, worksheets, and practice tests.  Check out more information about Tutor.com’s mobile services in the Client Resource Center at www.tutor.com/clients.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to attend ALA Midwinter, meet so many great people, hand out our very popular cell phone socks and bright orange pens, and of course show Tutor.com in action. If you weren’t able to attend, be sure to visit us at booth #1134 at PLA in Philadelphia, PA. We can’t wait to see you there!

Check out our photo album of all the fun we had in Dallas on flickr!