In Contrast

I had been to and had organized a lot of library-related activities and was resource speaker for a number of them back in the Philippines. And fresh from attending my first conference here in Melbourne, I was pleasantly surprised at the way it was organized and noticed some differences on the way things were done back home.

First was the absence of the registration table. Participants didn't have to sign on attendance sheets for the succeeding days of the conference except for the first day but were required to wear their badges at all times. In the Philippines, attendance is closely monitored and participants are required to sign their names before the start of the morning and afternoon sessions.

Second, there were no meal stubs. The conference badge worn around the neck was enough to be able to partake of the snacks and lunch. In the Philippines, no meal stub, no food. If you happen to lose your meal stub and bring this to the attention of the organizers, you will still be served food but only after officially taking note of it. (Because at the end of the activity, the organizers and the caterer will have to audit one another.) During forums where light snacks are usually part of the registration fee, a receipt has to be shown before food is handed out to the participant. This is a messy bit especially if there are multiple registrants in one receipt and since food distribution is done quickly there were times that food ran short. I've seen this happen a couple of times and it's embarassing for the organizers and the poor participants have to wait while the organizers run to the nearest fast food.

Third, there were social activities for the duration of the conference. There was a cocktail party, a dinner and dance party that lasted late into the night, and closing drinks. In the Philippines, only one night is reserved for socials and it's called "Fellowship Night" usually part of live-in, out-of-town seminars. For 8 to 5, 3-day seminars/conferences, participants can't and won't be bothered with social activities as their primary concern is to get home early and beat the rush hour traffic.

Finally, sessions started and ended on time. Well, I can't say much about the concept of "Filipino time" as applied to seminars and the like except that most of the time they don't start and end on time. I clearly remember this half-day afternoon forum sometime in 2005 where I was a speaker along with another one, a lawyer and author promoting his book. He spoke ahead of me and we were given an hour each but he got carried away with his presentation and ended an hour and a half later. Poor me had to beg the audience to stay a few minutes after 5 pm on a promise that I would make my presentation short but sweet and they were kind enough to oblige.

The stuff I've mentioned about the way Filipino librarians run their activities is really a culture thing and I'm looking forward to the day when they up the ante and break away with tradition.