The Poropitia Masquerade event!

The big Tuesday night event is going to be a little different...

1. Wear what you like, but be masked, gorgeous and mysterious in your finest ball frock or you may come elegantly casual. There will be food and dancing as well as lots of talking so it might be best to stay away from the full face Venetian-style type mask. Think 'feathery'. Think 'fascinating'. Think ‘mask that you hold’ (if you want to be only mildly mysterious).

2. There will be relaxed seating and leaners but no formal dining tables. Everyone who's ever been to a LIANZA conference dinner knows that as soon as the music starts up there is hardly anyone left at the table. This year we're ditching the tables. You will be able to mix and mingle or lounge around on ottomans and couches and for those who prefer to stand, bar-leaner style tables will be on hand. Food and drink will be tray served and also available from food stations and the bar. Think 'extended cocktail party' with plenty of food and drink and entertainment.

3. The entertainment. There will be a couple of surprises throughout the night but the main dance band is ‘Betty-Anne Monga and Friends’. A five piece band with live musicians and a set list of songs with a mellow groove through to up-tempo-hit-the-dance-floor numbers, but…

4. You don't always have to listen to the music. There always comes a time during any party, no matter how exciting, when a bit of peace and quiet is just the ticket. We're providing a chill-out zone outside the main area in the promenade. Congregate out here for important business discussions or catch-up time with colleagues.

5. After party. After half past midnight or so you may want to party on in SkyCity Bar 3, open till 1.30am and afterwards perhaps check out the viaduct?

Poropitia Masquerade Ball
Date: Tuesday 4 November
Time: 1900-2400hrs
1900-1930-Pre-Dinner drinks
1930-2000-MC and Entertainment
2000-2100-Food stations begin
2045-Band begins-3 sets throughout the night or relax in the promenade chill-out zone
2130 Dessert station begins
1200 Midnight surprise
Venue: New Zealand Room, SkyCity Convention Centre
Tickets: $100

McCrindle keynote

Calling school and tertiary librarians, and all libraries ... serving older people, younger people. What are the trends?

Mark McCrindle's keynote:
Changing Times, Emerging Trends- Understanding Today’s Learners

The future of education is shaped not just by the technological changes but also by the sociological changes. Indeed an understanding of the learning styles, attitudes, and expectations of the 21st Century students is critical to effectively educate today’s learners. This session will outline the changes impacting upon this global generation.
Key issues:
- From Boomers and Xers, to Generations Y & Z: understanding the changes in the NZ demographics, characteristics, and aspirations.
- The big social & demographic shifts redefining 21st Century New Zealand.
- Understanding the attitudes & values of today’s students.
- Strategies to communicate & connect with the emerging generations.
- The impacts of an ageing population & changing social structures.

Authors visit Poropitia

NZ Book Council presents a session ...

New Zealand Book Council is a dynamic organization with a wide range of activities and programmes designed to promote books and reading through bringing readers, writers, publishers, libraries and schools together. Noel Murphy CEO of the NZ Book Council will talk about the relaunch of Book Notes and the role of the Book Council within the reading community, in particular libraries. He will introduce two leading New Zealand writers who have been involved in the organisation's programmes, Elizabeth Knox and Emily Perkins.

Both writers will talk for 15 minutes around the theme “outside the box.”

Elizabeth Knox is the author of seven novels, a trilogy of autobiographical novellas and a fantasy duet for young adults. Her fourth novel The Vintner’s Luck won the Deutz Medal for Fiction in the 1999 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Dreamhunter won the 2006 Esther Glen Award for New Zealand children’s literature, and Dreamquake received an American Library Association Michael L. Printz Honor Award for Young Adult Literature in 2008.

Emily Perkins gained immediate fame with her first short story collection, Not Her Real Name. Two novels followed and now there’s the acclaimed novel About My Wife. She is also the presenter of The Good Word - a half hour series about books and writers to screen on TVNZ6 next year.

Powhiri me te Poroporoaki

E rau rangatira ma, tena koutou katoa

Nga mihi ano ki a koutou kua whakarite, kua tono atu ki o whakahaere kia haere mai, hui mai, noho mai i waenga i te hui tino pai rawa atu.

Ehara wetahi o koutou i te mohio, he aha te tikanga o te marae nei mo te powhiri me te poroporoaki? E hiahia ana koe ki te matakitaki, ki te panuitia hoki, kia patoto i te hononga ki runga (ko te taitara).

No reira, anei ano te hononga pai ma tatou katoa http://www.lianza.org.nz/events/conference2008/protocols.html.

No reira, ko tatou te tumu i herenga nga waka. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa.

Update your registration if needed ...

For those who have registered, please use your access code to add extra activities, such as a SIG breakfast or tour....

For those still to register, visit the LIANZA site.

Keynote abstracts! Dylan Horrocks

Dylan will provide two keynote spots, bookending conference. His keynote topics are:


Keynote on Sunday 2 November:
The rise and rise of the graphic novel: comics as a literary form. 50 years ago, librarians were prominent among those calling for a ban on comics. Today, they are among their most enthusiastic promoters. This talk will ask how a much-maligned social problem became a cutting-edge literary form - and an extremely popular category on library shelves. And for those who still can't see what all the fuss is about, maybe.

Keynote on Wednesday 5 November:
Stealing, sharing or borrowing? Art, literature and piracy in the online age. Like many other media, comics are going online. The internet offers cartoonists a chance to reach potentially limitless audiences; however, it also exposes authors and artists to the risk of so-called "piracy" - the unauthorised copying and distribution of media. While some struggle to find technological solutions to protecting their work, others - especially younger artists - are embracing the idea of free distribution and sharing and are experimenting with new ways of earning money from their work. But there's no question that the internet changes everything - just as did printing, industrialisation and other technological developments in the past. More importantly, the internet has raised important questions about how we conceive of ownership, distribution and access of art and literary works. In this talk, I will explore my personal perspective on these issues, as author and audience, producer and consumer, professional and citizen.

Will your bag win the LIANZA Competition?

As you know the 2008 LIANZA Conference Committee are being environmentally responsive by introducing some green initiatives. One of these initiatives is to do away with the conference satchel.

LIANZA are encouraging you to recycle an old conference bag or create your own unique bag from recycled materials. They will be awarding two LIANZA memberships as prizes for the oldest LIANZA Conference bag and the most interesting creation so come by the LIANZA stand #45 and lodge your entry.

If they have more than one bag of the same year entered which is deemed to be the oldest they will draw a winner.

(Seen on the LIANZA website today - just in time for the weekend! kris)