Banff & the ALADN Conference

This is the view from our hotel window at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Seldom do you get to see much less stay in such a wonderful place. Built in the late 19th century, it seems to me to be one of the true wonders of the modern world. Sue & I left Greenville Wedensday night around 8:00--arrived at our hotel at the RDU airport at 10:00. It was a short night, as we had to catch the 4:00 am shuttle to the airport. Flights were uneventful, but any more traveling by plane reminds me of what it was like to travel by bus in the 1950s--no amenities to speak of & long layovers before you catch your next bus, uh I mean plane.

We arrived in Calgary, Alberta around 1:30 MDT (3:30 our time). We rented a car--here we were lucky and were given a brand new PT Cruiser w/ less than 25 miles on it. Once you get out of Calgary, which seems to lack any discernible charm, the 100 km drive to Banff is quite lovely--you climb from the flat prairie up into these beautiful rugged mountains. We arrived safely at the hotel, but discovered that I had made the reservation to begin on the 18th not the 17th--not to worry, they could accomodate us & had a room all ready for us. Which brings me back to the picture of the view from our room--wow! The room is incredibly lovely as well, so it looks like this conference will be quite enjoyable.

The preconference begins this morning at 8:00. Both Cynthia Adams and I are registered for the full Conference. ALADN is the Academic Library Advancement & Development Network. In the next four days, I am sure I will learn all I need to know about raising private money for the Library; well, I actually am just hoping that together Cynthia and I will bring back a lot of good ideas about a strategy for coordinating our Development Program. I will close this narrtion for now, but will try to keep the blog current while we are here.