In Seattle my Midwinter Meeting experience was completely unlike any I have had in the nearly 30 years I have been participating in Midwinters! Being a candidate for president provides a special experience that few ALA members ever have.

Between Friday and Tuesday I participated in the candidates forum and visited nearly 40 round table boards, division boards, and ALA committees. Some of these meetings were very brief; I was asked to speak for three to five minutes and then thanked for coming. Others allowed additional time for Q&A. After a while I had my “stump speech” down pat. Towards the end I was so familiar with it I sometimes wondered if I was repeating parts of it in the same presentation. (I don't think I did that!) Since I hadn't campaigned my way through a Midwinter before, I wasn't sure what to expect. It provided several very pleasant surprises:

• I know ALA pretty well. Two years ago when I served on the ALA Budget Analysys and Review Committee (BARC), I learned even more about it through the lens of the various units' budgets. During Midwinter I learned more about ALA by listening to the questions and comments of members, especially those in divisions and round tables that I do not belong to. ALA members are passionate about their special areas of interest and areas of specialization. Their sincerity and enthusiasm for their work exhilarated me.

• I heard concerns and a few complaints some members have about ALA. The difficulty, even on the day registration opens, of booking a hotel for the next conference has angered some members. (I am waitlisted for a hotel in DC for Annual Conference; so I can empathize.) One division feels frustrated that ALA doesn't allow divisions to award CEU credit for workshops, preconferences, etc. I was able to share these concerns with Mary Ghikas, ALA's Senior Associate Executive Director. She assured me that changes are in the works that should rectify the hotel situation and that ALA is in the process of obtaining authority to award CEU credit. What these experiences tell me is that like any large complex organization, communication is a perpetual challenge within ALA. It is, of course, everyone's responsibility. I'll continue to do my part, especially if I am elected. As a membership, member-driven organization ALA simply has to respond to its members' needs.

• Finally I was very gratified by and even more grateful for all of the work my generous campaign volunteers did on my behalf. Interacting with members I hadn't met before, both one-to-one and in groups, offered wonderful opportunities to learn more about their concerns and our diverse association. Every time a member asked what she/he can do to help my campaign, my sense of responsibility to my supporters deepened. I don't intend to let them down!

• It gets a little weird after a while to see your own name on hundreds of badge stickers and to see your own picture on hundreds and hundreds of campaign brochures! But one gets used to it and learns to focus on the faces and names of voters.

It was incredibly exhilarating, adrenalin ever at my service from the beginning of Midwinter right through to its end. At that point exhilaration plummeted into temporary exhaustion. I fell asleep as soon as I took my seat on an 11:30 PM red-eye to Washington Dulles. I have a vague recollection of movement; that must have been the plane's acceleration and take-off.

It was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. I hope it is prelude to an even greater experience that I won't trade anything for!