2019 Conference Exhibitor Information

Thank you for considering joining us at the Maine Library Association Conference as an exhibitor.  Your presence is a huge part of our conference experience and vital to our success!

Exhibitor Registration is Open! Register now

You can find general information about the conference on the main conference site.

The Sunday River Resort offers an amazing venue for participants to enjoy and stay over with lots of opportunities for interaction.  The exhibitor space will be placed for ideal foot-traffic with over an hour of devoted exhibitor time with refreshments on both days.  We plan a grand opening on Monday and activities to encourage attendees to engage with exhibitors. You are invited to join us for lunchtime networking both Monday and Tuesday.  To further engage with attendees, consider bringing a basket for our MLA Scholarship and Loan raffle, or sponsoring a meal. 

• How much?  A table (including meals each day of the conference) is $475.  We also have an advertising-only option for as little as $125 or sponsorship opportunities with greater exposure of your brand starting at $525.  More details are on the vendor registration page.
• Who is attending? Last year we had over 180 attendees from more than 100 institutions. Almost all of these attendees rarely go to conferences outside of the state and this is the only conference they go to with exhibitors in attendance. We generally have about 65% public librarians, 10% academic, 15% special/other, and 10% school. The Maine Library Association Conference is open to members and non-members alike: librarians, library staff, friends of libraries, and anyone with a library interest in the state of Maine. 

If you can’t make it to Maine for our conference, there are a few other ways you can make your presence known to attendees.  Consider advertising in the conference material or sending a basket for our annual MLA Scholarship and Loan raffle.  Please contact me to chat more about these options. 

SCHEDULE:

Exhibitor times are as follows

Monday 11-11:45am and 3-3:30pm
Tuesday 10:15-11am and 3-3:30pm
Because of our setup (below), there will also be lots of time to see attendees between their sessions. 

SETUP AND THE EXHIBITOR SPACE:

All exhibitor tables are 8ft tables with power provided.  Our exhibitor setup at Sunday River is in the middle of the action: the lobby area outside the meeting rooms and ballroom.  When we were here previously, this was a big plus for exhibitors, who were pleased to have so much traffic and opportunity to talk to attendees.  For your setup, this means a few different considerations:

Since we're in a high traffic area, you will have people passing by before and between sessions.  So for your setup on Monday morning, it will be quiet before 8:00am, expect passers-by during registration, and then quiet again once the keynote starts at 9am.  At 9:50am, a wave of people will pass by going to their first concurrent sessions, then it will be quiet again until the first exhibitor break at 11am.  Looking at the schedule, you can see that pattern of waves of traffic will be repeated a few more times during both days between sessions in addition to the dedicated afternoon exhibitor time.

While Sunday River is a very secure location and we will be the large majority of people there, the lobby is a public space--attendees and hotel guests will pass through here on their way to their rooms, meals, between sessions, or wherever.  Therefore, you will have to decide what elements of your display you would like to leave set up during the time you're not there (including overnight).

MEALS:

Meals for one person (or an additional if you indicated on your form) are provided as part of registration.  We would love for you to join us at any meal, and feel free to join or invite a group for dinner on Monday night. (There is no official dinner, but we hope there will be some unofficial posses formed!)

LODGING/PARKING:

We are offering a discounted room block.  Info can be found at 2019 Lodging Info.

Parking on site is free, you just need a parking pass, which you get upon checking in if you're staying, or which can be provided on the day.

WIFI AND CELL PHONE RECEPTION:

The entire conference space is well covered with Wi-Fi, and cell phones work in most of the Grand Summit building. (There are a few dead areas--a trade off for the lovely mountain scenery.)

MAILING MATERIAL TO CONFERENCE CENTER:

All boxes sent before the conference must be labeled to the attention of Rick Rose and clearly indicate your name and that you're with the MLA Conference. Shipments received before eight days prior to arrival are subject to an additional storage fee of $5.00 per box.

Please let Cadence know if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions (catchinson@une.edu).