The Exhibit Hall at ILA 2016 Conference & Exhibits is always a highlight of the weekend. Educators eagerly await for the doors to open, and the aisles are bustling while people make their way through all of the exhibitors, gathering swag and attending exhibitor sessions. This year ILA will add to the buzz of activities in the hall with ILA Central, the one-stop shop for all things ILA. Here there will be a slate of events in the expanded Age of Literacy Learning Lounge and the new Social Suite. Of course, in the ILA Central Bookstore, there will also be the newest must-have ILA swag to take home and ILA books to help you further improve your practice.
ILA Central
The Friday Sale will take place outside of the Exhibit Hall in the main lobby 7:30 AM–5:00 PM on July 8. For the rest of the conference, the regular member’s discount of 20% will apply to all books for all attendees. Remember to use your Bookstore Bucks, found in the Events, Signings & Savings guide for extra savings. Or take advantage of our Order Express and have your larger ILA book purchases shipped directly to you: No extra bags to carry or baggage fees at the airport for the pounds of books you’ll want to take home.
Last year the new ILA t-shirts flew out of ILA Central in record time. This year we’ll have a fresh batch in addition to new ways to show your ILA pride with a range of souvenirs from clothing to accessories.
Need to renew your membership or add a journal to your existing one? Ready to sign up to be an ILA member for the first time? Membership staff will be on hand to help with special offers and gifts. You could also take this chance to update any membership information, like e-mail and home addresses that may have changed.
Stop by the Choices area in ILA Central for a takeaway list of this year’s winning children’s and young adult books. You will also find a list of conference events with connections to the Choices lists.
The Age of Literacy Learning Lounge
Introduced at last year’s conference, the Age of Literacy Learning Lounge (ALLL) was such a hit that we’ve expanded its programming. Here you’ll find everything from informal education sessions to meetups.
Highlights will include Twitter 101: Teacher to Teacher, literature lovers meetups (for every age level), a chance to hear from some of our “30 Under 30” literacy leaders, and sneak peeks at hot new children’s books publishing this fall and winter.
Look for the full schedule of events in the Events, Signings & Savings guide or in the Extras section of the ILA 2016 Conference & Exhibits app.
The ILA Social Suite
On your way from ILA Central to ALLL, stop by ILA’s Social Suite to connect your #ILA16 online and offline experiences.
This interactive space will offer staff social media tips, handy takeaways, a free photo booth, and the chance to print out your favorite #ILA16 Instagram photos—just be sure to use that hashtag! And stop by our Q&A Wall for some “Pen and Paper” tweeting as you share brief answers to our daily question (we aren’t counting the characters).
The ILA 2016 Conference & Exhibits will be July 9–11 in Boston, MA, with more than 6,000 attendees eager to cultivate new teaching practices. With over 300 sessions, including several new additions to the schedule, and the popular Preconference Institutes on July 8, the weekend is sure to be a memorable one. Learn more about what’s coming up at this summer’s conference at ilaconference.org.
April Hall is editor of Literacy Daily. A journalist for 20 years, she has specialized in education, writing and editing for newspapers, websites, and magazines.