The 2020 eCAUG Virtual Conference consisted of 15 presentations delivered by 28 presenters over six mornings in June/July. These presentations covered a wide variety of topics of interest to users of Alma, Primo and Leganto. Over 575 individuals registered for the free event, representing a wide variety of Ex Libris customer institutions across California and beyond. Special thanks to those who volunteered their time to present and to help manage the sessions during the conference, without whom things could not have gone as smoothly as they did!

We received 109 responses from the feedback survey distributed to the eCAUG list following June’s virtual conference. We’ve received great feedback from those who attended the conference and plan to use submitted comments to seed future conference planning. Submitted topics are currently being analysed for use in creating a series of webinars to be held over the fall and spring.

In terms of the conference, attendees got the most out of the Primo presentations, in particular the end-user focus of those presentations. The frequent use of real-world examples and practical applications throughout the presentations were also frequently mentioned as positive. Other topics mentioned as most helpful were the analytics sessions, especially the COUNTER 5 panel, and the e-resource sessions.

The social breakout sessions were the most polarizing, appearing equally in the most and least liked sections of the survey. We will be looking at different ways of supporting ways to network and support one another and looking to the user group to help shape what ways work best for all.

Looking ahead at future topics, we will be looking to create a series of monthly webinars to offer to eCAUG over the next several months. We will use the top mentioned future topics from the survey to start these sessions - analytics, normalization rules, ERM/CDI tips and tricks and a session focused on fulfillment. More on these webinars to come soon.

Once again, thanks to all of you for your part in making eCAUG successful. We can’t do it without you. Sarah, Win and I have appreciated your kind words, participation and continued energy over the past year or two.