One aspect of the new SLA Strategic Vision asks everyone in our Association to think more broadly about who could value from having SLA as their professional home. The specific language from the strategic vision is:

“The information profession is evolving faster than ever, thanks to the rapid rate of technological change and innovation. In this evolution lies opportunity to grow SLA’s offerings to new and nontraditional sectors of the information profession, and to enhance SLA as a professional home for these groups—e.g. competitive intelligence specialists, IT development specialists, and software and standards trainers.”

I’m sure we all find ourselves working more and more with professionals in allied fields – computer specialists, research analysts, brand managers, etc. Many of us are also probably working in these fields, taking our skills and knowledge and applying them in very different ways than what we had thought we would when we were in school. I personally have been an “Internet Librarian” and a “Web Analytics Manager” as well as an “Information Resources Specialist” and finally in my current position as a “Librarian.” Throughout my career I have worked with a large number of professionals in the information arena that would have benefited greatly from having a professional home like SLA.

The reality is that while many SLA members share a similar career path, there are a lot of people working today with data, information, and knowledge that could benefit from the networking, professional development, and connections they should make within SLA. SLA members can also benefit from the participation of these groups as well.

There are plenty of organizations that cater to one niche or another but SLA is unique in the diversity that exists within our Association already. How can we market what we have to new and growing sectors of the information marketplace? Are there opportunities for collaboration across Chapters and Divisions that could draw even more of these non-traditional information professionals into SLA? Can we give them a professional home where they can grow and help us grow so that we can meet the challenges in front of us today and in the future? I think so.

The SLA Board of Directors – and specifically your Division and Chapter Cabinet leaders – want to hear from you about how SLA can diversify and grow. You can comment on this post, reach out to a Board member, write your own blog post or just initiate a dialogue between the members of the SLA units in which you are active. We have an opportunity to broaden our impact and share our experience and the Association wants you to be part of this effort.

Richard Huffine is SLA’s Division Cabinet Chair for 2012.

The SLA Board recently adopted a very ambitious strategic agenda with five elements that will guide decision making by the Association’s leaders. These five strategic agenda elements are: (1) annual conference, (2) professional development, (3) creating a richer volunteer experience, (4) opening new markets, and (5) growth through diversity. By adopting this strategic agenda, SLA leaders are prepared and resolved to make decisions, solve problems, forge judgment, and plan forward.

In this Future Ready 365 Blog Post, we’re examining strategic agenda Item 4: “opening new markets.” Each element of a strategic agenda must support the organization’s mission and be results-focused. This one certainly is. Part of SLA’s mission is to strengthen its members through learning and networking initiatives. One of SLA’s historical strengths has been its ability to bring together its membership around learning opportunities and networking initiatives, whether locally, regionally or internationally based. For a number of years SLA leaders have envisioned the need to “build a bigger tent” in order to expand these opportunities and initiatives – that is, to welcome members whose role in the information industry may not be defined as traditional or whose world view may be different from that of North America. And expansion of membership is definitely something that is measurable. As your 2012 President, I have a personal stake in the success of this one, because in my vision for SLA’s future, I forecast a membership increase of 15%.

During 2012, your Association leaders will be looking at a number of issues that put focus on this vision by looking at both internal and external factors that either promote or inhibit the opening of new markets. We will examine the impact of our current fiscal structure, our governance structure, our geographic structure, our marketing structure, our technology structure, and our collaborative structure on our ability to accomplish this goal. What does our current internal and unit-related fiscal structure do to further this goal? Is our current governance structure flexible enough to work in new markets? As an international organization, are we maximizing contemporary geographic organizational structures to best serve our members and those yet to join SLA? Will our current marketing efforts reach these new markets? Are we maximizing new technologies to reach and serve these new markets? Can we leverage collaboration among SLA’s current units and with external groups and organizations to maximize our support for members in these new markets?

These are but a few of the questions that will be examined as we envision SLA’s future through the lens of strategic agenda Item 4: “Opening New Markets.”

Brent Mai is SLA’s President, 2012.

Today’s post focuses on Creating Richer Volunteer Experiences to Develop In-Demand Skills. From the new vision posted to Future Ready 365:

“A fulfilled association-vision will depend heavily upon SLA’s volunteer-force—the network that gives the association its strength and relevance. What better incentive to become active in the association than the fact that it will benefit your career down the road? New skills picked up as volunteers in our chapters and divisions may just be the stepping stones to a promotion or achievement at work. Added focus will be placed on creating richer volunteer experiences in the areas of web development (search engine optimization, plug-in development and research), marketing (developing a marketing plan for local events and programs), program management (overseeing budgets, fundraising with local vendor communities), and more. SLA’s volunteers will be powerfully well-rounded in the years to come.“

According to SLA.org, there are a number of existing volunteer opportunities, including:

• Alignment Ambassadors;
• Archivist;
• Bulletin Editors;
• Chapter Presidents & Presidents-Elect;
• Committee Chairs;
• Consultation Chairs;
• Discussion List Owners;
• Division Chairs & Chairs-Elect;
• Ethics Ambassadors;
• Fundraising Chairs;
• Government Relations Chairs;
• Membership Chairs;
• Professional Development Chairs;
• Public Relations Chairs;
• Treasurers; and
• Webmasters.

What I’m hoping to accomplish with today’s post is to hear from you about what volunteer experiences SLA could create, repurpose, or nurture that are closely aligned to in-demand skills in today’s workplace. Using the comments below let’s start a dialog about what those skills might be or what experiences we might create together.

I’ve thought of four to kick things off:

1. Community Managers: working to engage, grow and manage SLA’s online communities
2. Plugin Developer: working to customize and develop plugins for WordPress, the main publishing platform for SLA unit websites
3. Search Engine Optimization Manager: working to improve the visibility of a unit’s website through “organic” search results
4. Knowledge Managers: working to influence SLA’s culture toward improved knowledge sharing, reuse, learning, collaboration and innovation, plus owning the unit’s presence on wiki.sla.org.

Some of you may say, “But we have those roles Daniel. They’re covered by such-and-such position.” Great! Let’s hear about that too. Perhaps it’s time to refresh the roles and responsibilities for those positions and figure out a way to cascade them through the organization. This is about a dialog, so what say you all?

(I wouldn’t be a good librarian unless I included a list of resources!)

LEADERSHIP RESOURCES
(Most are members only so get out your id/password)

• SLA’s Leadership Center
• Why Seek a Leadership Position in SLA?
• Chapter Idea Bank
• Division Idea Bank
• Model Chapter Governing Document
• Model Division Governing Document
• Recommended Practices – Chapters
• Recommended Practices – Divisions
• SLA Leadership Code of Responsibility

Today’s host:

Daniel P. Lee, MLIS.
SLA Director, 2009-2011
KPMG International, Toronto, Ontario.

Network:
LinkedIn
Twitter

by Sara Tompson

SLA needs to be growing and supporting continuously competent professionals. In a field that changes as rapidly as does ours – I know I am not the only one who originally learned to search online using BRS After Dark, a 300 baud acoustic coupler and thermal paper (!) – continuous learning is absolutely critical in order to survive and thrive and be of value to our organizations.

I have long seen competencies as a very useful framework for professional development, have written and spoken on this view, and have used SLA competencies in teaching LIS graduate students. Therefore I am pleased that SLA’s Professional Development Program is ranked fairly high in importance on the new Strategic Vision we all helped create. I would like to see competencies made even more explicit in the plan, though they are strongly implied therein.

The first order of business we’ve set for ourselves for 2012 includes defining and documenting a new strategic approach that integrates professional development opportunities throughout the year and in different modalities, not just annually face-to-face at Continuing Education conference workshops. Great! We are moving towards a continuous learning program.

This new approach to SLA professional development requires feedback from the Professional Development Advisory Council (PDAC). PDAC currently helps SLA staff review CE workshop proposals and has been charged with reviewing and proposing updates to the SLA Competencies document (which also should be a living, continuous document). Again, great! This should help integrate the competencies framework. In addition, SLA President Cindy Romaine has recently appointed a special task force to help fast track the competencies document review. I hope to see a re-energized PDAC partnering in that effort in 2012.

We also plan to reach out to iSchools to examine and propose opportunities for professional development programming. Once again, great! The iSchools (I would include LIS programs in a broad definition thereof) are training the next generation of librarians and information professionals, and it is exciting to have a hand in that effort (as those of us who teach know!). PDAC had a fruitful Skype discussion with some SLA leaders earlier this year about the importance of competencies for iSchools, including the need to promote relevant special libraries competencies into curricula where possible, noting that ALA competencies are more woven into these graduate schools than are SLA’s. I hope to see everyone who is or has taught information professionals contributing to professional development/graduate information school partnership ideas.

Moving forward, we want to pilot and evaluate some partnership and solo programs, and refine them as necessary. We also want to look at partnering with other professional schools, e.g. MBA programs in business schools, for further opportunities. I think we can do this right, so the sum of the whole of the partnerships is greater than our impact individually.

Hoping to chat with many of you in SLA about professional development, via phone, email, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. (See, we’ve all come quite a ways from that 300 baud dial up!)

Sara Tompson is one of SLA’s Directors, 2011-2013.

by Mary Ellen Bates

One area of focus for the Board of Directors as we implement our strategic plan is in building and enhancing the Annual Conference. It’s one of our chief member benefits, as well as a significant source of association income. We also recognize that the conference needs some adjustments to reflect the current concerns and issues of our members, as well as the market in which we operate.

Since it’s one of my passions, I’d like to share the vision that the board has developed regarding the Annual Conference. As anyone who has ever been involved in conference planning knows, it involves a significant time commitment, often spanning several years, on the part of many volunteers. In order to continue offering high value to members, we see the need for a more strategic approach to planning the conference, in which our volunteers’ valuable professional time is used in the best way possible. We have selected several avenues to pursue for the next three years:

• Develop a more streamlined way to develop conference content
• Offer more value to more senior members
• Develop our virtual conference activities

What will this look like? In terms of the conference programming, division leaders will offer higher-level input and will be looking at ways to extend the programming virtually throughout the year. We also envision an executive track for experienced members that will have a high profile and will generate press coverage of the conference as well as publishable white papers. Our goal by 2014 is to have a full-time staff member involved in coordinating CE programs, conference programs and year-round education, in order to better support SLA’s strategic goal to support information professionals.

The number of sessions conducted during the Annual Conference will drop, as we combine similar topics and focus on providing fewer sessions of high quality. We also see the divisions offering more virtual programming throughout the year; this can be an opportunity to offer division-specific virtual programs that more division members could attend.

As a conference attendee of more years than I care to count (except that I’ll note that I have tote bags from two Annual Conferences in San Antonio), I know how valuable they are for my professional development. I am really passionate about finding ways for us to continue to add value to the conference, and to enable even more virtual learning for our members throughout the year.

I welcome your questions and comments. You can reach me at mbates@batesinfo.com or +1 303 772 7095. And I look forward to seeing many of you in Chicago in 2012!

Mary Ellen Bates is SLA’s Division Cabinet Chair.

Dear Members:

The rapid evolution of the information industry, along with input from SLA members, has spurred the SLA Board of Directors to develop an updated strategic vision for SLA. This vision will serve as a roadmap for our association between now and 2014 to provide the best career-enhancing benefits to our 9,000-plus members worldwide.

The strategic vision reflects the fact that SLA Board members listened to a lot of member input. Given the diversity of SLA’s membership (academic, corporate, self-employed, etc.), we expect every SLA member to find some aspects exciting…and other aspects less so.  The strategic vision is a high level summation of bold goals, and we know boldness carries risk.  But we want to be bold, and we want your participation to follow the input you provided.  The specifics of implementing the vision will depend entirely on member engagement, and details will vary among each chapters and division.

We invite you to read the strategic vision with care, and then consider where you wish to put your efforts.  Members are the drivers for success in reaching the vision’s elements; where do you fit so that your volunteer contribution will generate the greatest benefit for your SLA unit and for yourself?

Your avenues for responding include the Future Ready 365 blog (today and during the first week of December), your chapter, your division, any special interest group (example: First 5 Years), the Board, and your personal professional network within SLA.  To facilitate idea-sharing, members of the Board will be hosting a Future Ready blog post detailing each focus area, and will be responding to members’ comments and ideas beginning November 28^th through December 2^nd.

SLA leaders look forward to hearing from you. Send an email to your chapter president or division chair, comment on the 365 blog right now, or call a board member.  We are here for you!

We’re pleased to unveil this updated strategic vision—a plan that is at once ambitious and realistic:

Vision:

SLA is a vibrant, global association of professionals who are employed in every sector of the information and knowledge economy. Our members thrive where data, information, and knowledge intersect and our strategic partners support SLA because they believe in the association’s mission and the future of its members. The goal of SLA is to support information professionals as they contribute, in their varied and evolving roles, to the opportunities and achievements of organizations, communities, and society.

Key Areas of Focus:

To supplement the strategic vision, priorities have been identified to guide the association’s leaders, volunteers, and staff toward fulfillment.  Focus areas include:

Annual Conference: SLA’s chief member-benefit is its highest priority. We will increase collaboration across SLA’s divisions to provide more focused, refined content. This collaboration will leverage our professional experience and institutional knowledge to ensure increased relevance of programming for SLA’s conference attendees. While increasing specificity of topics is key, focus will also be placed on broadening opportunities for learning (November 28^th blog post by Mary Ellen Bates, Division Cabinet Chair).

Professional Development: SLA’s value to its membership will be enhanced not only through improved in-person development offerings, but in combination with a year-round, virtual education program. We will define a new approach to providing reliable and useful professional development programming, comprising virtual opportunities throughout the year, and partnerships with schools of library and information science to co-develop content, communications, and delivery of educational programs (November 29^th blog post by Sara Tompson, Director).

Creating Richer Volunteer Experiences to Develop In-Demand Skills: A fulfilled association-vision will depend heavily upon SLA’s volunteer-force—the network that gives the association its strength and relevance. What better incentive to become active in the association than the fact that it will benefit your career down the road? New skills picked up as volunteers in our chapters and divisions may just be the stepping stones to a promotion or achievement at work.  Added focus will be placed on creating richer volunteer experiences in the areas of web development (search engine optimization, plug-in development and research), marketing (developing a marketing plan for local events and programs), program management (overseeing budgets, fund raising with local vendor communities), and more. SLA’s volunteers will be powerfully well-rounded in the years to come (November 30^th blog post by Daniel Lee, Director).

Opening New Markets Through Collaboration: A bright future for SLA depends on collaboration with key partners within the information industry. We will strive toward an increase in opportunities available to SLA’s membership through affiliation with schools of library and information science and the vendors who provide products and services that empower SLA members (December 1^st blog post by Brent Mai, President-Elect).

Growth Through Diversification:  The information profession is evolving faster than ever, thanks to the rapid rate of technological change and innovation. In this evolution lies opportunity to grow SLA’s offerings to new and nontraditional sectors of the information profession, and to enhance SLA as a professional home for these groups—e.g. competitive intelligence specialists, IT development specialists, and software and standards trainers (December 2^nd blog post by Richard Huffine, Division Cabinet Chair-Elect).

Envisioning a Bright Future:

The focus areas described above are highlights of our plan to fulfill a prosperous vision for the future. It goes without saying that each area of focus is inter-woven—each one depends on the other. As always, the value here lies in the opportunity to network, to try on something new, to step out of our comfort zones, and to achieve more than ever before. The Board of Directors encourages members to discuss ways in which they may participate and contribute to making the vision a reality. I am confident that as I pass the torch to incoming President Brent Mai and President-Elect Deb Hunt that the strength of the association’s volunteer force and staff will put us in a position that is both stable and pioneering within the information industry.

Here’s to success in 2012 and beyond!
2011 SLA President,
Cindy Romaine

Cindy Romaine is the current SLA President and is focused on encouraging members to be Future Ready 24/7 in 2011.