It's a Wrap

By Patricia Cia, President-Elect

I was going to compile a fairly prosaic overview of what I had learned, but I came away with much more than tacit knowledge ... I came away with renewed passion for my chosen profession, colleagues, and association. To continue Stephen Abram's keynote speech analogy... I came looking for brains and left with a lighter heart and the courage to face our future.

Convergence 2000 was meant to represent the convergence of time, people, and learning into one. Friday afternoon I shared my vision of SLA WCC's future and my concerns for the present while listening to others share their hopes, fears and dreams for our Chapter and the Association. Between the presentations I was finally able to meet the people behind the names and find out how they felt about their profession and our Chapter. Although our time with the WCC Charter members was fleeting, we could see their pride in seeing a still thriving Chapter and the history overview will remind us of those who have worked so hard for the Western Canada Chapter.

During the workshops and meetings, I found ideas for future projects and great tips which I can start implementing now. You too can participate in the seminars since our speakers have generously agreed to make their presentations available and some of the participants are submitting their reviews to this issue.

I will be reviewing all the handouts and especially checking out Fourth Generation Convergence and the Information Pro since it was stuffed with upcoming trends, guidelines to the future, and inspirational reminders of the skills we bring to our profession.

Through the Future Planning Committee minutes you can see some of our current concerns and our visions for the future. The Town Hall meeting generated some interesting discussion on branding, lifelong learning, and how to get the raise you deserve. Many attendees wanted more time to pursue these topics... perhaps we can continue the conversations on our Discussion List?

Thank you to the vendors for their support and "goodies" and to everyone who attended. I enjoyed our face-to-face encounter and hope to meet more members at future meetings.

A special Welcome to those non-members who, after joining us in Calgary, decided to join SLA Western Canada Chapter!