The Conference Experience 2002

Patricia Cia, Past President, SLA Western Canada Chapter

The SLA Annual Conference 2002 in Los Angeles has been a milestone conference for me. It represents my last commitment (so far) to the Leadership Development Institute (LDI) in five conferences and it also concludes my year as Chapter president.

Notes from LDI

I don't regret the time spent at the LDI. I have met colleagues from around the world; been able to exchange concerns, tips and solutions for making our Chapter so dynamic; and have learned about SLA, the association. If you are curious about LDI, check out this year's agenda and my notes on from the Leadership Recruitment roundtable.

Catalyst for Change

Donna Scheeder's presentation was interesting as always. Some change lessons she shared with us:

• Share your vision of the future (1, 2, 5 years)
• Put your vision in context for others so they can understand it
• Communicate it and your reasons for change frequently
• Get "buy-in" for the reasons for change
• People affected need to be part of the planning
• Use early adapters to change
• Communicate accurately; be objective, don't sugarcoat things
• Know the kind of change you are initiating: incremental vs. transformational (incremental is the best kind, but it is not always possible)
• Communicate plans

And her parting words... "In SLA, change is our tradition"

"Managing Inter@actively: Leadership and Communication in an Interactive World"

Mary E. Boone, the LDI luncheon speaker also focused on communication. Interesting points included:

• Interactive communication builds trust, but sending an e-mail is not communicating unless there is a response.
• Biggest communications challenges include non personal contact and information overload.
• Pick the right technology to communicate your messages (voicemail, e-mail, in person) and use it interactively.
• Be aware of cross cultural communication: people for whom English is a second language, may prefer e-mail or other non-verbal methods.

Meetings

• Rule # 1: Don't was people's time... do you really need a meeting (if not, cancel it).
• Make meetings compelling.
• Have serious fun; get everyone involved in creative ideas; have breakout groups.
• Ensure you have the engagement of opinion leaders.
• Mix it up: have some 15 minute meetings if that is all you need.
• Conference calls: Use icebreakers; avoid lectures; ask and engage others.

Chapter Cabinet

Attending the Chapter Cabinet on Tuesday evening is mandatory for Chapter Presidents and President-Elects, for here we represent our members and are able to hear about the activities of all the chapters over the past year, raise issues and hear about the Board of Directors activities. These included:

• Bill Fisher, SLA President 2002/3, has appointed a search committee.
• The Branding Task Force has taken no action to date; SLA is requesting feedback.
• Discussed briefly the bylaws and policy document which would be presented at the Annual Business Meeting on June 12th [The Revised Proposed Bylaws as approved at the meeting for submission to the full membership are available for your review]

Peter Drucker: General Session Presentation

Drucker got us all on his side with the opening remarks on "How to put knowledge to work" ... CIO is a misnomer, they should be CDO (Chief Data Officers). We are the Information Officers.

The first indication of change are the requests made to the library, especially when you start getting the same or similar questions from different departments and staff. Look at the requests you get, especially those in "non-traditional areas"; look at demographics, the patterns of demands on your time ... Learn to inform colleagues and clients of changes in the patterns (i.e. biggest economic problem today is that Chinese living on the coast are getting richer than ever and those living internal are getting poorer). Drucker suggests that once a year for about three weeks, tabulate your requests and analyze them (even generally) ... and make sure management knows... be a provider of questions, not just answers.

Today every institution or business has to be globally competitive since the Internet and other communications technology have made distances disappear, and this in turn is leading to a change in the structure of organizations. In the past, companies were held together by ownership, now the are held together by strategy... money no longer gives the advantage, strategy and information are the scarce resources.

Companies can no longer look just at their in-house data and information, they need to be aware of and have access to external information. Drucker strongly supports reading anything, to think about what you are reading, and especially to read things outside your normal subject field.

Don't make a job become your life

Drucker also addressed the issue of a balanced lifestyle and suggests that we look at our own work habits and try to grow beyond the workplace. Now employees often outlive their organizations so it is important for find outside interests such as meeting totally different people by working for a non-profit association. Employee/employer is a task focused relationship that does not require loyalty. Be loyal to God, country and spouse, not to your employer. Find a job you enjoy, but still find a way to live and develop interests and relationships outside the workplace.

Regular Sessions

Again Monday and Tuesday were especially crowded with a overabundance of choices. Having to dash from one end of the conference centre to the other and occasionally to the other venue made getting around a bit challenging for the session hopper. Luckily, Susannah has been gathering conference reports from other Chapter attendees for this issue of Wired West; and SLA HQ is compiling links to presentations as they become available. Full text of the "Conference Papers" are already available. These sites will help augment my notes and fill in some of those inadvertently missed sessions that sounded so great. I realize that, although helpful, scanning the slides or reading the papers will lack some of the interactivity that makes attending the conference in person so important.

Exhibits

As usual, an important part of the conference. Where else can you explore new technology and products, talk to vendors, and get a toy for your inner child? Now is also the time to save by ordering from the "books on display" lists or getting access to databases or web sites for trials when you get back to work.

Networking

Networking is another vital component of the conference experience. Whether meeting friends, other chapter members or strangers, this is where you can share thoughts and ideas; make that important industry connection; and extend the value of your information centre.

Recruiting Leaders

This was led by Stephanie Tolsen, Chapter Cabinet Chair elect. Ideas and tips that arose included:

• Some units have an in-built succession coordinator
  • Succession Leader (outgoing presidents)
  • Past-past-president
  • Past-past-president heads nominating committee
  
  
• Handout - "Leadership and the Perfect Outpost" by Victor Zalakos (http://www.zalakos.com/perfect/ - Recruiting Leaders section ...follow the links on "how to recruit" for more details). Tips include:
  • Don't beg for help.
  • Don't run uninspiring meetings (interested and potential leaders attend those meetings and may not be inspired to join your board if the programming or other meetings are uninteresting).
  • Be positive when approaching potential candidates.
  
  
• Have a Procedural Manual including tips so new people don't walk into the position cold. The manual can also be a recruitment tool showing what is involved with the position. It can be used as a guideline; encourage people to amend or change them. Allow them to be creative and flexible and to make the position their own.
  
  
• Promote or have readily available (i.e. on Chapter web site) a list of members who have already served on the board.
  • Knowing who served and when might indicate those who may be willing to again or those who might still be taking a break
  • Promoting those who have previously served also shows your appreciation for the volunteer's time and efforts
  
  
• Challenges many units have encountered include:
  • Members are too busy, too burned out (through work and/or other association commitments).
  • Hard time for companies.
  
  
• Great tips for Nominations Chair or President-Elect include:
  • Think ahead about potential people. While socializing at events, talk to members, drop hints.
  • By the time you have to start finding people, you will have a list of potential volunteers who may also be more receptive to the idea.
  • Be flexible in the position so that people may be able to do it. For example, if someone would like to be the Treasurer, but cannot stand up and present the report at the AGM, promise that someone else can make any presentations.
  • Spread responsiblity to programming
    - each committee member organize/plan only one event
    - have someone responsible just for badges or just for registration (especially if that person would like to help but doesn't have the time to organize a full event)
  • Break down any volunteer position by tasks which can be shared among committee members.
  • Use attendance lists from programming to recruit volunteers.
  • Develop new leaders from committee members.
  • Sell vision for the year; emphasize benefits such as fun, new friends, networks.
  • Change locations of board meetings (opportunity to see other libraries and shares the burdens of hosting a meeting)
  • Develop a large recruitment pool; don't always take "no" for an answer - dig deeper. "No" may mean "not now" or "maybe not, but I will think about it."
  • Find president-elects from chairs or other officers; these people are familiar with the chapter and may be wanting to stretch further.
  • Create an embracing environment with mentors and resource people that new board members can fall back on.
  • It's OK for chapter committee chairs to network ... encourage the networking.
  • Use Who's Who online as a resource - search by committee positions and contact others in your position (i.e. Archivists)
  
  
• To avoid discontinuity problems, ensure the transitions of knowledge and or documentation.
  • It helps having procedure manuals on the web.
  • Encourage incoming/outgoing board members to exchange files by a set date.
  • Follow up to ensure this is done.
  
  
• Have a transitional board meeting:
  • Some chapters have a social/potluck meeting where everyone later breaks out/pairs off to talk and exchange documents.
  • Some also include a discussion or invite a speaker to talk about leadership roles.
  
  
• [The following might have been a side-line, but is also a good a idea. This might provide non-attendees with fodder for approaching their employer for next year. Also, having someone report on LDI activities may show benefits of unit leadership]
  Some outgoing Presidents hold a summer meeting to recapture the conference
  • Happy hour meeting open to the general membership
  • Those who attended the conference can speak informally and share their experiences etc.