President's Message

Looking forward (and back)

It feels like we've just had time to settle into summer mode, and already it's time to start preparing for the fall. Where I work, it seems like each year the summer pace is a little faster -- the world doesn't seem to sit back and relax as much as I'd like it to.

Of course, the board members of SLA WCC begin planning the next year as soon as we return from the June conference, so there's no relaxing for us either! The regional directors are busy planning programs, and the joint conference committee, chaired by Sandra Wong, is searching for venues and speakers for our conference in the fall of 2006.

We're focusing on two goals this year:

If you have more ideas about how to increase the value of your SLA membership, please send them my way: czeller@bcsc.bc.ca. If you'd like to get involved in planning your region's programs, or contributing ideas, contact your regional director listed on the Leadership directory.

We'll also be looking at how we recognize member contributions by establishing at least one annual award for a member, and examining how we can increase the value of our student award.

This year's new board members have agreed to serve an eighteen month term, to December 2006. SLA has always had two different "years" - a finance year, from January-December, and a governance year, from July-June. This year, we're aligning the governance year with the fiscal year -- it doesn't seem exciting, but it will make things easier for the staff at SLA headquarters. There's no impact on the membership, but a little extra work for the board members who are serving an extra six months. Everything will be straightened out for January 2007.

We have lots of new faces on the WCC board this year, as well as members who've been part of the board in the past and have stepped in to lend us the benefit of their experience once again. This year's new board members are: Deb Hutchison (Vancouver Director), Karol Sinats and Susanne Barker (Vancouver Island Co-Directors), Elva Simundsson (Manitoba Director), Tanya Evancio (Archives Chair), Frances Main (Wired West Editor), Richard Matiachuk (Employment Chair), Peggy Neal (Membership Chair), Jenny Fry (Student Liaison) and Suzanne Nykoluk (Virtual Programs Chair). Susan McConkey isn't new to the board, but she's now our Saskatchewan Director, after completing her term as Membership Chair.

Many thanks to members who concluded their terms on the WCC board in June: Claudette Cloutier (Past President), Alison Halyk (Vancouver Island Director), Cathy Mount (Vancouver Director), Sharon Allentuck (Manitoba Director), Sandra Wong (Wired West Editor), Keith Mattison (Employment Chair), and Christina Andrews (Student Liaison). You did a wonderful job for the members in the past year, and we hope that you'll consider volunteering your time again in the future!

You can see the complete list of current board members at: http://www.sla.org/chapter/cwcn/leadership/leadership.shtml

Thoughts from Toronto

I certainly felt the impact of being a virtual chapter at this year's Canadian reception. I spent the reception peering at people's nametags in the semi-darkness, trying to find anyone "labeled" with BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or a territory. It's quite a task meeting your new board members in a crowd if you don't know what they look like! In the process I had the privilege of meeting many other members of our chapter.

At the Chapter Cabinet meetings and leadership sessions, we heard from SLA leaders about goals and plans for the year. The new SLA President, Pam Rollo, is forming a number of task forces. One will focus on communicating the value of our profession through both research and stories. Another will focus on our allies and partnerships, identifying other industry members who share our values and creating campaigns to attract them to SLA. These task forces will be looking for volunteers for short term commitments, and I'll provide more details later in the year.

The biggest news of the SLA conference was the launch of Click University, SLA's new online learning centre. Click stands for "Continuous Learning to Improve Career Knowledge." Click University provides online courses to SLA members on a low cost subscription basis. You can subscribe to themed libraries of courses, or select individual courses. Topics include personal and professional development, leadership and technology.

Finally, I'd like congratulate Patricia Cia, 2001-2002 President of SLA WCC, who is now SLA Chapter Cabinet Chair. We're very lucky to have her within our chapter, connecting us to everything that's happening at SLA.

Christina Zeller
President, SLA Western Canada Chapter