Volunteer Spotlight — September 2008
Cris Kinghorn, Chair of the Division
interviewed by Miguel Figueroa, Bulletin Editor
Cris, can you tell me a bit about your current professional position and how involvement in the Business & Finance Division supports your work life?
Not to get this off to a negative start, but the simple answer to that question is that as a recent retiree, I don't have a current professional position!! My last, I held for almost 12 years, as the Director of Business Information Services for Deutsche Bank AG in London, responsible for over 30 information professionals in London, Frankfurt and Paris as well as in excess of 700 desktop users of information products and services. On the positive side B&F proved itself over my professional years as simply the most effective mechanism by which I could not only stay in touch, but also benchmark my professional life with the most relevant and focused peer group on the planet!!
For someone new to the Division, can you tell me a bit about the structure of the Division and how you, as chair, support the Division?
The Division provides a platform for all information professionals in the business and finance arena. General membership will facilitate access to your peer group via collaborative tools such as our amazing listserv — no question too big or too small; whilst our Sections provides a focus for specific groups such as those involved in the Private Equity or College and University Business Librarianship fields. Even though they only get together once a year these groups provide sterling examples of how professionals with the same interests and issues can work together to create something of high value to all. The Division Chair has the challenge of working with the Section Chairs and other Board members to provide a focus for information professionals working in our industries. The Board manages a number of resources for the membership such as our listserv and Web site, as well as creating the programme for the annual Conference. The Chair is also frequently the face of B&F to the Association at large — as the largest Division and celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, B&F has been a seedbed for many of the newer Divisions whose leadership first got to grips with the challenges of building and maintaining a volunteer management structure, under B&F auspices. The Division is constantly evolving to best support the membership and we look forward to what the next 50 years will bring!!
If you could give three tips from your own experience about making the most of the Division, what would they be?
"Get involved, get involved, get involved!!!" which I believe is a quote from more than one Past Chair's annual address... Our members are our life blood and so many of them who cut their Association teeth in the Division go on to serve at main Board level or in Chapter or Division Cabinet. This kind of professional commitment I believe helps hone the attributes that employers value and assists in building the kind of management skills that will serve you well at work. B&F members are not, generally speaking, the kind of individuals who step back from stepping forward and so in order to gain the maximum benefit, the Board encourages members to do just that and engage with current initiatives — the payback certainly more than rewards the effort.
How can Division members help you do a better job as chair (think of things besides just getting involved)? Are you looking for feedback on any specific issues?
The Division reviews various aspects of professional life, such as mentoring, each year and many of these initiatives arise out of feedback from the membership on the issues they find the most pressing. In order for this to be a fully productive exercise we do need to hear from Division members and working on ways to keep them engaged is always a priority. The exhortation to get involved is obviously a given as each initiative has to start somewhere!!
We will be launching our newly designed Web site and logo at Conference this June and I look forward to members' reactions and input — particularly in relation to the site and our other collaborative tools.
Looking back over your years in the Division, can you offer a few highlights — personal or Division-wide highlights — that might inspire new members?
The people &mdash in a nutshell sums up SLA at large, but B&F in particular. I could not have predicted how involved I would get (initially at the Chapter level) when I attended my first Conference back in 1992, nor how much I would learn about the industry and my professional peer group, courtesy of my SLA membership. Joining this Association and consequently the Division, lead directly to the most challenging and rewarding professional position I held. Specifically joining the Board has enabled me to further develop existing friendships, create new professional relationships and learning opportunities, but also thrown me together with members I would never have met otherwise, whose perspectives and openness (and willingness to work across time zones in a collaborative and structured manner) have gotten my year as Chair off to an excellent start. I hope that the Seattle experience will be a positive and enjoyable one for all and if this is your first Conference, then please come and introduce yourself! If you cannot attend, then be sure to check out our newly relaunched Web site through July, when we will have posted as much of the content presented there as we can obtain for the benefit of all.