2009 SLA Leadership Summit
President Gloria Zamora
CEO Janice Lachance
Opening Session
Thursday, 15 January
Transcript
Gloria Zamora
Good morning! And welcome to the SLA 2009 Leadership Summit . . . and the kickoff of SLA's 100th anniversary!
We have an action-packed agenda over the next few days . . . all aimed at honing your leadership skills and strengthening your SLA network. I am confident that you will finish this week with your head full of ideas and inspiration.
But before we get down to business . . . I do want to say this: After attending this meeting for so many years, it is a special privilege for me to be here this year as your President.
And, of course, that honor is even more meaningful this year--as SLA celebrates its Centennial. Happy Hundredth, SLA!
I would like to ask the 2008 retiring Board Members who are with us today to rise and be recognized. I have enjoyed working with each of you, and on behalf of SLA, I thank you for your service and dedication:
Rebecca Vargha - Outgoing Past President
Libby Trudell - Outgoing Chapter Cabinet Chair
Robyn Frank - Outgoing Division Cabinet Chair
Roberto Sarmiento - Outgoing Director
Cindy Romaine - Outgoing Director
May we have a round of applause? Thank you!
Now, would our current board members rise as I announce your name:
Anne Caputo--President-Elect
Stephen Abram--Past President
Sylvia James--Treasurer
Susan Fifer Canby--Chapter Cabinet Chair
Ruth Wolfish--Chapter Cabinet Chair-Elect
Tom Rink--Division Cabinet Chair
Anne Sweeney--Division Cabinet Chair-Elect
Kate Arnold
Tamika McCollough
Deb Hunt
Ty Webb
Daniel Lee
Nettie Seaberry
Janice Lachance
I am truly looking forward to working with all of you over the next year. It's a challenging time, and so I am particularly grateful to have such a committed group to lead SLA into its second century! Will you all join me in applauding our 2009 Board of Directors?
For those of you who have been here before, you usually hear from the President and then from the CEO. But Janice Lachance and I don't just talk about partnership; we practice it. So we are going to do things a little different this year to illustrate the partnership that the Board enjoys with the staff. Janice and I will tag team this morning in bringing you up to speed on pretty exciting efforts we are working on.
Janice Lachance
Thank you Gloria, and welcome everyone. It's clear: 2009 will be a landmark year for all of us. We will celebrate SLA's centennial, and we will finally have the information we need to position SLA and the information profession for success with the Alignment Project.
There is an old saying . . . "The harder I work, the luckier I get." We have been working very hard at SLA, not only to gain insights into the value placed on our organization and the information profession through the Alignment Project . . . but also to make sure that SLA membership represents a real value for our members. And it would seem that our timing was . . . fortuitous!
Gloria Zamora
Yes, and we all know it wasn't dumb luck. We will realize the benefits of a number of ongoing efforts at SLA during 2009, and they come at a critical time for our members.
What am I talking about? To borrow a phrase... It's the economy, stupid. We cannot escape it: the economic downturn is affecting every country, every household . . . and yes, every organization, including SLA.
In this economic climate, our most important job is to work smarter--whether that's in the job we currently have, or in positioning ourselves for the next job.
Janice Lachance
And that means that SLA's most important job is making sure that happens.
We went into 2009 with two important operational assumptions, and they were reflected in the budget just approved by the Board of Directors:
- First, we have to be realistic. We have already lost revenue on our investments, and we must assume that SLA revenues from membership, conference attendance, sponsorships and so forth will go down in 2009.
At the same time, some of our operational expenses--energy costs, printing, mailing, for example--will go up.
Bottom line: austerity is the name of the game. - Second, in these uncertain times, our members need their professional association more than ever. We must keep delivering top-of-the-line services, must continue to meet emerging needs, must sustain and create the best networking, professional development and advocacy opportunities in the business.
We just have to do it with less money.
Gloria Zamora
My first priority--and I know Janice shares it--is making sure that SLA responds positively to the economic realities our members may face in 2009.
Ask any retailer reviewing holiday earnings and you will know without a doubt that everyone--even people with stable jobs and money in the bank--is looking for things to cut from their budget.
As our members decide what is a luxury and what is a necessity, they need to realize that their SLA membership and activities constitute a real professional lifeline . . . a necessity in weathering the economic crisis.
And that SLA lifeline is going to be a better value in 2009 than ever. We have taken so many measures to make sure of it--Janice, where do we start?
Janice Lachance
I'll start by congratulating our board of directors for approving the change that will make membership affordable for everyone this year.
As you know, thanks to this change, anyone whose income is below $18,000 can now join or renew their SLA membership for just $35.
Gloria Zamora
This is huge, Janice. I hope that all of you--chapter and division presidents, board members, everyone here--is singing this message from the rooftops.
If your hours are cut, or heaven forbid, your job is eliminated . . . if your income goes below $18,000 . . . our new dues structure will be music to your ears, because you can be an SLA member for about the cost of a boxed set of CDs--or a week's worth of Starbucks.
Plus--and this is a big plus--SLA membership will now be an option for thousands of information specialists living in parts of the world where wages are much lower.
At the risk of sounding like a TV Infomercial: Wait!! There's much, much more!
Professional development is always important--but it is truly critical right now for every information professional. We must continually demonstrate our value to our organizations--and not just to keep our jobs. We have a responsibility to see that our organizations are positioned for success. This means using every tool at our disposal to provide fast, reliable information and insight.
Every day brings a new and better tool, a faster method, a more reliable technique. If we want our employers to have a competitive edge, we have to stay sharp ourselves . . . and that means continuous learning.
SLA wants to make it more affordable for all of us to stay on top of the learning game. So, beginning today, Click U Live sessions will be free--instead of $129. And the replays will be free--instead of $89. You will have more Click U, Free and Easy.
Janice Lachance
I like this infomercial! And here's more!!!
Learning how to help your organization get a leg up on the competition just got cheaper. That's right--receive up to 15 % off the cost of our Click U Competitive Intelligence certificate programs with our Buddy Discount. There are discounts available for a la carte courses, too.
And, during the month of January, all members who register for SLA 2009 in Washington, DC, will receive a $45 discount off of the early bird rate. More than 350 of you have already signed up.
And members who want to pursue a master's or doctorate degree, in person or online, can enjoy discounts and special opportunities at an impressive array of schools, including Syracuse, San Jose State, Drexel, Kent State, and the University of Toronto.
Gloria Zamora
With these discounts and free professional development opportunities, combined with affordable membership, SLA may have already done more to support its members during these challenging economic times than any other professional organization. I am incredibly proud to be part of this forward-thinking, responsive organization, aren't you?
Janice Lachance
To balance our budget while providing these enhanced membership benefits, we took a surgical approach. We went over our expenses line by line and made cuts large and small.
We do not at this time plan to cut staff. Our staff is already extremely lean, and we cannot offer our members the kinds of services we envision without the expert staff we have assembled. So retrenchment is not our strategy.
But for the first time since 2002, SLA staff did not receive a salary increase in 2009. At the same time, and for the first time ever, staff members are now paying a portion of their medical insurance coverage.
Most of the steps we are taking to reduce costs should be invisible to you, but you will notice some changes.
First, we are cutting the number of issues of Information Outlook from 12 to 8. Advertising revenues were down last year, and we can expect them to continue to decrease. At the same time, the cost of paper and mailing have increased substantially. As you know, virtually every magazine and newspaper is coping with the same realities . . . I even learned a new word the other day from our friends at Outsell: "dayscrapping," which refers to the practice some daily newspapers have adopted of publishing or delivering papers only on certain days. We will also skip the 2009 Salary Survey.
Gloria Zamora
Another way we will save a lot of money this year is to make most of our leadership meetings virtual.
The Board already holds all of its non-conference meetings by phone. From now on, the Finance Committee will meet by teleconference or WebEx. And we have decided that we can redistribute some of the board work and abolish the AOOC.
This not only saves SLA money. . . it gets rid of another layer of bureaucracy and increases the transparency of your association. It also gives some of us a little more time at home, too. I am pretty sure my husband likes that idea--and I am positive that Max does. He's my dog.
We are all deeply invested in technology, and now we are reaping some of the returns . . . using technology to work smarter.
Janice Lachance
Gloria, at this point, I think it's important to say that we aren't just cutting things out. We are adding things, too, largely in response to what members have said they want from SLA.
Gloria Zamora
Yes, we are. One thing we want very much to add is new members, and I'm excited to tell you that we are launching a new council devoted to information professionals in the First Five Years of their career. Fair notice: I am going to be looking for volunteers!
Another way we will show our commitment to new members is with a new award. We have asked the Awards Committee to add the Rising Star awards to recognize members who are making a splash early in their careers.
We also have a new Information Ethics Advisory Committee and a new Academic Division that will increase SLA's ability to have a positive impact on the profession.
Change is good--especially when it responds to our members' needs.
Janice Lachance
Another investment we have made is in broadening the membership of SLA around the world . . . and I think this is the year when we will reap the benefits. Our new dues structure will make membership affordable for many more of our colleagues . . . and that couldn't come at a better time. In fact, just since we announced the new dues tier, we have added almost 100 new SLA members from outside of North America.
I have been saying for years that information knows no borders, and that it is important to build a global network of information professionals. That is still true . . . but there is new urgency to do so.
The volatile economy has opened the eyes of many industries who now see just how interconnected we are on this planet. Actually, it goes beyond "interconnected"--we're interdependent. All kinds of physical, financial, and intellectual assets flow across borders.
When any nation's economy catches cold, the rest of the world gets sick. When trade is disrupted by conflicts, disasters and economic crises, assets vital to almost every organization are disrupted as well.
Information professionals must tap into the best information about the assets their organizations rely upon. To do that, they must be connected to more than electronic sources--they need the human insight of other information professionals all over the world.
So I make this pledge: We will not let up on our efforts to build a more global SLA. That would be a penny-wise but pound-foolish move. We will economize wherever we can, of course--but we will keep making the connections information professionals must have to do their jobs in the 21st Century.
JOHN COTTON DANA
Excuse me, but did you say something about the 21st Century?
Gloria Zamora
Sir, can I help you with something? You are interrupting a meeting.
JOHN COTTON DANA
A meeting of the Special Libraries Association, I presume? That's where it seems I am. . .
Gloria Zamora
Well, yes, that's right--you are at the Special Libraries Association Leadership Summit.
JOHN COTTON DANA
That is excellent! Allow me to introduce myself. I am John Cotton Dana.
Janice Lachance
As in SLA founder John Cotton Dana?
JOHN COTTON DANA
The same . . . though I'm perhaps not exactly the same. . .
May I join you? I am apparently what you call nowadays an Avatar . . . a virtual presence summoned up by someone's imagination to help SLA celebrate something.
Gloria Zamora
Our Centennial! That has to be it, Mr. Dana. We are kicking off the Centennial of SLA today, at this very moment.
JOHN COTTON DANA
Imagine that! A hundred years! And you are still calling it the Special Libraries Association??? This surprises me . . . the name Special Libraries was chosen with some hesitation . . . and rather in default of another.
Oh, clearly, we were doing something special . . . If I may quote myself, in my new library creed:
"Select from the vast flood of print the things your constituency will find helpful, make them available with a minimum of expense, and discard them as soon as their usefulness is past."
I must say, however, that we were always challenged to find the right words to describe this special form of librarianship we advocated . . . right from the beginning.
Janice Lachance
Speaking of the beginning . . . I personally would love to hear about it. How about the rest of you?
JOHN COTTON DANA
Well then! It all began on a verandah . . . a lovely porch in the shadow of the magnificent Mount Washington in New Hampshire. My friend F.B. DeBerard and I invited a group of 20 to gather to discuss this new kind of librarianship we had been practicing.
Gloria Zamora
Mr. Dana, if I might ask . . . what was so new?
JOHN COTTON DANA
It was the idea of the library as a practical place . . . bringing to the aid of modern industry whatever the student or practitioner may have thought fit to put into type.
You see, men of affairs--and of course, women too--were for the first time beginning to see clearly that collections and printed materials are not, as they were long held to be by most, for the use simply of the scholar, the student, the reader, the poet.
They can be useful tools, of the greatest possible help in promoting business efficiency . . . if they are in the care of a curator . . . a kind of living index . . . which we called, for lack of a better term, a special librarian.
Janice Lachance
So you founded your own association?
JOHN COTTON DANA
We did . . . and I am heartened to know that it survives, but I am hardly surprised. You see, the object of our association was "to promote the interests of the commercial, industrial, technical, civic, municipal and legislative reference libraries, the special departments of public libraries, universities, welfare associations, and business organizations."
In addition, we desired a means of aiding cooperation among libraries doing special work, and among the librarians who worked in them. I understand you call that "networking" nowadays.
It is of some importance to note that the role of special librarians is different. They do not simply organize material for others to find. On the contrary, special librarians seek out the information of the most practical interest to their employers and get that information to them without delay.
We understood that special librarians must have special knowledge and use special techniques. Their libraries are an asset to any private or public organization . . . because they are not established and maintained as a matter of sentiment . . . but as a cold proposition of dollars and cents.
Of course, in my day, and despite my very best efforts . . . everyone did not understand the advantages of special libraries or the special people who worked in them.
Gloria Zamora
That is still a challenge, Mr. Dana, but so many other things have changed.
First, we have grown. SLA has about 11,000 members in more than 70 countries today.
Second, there has been a digital revolution. It would take me all day to explain it, so I will just say that there is far more information available than ever before.
JOHN COTTON DANA
But that's wonderful!
Gloria Zamora
It is! But with so much information available to people almost instantly . . . we are challenged to explain that they need people who can get them the most valuable information . . who can turn information into knowledge. Organizations need information professionals in specialized fields.
JOHN COTTON DANA
Indeed! And what are you doing about it?
Janice Lachance
I thought you would never ask! Get comfortable, Mr. Dana, and let us tell you about a major undertaking we call. . Align in '09 . . .
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