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SLA 2010 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO Closing Business Session Remarks |
"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." Charles Dickens wrote those words in the 1850s . . . to kick off a plot that opens in the 1770s. And I was not exactly thrilled to read them in the 1960s, when my high school English teacher assigned A Tale of Two Cities. But my attitude was quite different when I neared the end of the book!
You have just heard Dan's cliffhanger about SLA's finances. Not quite as gruesome as A Tale of Two Cities, but just the thing to sober us up after a few days here in New Orleans. Can you believe that I actually got through law school in this wonderful city? Where were my priorities?
Before I begin ...
Dan told you about how hard our SLA staff has been working to provide the services you need. Many of them are working now and cannot be with us, but I would like all SLA staff members who are here to stand and be recognized. [lead applause]
This has also been an unusually challenging year for our fabulous SLA President, Anne Caputo . . . our devoted Treasurer Dan Trefethen . . . and the entire SLA Board of Directors. You delved deeply into SLA's programs, spending, and revenue, giving countless hours on behalf of all of SLA's members. Would you stand to be recognized?
Now back to my tale . . . Dickens' characters lived in a time of revolution, when reality shifted constantly. And we do, too, as an association, as a profession, and even as a planet. Just think about New Orleans: in the blink of an eye, because of one hurricane, much of this beautiful city and too many of its people disappeared forever. Blink again: and because a malfunctioning piece of equipment, millions of gallons of oil are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, with a human and environmental toll we are only beginning to grasp.
Change is constant . . . it may, in fact, be the most predictable thing in the universe. And as General Eric Shinseki points out,--"If you dislike change, you're going to dislike irrelevance even more." We must earn our relevance every day in how we respond to change, and the resilience we display in doing so. We must earn our relevance by learning from change, and using that knowledge to build a better future.
Change hands us a blank slate on which we have the opportunity to rewrite the future . . . where we can, for example, make a difference in a place that has certainly seen "the worst of times."
As James Carville told you at the opening general session... We are, in fact, helping to rebuild the city of New Orleans and improving the economy of the Gulf Coast simply by being here this week . . . by supporting the tourism industry that is the lifeblood of Louisiana. The New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that SLA 2010 will bring almost $5 million critically-needed dollars into this city!
Every Hurricane you drink at Pat O'Brien's helps . . . every shrimp and oyster you have consumed sustains the living of those who can still fish the Gulf waters. And I commend everyone who has taken, or will take, the caring a step farther by participating in one of SLA's volunteer projects. If you have signed up for one of the projects, would you stand? Let's give our member-volunteers a hand!
Let us also recognize the efforts of the 2010 Annual Conference Planning Advisory Council, chaired by James Manasco . . . and the unit planners who have worked so hard to bring you this conference.
In the context of the catastrophic events here in Louisiana, our challenges at SLA seem small indeed. But make no mistake: we are at an important crossroads as both an association and as a profession. The business models that have sustained both for the last one hundred years are withering away as surely as the marsh grasses affected by the oil slick. How will we respond to these challenges? Will we "put knowledge to work" to build a better future for SLA and for the information and knowledge professionals in this room and around the world?
So what do we know?
We knowthat virtually every professional association is operating on an outdated, even obsolete, business model that relies on subsidies to provide services. I serve on the Board of the American Society of Association Executives, and I assure you that this is true.
We know that for decades, SLA has relied upon three things for the revenue required to provide our members with services: sponsorships and advertising; conference revenue; and membership fees.
A word about membership fees--even with the small increase this year, they represent a fraction of the almost $600 a year it costs to provide each SLA member with the services and programs you enjoy today. Think about that for a minute. Think about the amount of dues you pay to be a member of SLA, subtract that from 600 dollars and that's the amount of money that has to come from our annual conference and our industry partners.
And just as digital information and the Internet have revolutionized your jobs, they have helped turn the association revenue equation upside down.
In "the best of times" for associations, vendors had very few options for reaching out to you to let you know about their new products and services. So they happily bought advertising in Information Outlook or our conference program . . . and they couldn't afford to miss the opportunity to exhibit here.
Thank goodness, 243 exhibitors--23 of them new--have purchased 422 booths here in New Orleans. They understand that our INFO-EXPO attendees have more buying power than they will find at other conferences. As a matter of fact, SLA's INFO-EXPO was rated one of America's top 10 trade shows by Exhibit Surveys Inc.'s 2009 Trade Show Trends report . . . in terms of both the net buying influence of those who attend and the traffic density. Others in the top ten included the National Association of Broadcasters, the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show, and the National Restaurant Association.
Thank goodness, we still have major conference sponsors Dow Jones and Company...Dialog & Proquest...and Springer . . . companies that demonstrate their commitment to information professionals time and time again . . . companies that recognize the need for a professional association to provide you with continuing education and important networking opportunities. Let's give them a hand!
But vendors overall have seen drastic reductions in their own budgets for advertising, sponsorships, exhibits and the like. That money now goes towards things like their Web presence and developing electronic training. Even when the economy improves, it will be a new era . . . things will have changed permanently and we certainly will not go back to the way things were. This isn't an era of change; it is the change of an era.
We will not be able to rely on the same level of sponsorships and advertising revenue we once enjoyed.
In "the best of times" for associations, conferences like this one provided one of the few opportunities for professional development. Those times have changed. Today, you have your choice of myriad online options--and many of them, like most of our Click University programming, are free. In response to these trends, employers are increasingly reluctant to invest in travel and training. Some will not help with your professional dues. As employees, you may be pretty much on your own to gain the new skills you need to keep up with the ever-changing business of information.
And what about the networks that are so essential to all professionals--but are particularly crucial for information professionals? Year after year, you tell us that the relationships you form here at conference, with face-to-face interactions with other info pros, are extraordinarily valuable to you. Just listen to some of these comments last year's attendees made on the conference survey:
- "Attendees benefit from the knowledge exchange from across the continents . . . and the ideas, plans and solutions generated at the conference will impact our organization over the long term and the short term."
- "An excellent, diverse group of colleagues from different industries, geographical locations and types of working environments. Rich intermixing of working styles and solutions. Good networking and continuing education, broad exposure to different vendors and products."
- "Great networking opportunity, and the companies that attend are truly interested in helping you serve your patrons better."
And my personal favorite: - "Don't plan to diet while you're at SLA!"
Let's face it: We cannot break bread--or beignets--with colleagues on a listserv, or a blog, or a wiki.
Collaboration on computer is great, and SLA has some of the most robust online networking options anywhere. But even those are no substitute for the interaction we have had this week . . . for the friendships we have formed . . . for the knowledge we have shared.
Just to quantify that--because I know you love numbers--we have 3429 attendees at this year's conference from 29 countries, plus another 101 attending virtually--a first!
But we have struggled mightily the past few years just to break even on this conference--a conference that once provided revenue that kept us going year-round.
So where do we go from here?
What we CAN do . . . what your board is now doing . . . is put everything on the table . . . "right size" SLA's programs and services, and find new sources of revenue.
What we CAN do is keep the spirit of this conference alive . . . and work together to write the next chapters in SLA's history and the history of the information and knowledge profession.
What we CAN do is accept that this story is, and must be, a first-person narrative.
Because SLA is not "they." It's "us." Each and every one of us. Because we are shareholders with a vital stake in SLA's success as an association . . . because each and every one of us must have the networks, the learning, and the advocacy that are only possible with our collective support and effort.
What we CAN do is heed the advice that comes out of the Alignment Project research and apply it every day in our workplaces.
For example, we can ensure the future of the information and knowledge profession by recognizing that we must align our vision with the vision of the organizations we serve . . . and align our support with the organization that serves us. We are just beginning to tap into the important learning gathered through the Alignment project to produce the tools that will help us tell a story that will be a best seller.
Where will your story be set? A library or information center? Perfect! But as we know too well, there are fewer traditional library jobs out there. Even library and information science programs, like the one here at LSU, are threatened. Like the association business model I spoke of a moment ago, this is a situation that is not likely to change. Yet many info pros are writing exciting new chapters in their lives and careers.
Take Ann Menninger Johnson. She began her career as a science librarian with a government agency, then went to work as a legal and education librarian for an association. As much as she loved her library work, her real passion was food, so she went after a professional culinary certificate and then a master's in food science. Now Ann combines her database expertise and love of food to head regulatory compliance for a frozen food manufacturer.
Then there is Lynnette Harris. After working in academic, research, and law libraries, she became a freelance researcher and production manager for television projects--from current affairs programs and documentaries to game shows.
SLA members are exploiting new opportunities in areas in which their skills and training are solid gold--in health settings, implementing government-mandated electronic health records management . . . in corporations, exploiting the possibilities of social networking . . . in humanitarian organizations, leading efforts to spread life-sustaining knowledge.
Info pros in nontraditional careers tell me that they love their work--but that they miss working with other info pros. For them, the networking, professional development and advocacy opportunities at SLA become absolutely vital.
Writing the next chapters in SLA's illustrious history must be a collaborative endeavor . . . a labor of love . . . for all of us. We are all major characters in this epic. We all have important roles to play in building the future of the information profession and of SLA.
Working together, we will make SLA's second century "the best of times" for information and knowledge professionals.
Thank you.
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