CONTACT:
Karen Santos Freeman
+1.703.647.4917
kfreeman@sla.org
SLA 2005 DRAWS ALMOST 5,300 PARTICIPANTS
Annual Conference Registration Up by More Than One-Third
Alexandria, Virginia USA, 21 June 2005 — The Special Libraries Association (SLA) has wrapped up its 2005 Annual Conference, held 5 – 8 June in Toronto. Executive Director Janice R. Lachance announced today that attendance surpassed last year’s by more than 37 percent.
“We had some fabulous speakers and an involved and energetic crowd. Toronto was a great city with friendly and helpful people,” Lachance said. “Overall, the 2005 Annual Conference was a huge success and raised the bar for our 2006 conference in Baltimore.”
Registration for SLA 2005 totaled 5,283 individuals. Of that number, 2,246 were SLA members and 405 non-members. The balance was comprised of exhibitors, vendors, Continuing Education students, speakers, and others.
INFO-EXPO, the largest information and knowledge management exposition in North America, attracted 715 people registering for free Exhibit-Only passes. The expo featured 262 individual companies and organizations with 441 booths. SLA welcomed 59 new exhibitors this year.
More than 740 participants attended the SLA Annual Conference for the first time. Participants represented 45 countries.
By comparison, the SLA 2004 Annual Conference in Nashville attracted 3,852 participants and the INFO-EXPO featured 235 companies and organizations with 415 booths.
Almost 160 non-members took advantage of the one-year free membership offered with registration.
Flashback
SLA 2005 officially began on 5 June at the Metro Toronto Convention Center in downtown Toronto. The opening of the INFO-EXPO featured a Finnish “shouting choir” and actors in international costumes.
That evening, 25 members and six strategic partners were presented with awards and honors in 14 categories at the 57th annual SLA Awards Ceremony and Reception. The Mistress of Ceremonies for the sold-out event was Ethel M. Salonen, SLA’s 2004-2005 president.
On 6 June, internationally-renowned business author Don Tapscott delivered the Opening General Session keynote address. The standing room-only crowd of more than 3,000 listened as Tapscott detailed the information professional’s role in the era of “The Naked Corporation,” the title of his most recent book. “People are getting unprecedented access to information. If you’re going to be naked, you better be buff,” he said.
A crowd of about 500 gathered that afternoon for the unveiling of SLA’s newest member service—Click University. The online learning system was designed expressly for the professional development and continuing education needs of information and knowledge management professionals around the world.
On 7 June, international technology design expert Bill Buxton delivered the Second General Session keynote speech. Buxton held the attention of the capacity crowd of about 3,000, discussing the relationship between creativity and technological design. “We aren’t in the midst of an information revolution,” he said. “We’re in a racket of noise and data overload.”
Also, the newly-retitled “President’s Showcase” featured up-and-coming author Dan Pink in an overflowing breakout room. Discussing the value of right-brain thinking in today’s economy, Pink elaborated on and discussed his assertions in his most recent book A Whole New Mind.
At the Closing General Session on 8 June, business “guru” Gary Hamel talked about Leading the Revolution, his latest book. Hamel, author of Competing for the Future, the best-selling business book of all time, is #4 on the “Global Ranking of Business Thinkers,” far outpacing icons such as Bill Gates and Stephen Covey. He urged the audience, “Move from being custodians of information to catalysts for renewal.”
New Leadership
At the Annual Business Meeting, SLA President Salonen presented 2005-2006 President Pam Rollo with the “Necklace of Nations,” symbolically passing leadership. A new Board of Directors was also seated. And SLA’s membership overwhelmingly approved measures to allow online voting and an alignment of the association’s governance year with its fiscal year.
First SLA Conference Blog
For the first time, SLA staff and conference participants provided a detailed account of conference activities through an official Weblog. The SLA Conference Blog (www.sla.org/conferenceblog) provided commentary, photos, and event updates to participants on-site as well as members who couldn’t attend.
SLA 2006
Next year’s Annual Conference will take place in Baltimore, Maryland. The theme is “Baltimore—Where Tradition and Transformation Converge.” Speakers will include public television’s Gwen Ifill and Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal.
About SLA
The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is a nonprofit global organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners. SLA serves nearly 12,000 members in 83 countries in the information profession, including corporate, academic, and government information specialists. SLA promotes and strengthens its members through learning, advocacy, and networking initiatives. For more information, visit us www.sla.org.
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