Report to Members - 2009

Michelle Dollinger, SLA NY Chapter Past-President | md@michelledollinger.com

2009 was a tough year for many of our members who saw their libraries closed, colleagues laid off and perhaps questioned their future. Those of us who kept our jobs often have taken on additional roles and responsibilities. The recession has forced us all to be savvy and innovative and many members find themselves on entirely new career paths.

Though the association members did not vote to change the name to "Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals," the Chapter has been hard at work to deliver the messages of the alignment study and provide members the tools to apply those messages to their work.

It is now as critical as ever to take full advantage of the benefits your SLA and chapter membership provide. This includes attending programs, networking events and leveraging volunteer opportunities to get leadership experience. I thought it was important to remind members of the immense value that can be gained from membership and I've listed several of the past year's Chapter offerings. (Not to mention the association benefits such as ClickU, discounts, ExecuBooks and job listings to name a few.)

Chapter Activities

• In 2009 the Chapter created the SLA NY Employment Task Force which has been hard at work with our Professional Development chair to bring you targeted programming to advance your career and offer networking specifically for people searching for new jobs.
• We enhanced the website to provide job and career links, a Google calendar for events, feedback module, SLA and blog headlines, twitter feeds and a special centennial celebration microsite. In addition, we've turned many pages into blogs so members can subscribe to receive automatic updates of new jobs, internships, etc.
• The Chapter has a social networking presence on LinkedIn and Facebook. Check these sites for announcements, relevant discussions, articles of interest and photos.
• We renewed our contract with Club Quarters/Midtown Executive Club which allows SLA members to join for as little as $25 and receive full privileges at MEC including use of its private dining room, meeting and conference room, invitations to members-only events such as wine dinners, reserving private, full service hotels designed for the business traveler, subsidized for family and friends’ use anytime and much more.
• A committee was formed to create a 3-year strategic plan which emphasizes the Chapter’s desire to develop and become a real agent for advocating on behalf of our members and looks to place a greater emphasis on communicating our value to employers and fellow professionals. The plan is available for members to see on the website and a survey will be sent out to see what kind of activities you want to see executed on your behalf as a member.
• About eight happy hours were planned last year where new, old and prospective members had the chance to network.

Centennial Events

• Four Leaders Discuss SLA's Past, Present, and Future
• Opportunities of New York: Diversity in a Challenging Environment
• Book Event with Guy St. Clair: SLA at 100: From Putting Knowledge to Work to Building the Knowledge Culture
• Psyche of NY: Managing Change
• Legal of NY: Prosecuting the Gottis
• Economics of NY: Louis Uchitelle of The New York Times on Layoffs
• Centennial Celebration Dinner at the University Club
• Information and Intelligence Forum
• Holiday and Association's 100th Birthday Party at McGraw-Hill
• Professional Development, Business & Finance Sessions and Employment Task Force
• Ten Trends in Technology for 2009
• Basics of Web Site Management, Part I
• 90 Minutes to a Great Taxonomy, Part 2
• Back to Basics: Business Research
• Information Architecture Program with David Walczyk of Pratt SILS
• XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) and its Upcoming Use in Financial Reporting
• LexisNexis Refresher Training
• Job Search Techniques: Best Practices for Today’s Market
• LinkedIn: Why You Need to Be LinkedIn and How to Develop a Powerful Profile
• Westlaw Refresher Training

 Other Chapter Activities

• Students & Information Professionals Mixer
• Midtown Networking Luncheon
• Annual Meeting and Alignment Report
• Name Change Discussion

This extraordinary list of programs and benefits would not have happened without an amazing group of volunteers who were willing to spend their time and energy to plan, organize and coordinate the resources to make it all possible. Please make sure to thank them when see them at events. And ask how you can get involved. It's not only a chance to work with colleagues and give back to the chapter, but it's a way to develop skills you may not have the chance to practice at work: leadership, social media, technology, planning, and writing.

It has been my pleasure to be a chapter leader and I hope to continue to contribute to the chapter and the association (whatever name they choose to use!) in the future.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any aspect of volunteering.