SLA Blog

Fundraising with a Focus

The SLA Loyalty Club is a fundraising community dedicated to enhancing the vitality of our association.

While our fuel comes from our volunteers, leaders, staff, and partners who collaborate to empower our profession, that fuel is augmented by our annual donors who go above and beyond to support SLA. Their donations are vital to SLA’s ability to empower the information profession through new programs and improved offerings. They allow us to conduct salary surveys, produce high-level professional development programs and instructors, and organize an Annual Conference rich in content and networking events that connect you with the partners who support your work.

The Loyalty Club is our initiative to encourage regular contributions and recognize the generosity of our members. Since its launch at the 2012 Leadership Summit, the Loyalty Club has grown to encompass more than 20 members. We’ve got a long way to go to reach our goal of 100 inaugural platinum-level members, but we’re confident you will help us get there.

The first 100 donors to contribute $100 or more in 2012 will secure platinum-level membership at a lower annual rate (normally a $750 donation). Platinum members will be recognized at the 2012 Annual Conference, on SLA’s Website, and in Information Outlook this year.

More information and to donate: http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/donate/index.cfm
Membership details: http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/donate/loyaltyclub.cfm

We thank you for your consideration and lasting commitment.

 

#SLAchicago on Twitter and YouTube

For all things 2012 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO, follow @SLAchicago on Twitter, and tag your conference tweets with #SLAchicago.

Yes, due to forces beyond our control (ahem, a “squatter”), we’re breaking away from the traditional @SLA[insert  year] handle.

With early-bird registration and the conference preview on their way (27 February), we’ll leave you with the SLA 2012 YouTube video. Personally, it has me wondering if Chicago could ever be ready for the biggest gathering of information solutions in North America.

 

 

Competencies: Not as Cut-and-Dried as Might Be Expected

"If I'm going to bother going to a special librarian, I want to find an incompetent one."

Granted, that's Seth Godin talking, and Seth is known for making provocative statements. And it's unlikely the task force appointed recently to update SLA's competencies for information professionals will heed Seth's remarks.

But even a cursory glance at the January/February 2012 issue of Information Outlook will show that Seth isn't the only one with an unconventional take on competencies. Business strategist Geoffrey Moore has one as well--competencies, he says, should set you apart, not merely reflect what you do best. Kare Anderson, a consultant and former Wall Street Journal reporter, says collaboration should be a core competency; Bruce Rosenstein, a student of Peter Drucker, says innovation is essential.

Clearly, competencies are not as cut-and-dried as might be expected. And developing and revising them aren't simple exercises either, as Sandra Hirsh and Carol Ramkey make plain in their articles. What is clear is that competencies matter, and not just from a philosophical perspective. As Geoffrey Moore notes, "To shift the ground of your core, and thus your core competence, is a leadership challenge of the highest order."

To read what these thought leaders have to say about competencies, take a look at the January/February issue, posted online at sla.org.