Ballad in Plain E

On Wednesday I attended the closing general session, which featured Scott Adams! But not before all the usual speeches (no ball gown beauties like at the opening session – boo!) and whatnot about next year’s conference, which I am already really looking forward to. It will be held in Seattle and the promo video was excellent, due in great part to the absence of Comic Sans and the fact that Nirvana found its way in! Not bad for a bunch of librarians. But seriously, it looks like it will be a great conference, especially because I won’t have to fly to get there!

Scott Adams’ keynote was great: he told some funny anecdotes about working for a large, soulless company and said that “the day you realise your efforts and your rewards are not related, it really frees up a lot of your time”. Interesting….
He then used overheads (OVERHEADS!) to show us comics that had either been censored by his editors or had resulted in a lot of complaints. One of the funniest ones involved a unicorn joke and the punchline “make my rare”. Awesome.

At the airport coming home, it seems every flight out of Denver got delayed big-time, but I made it home and into work the next day. Denver airport: not bad!

I’ve been so busy since I got back from SLA that I haven’t had a chance to write about the rest of the conference!

Tuesday and Wednesday passed in a blur. I have just posted my notes from a fabulous session on “Handling Difficult Employee Issues”. On Tuesday I also attended “20+ Tips for Searching the New Web” by Mary Ellen Bates. I was a little bit disappointed by this one; I knew most of the sources she mentioned. But she’s such a good speaker that I enjoyed it anyway. In the afternoon I attended “Spectacles: Librarians in Pop Culture”, which was light-hearted and a nice break from all the serious stuff.

That night, Kelsey and I met up for dinner at Rioja, which was amazing! The food was to die for. On top of the delicious roving bread basket we got two amuses-bouche. I had the goat cheese and artichoke tortellini and we shared the “Coconut Macaroon” angel food cake which came with basil-ified pineapple – scrumptious despite the fact that I normally don’t like basil!! I highly recommend it.

After that we zipped over to the tail end of the FreePint reception, where I met Monique Cuvelier, who was my editor when I wrote an article for FreePint. She’s as lovely in person as she is on the phone and e-mail, and I’m looking forward to working with her again at some point.

From there we headed back to the Hyatt for the IT Golddigger’s Ball and the Legal Division Open House. Legal Division was dead-skis, so we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly at the IT party, where we too advantage of the open bar and witnessed Stephen Abram cutting a rug. Awesome!!

Later: Adventures at DIA!

Technorati tag: sla2007

On Tuesday, I attended a wonderful session called “Handling Difficult Employee Issues”. The speaker was Mimi Krumholz, head of HR at Latham & Watkins. She spoke with sincerity, humour, and compassion; clearly, L&W is lucky to have her.

Mimi opened by saying that managers should really see themselves as “developers”, because people who don’t develop will either go or be asked to leave. A bit touchy feely, but a good point. She went on to make the following points:

• We can’t change anyone else, but we can change our behaviour in reaction to theirs
• The 80/20 rule applies in the context of difficult employees: 80% of your time is spent on 20% of people. This means star performers get neglected. One way to address this is to reverse the 80/20 – spend 80% on finding solutions, instead of stewing over problems.
• Never sacrifice anyone’s dignity in the face of difficulty
• We must learn to judge the different between someone just needing to vent, and engaging in inappropriate commentary. Encourage venting, within limits. Model the behaviour that you want to see in others.

She went on to say that awareness and knowledge are the keys to dealing with these situations.

First, you need to be able to identify the action that is causing problems, not your own reaction. Make objective, specific statements about the behaviour. She emphasized the need to use “I” statements to minimize defensiveness.

If the difficult person turns and starts to accuse you, try countering all attack statements with an agreement–they are not expecting this!

Accountability is important–have the person write a timeline and outline steps that he will take to improve, and check in weekly to monitor progress.

Be very careful about the word “but”. As in, “I know you’re under a lot of stress at home, and I want you to know that we care a lot about you, BUT we have a business to run here!” Mimi says the “but” erases the benefit of the first part of the message. Use “and” instead, so that the parts of the message are linked, not exclusive.

She also advised us to neutralize our own thoughts before heading into a difficult conversation, and to be very aware of our own body language and whether our body language contradicts what we are saying out loud. It’s vital to be in the conversation 100% and read the verbal and non-verbal cues of others.

Overall, Mimi’s advice was very useful and the day I returned, I found a way to use some of it, when I was asked for my own opinion on a difficult situation. I love when that happens! That’s the sign of a good session.

Technorati tag: sla2007

This (ok, last) month’s issue of LTAIG News has just been published at the LTAIG website. Mega props to Rob for doing such a good job on the formatting of the HTML version (I thought everyone would love the PDF version, but apparently some older computers have a hard time downloading them, so we’ve decided to do an HTML version as well).

The issue has a couple of conference and workshop reports, the usual blog watch column, the results of our last snapshot survey, meet an LTAIGer, and more. Enjoy!

Went to two more sessions after the Synergy session this morning. The first one was not great. The guy was good and knew what he was talking about, but it was just not my cup of tea (the slides had Comic Sans on them, which is never a good sign).

After that, I went to a great session called Google Presents: Tales, Tips & Tricks for Librarians. I’ve just posted a summary over on the conference blog, so you can read it there if you like.

After that session I had some time to myself, so I took the MallRide down to the State Capitol building. I forgot to bring my own camera (which actually uses film, if you can believe it) and also to borrow a digital one, so there I was, taking pictures on a $3.99 Walgreen’s disposa-special, feeling like I was in 1996. Ah well. I also checked out the relatively new Denver Public Library (gorgeous!) and the City & County building (impressive, like the Capitol). I had heard that there is such a cheesy souvenir as “Denver Mints” (Denver has one of only two US Mints that allow public tours), so I went to the Mint to see if they had a gift shop. They do, but it was surrounded in spikey iron fencing and looked closed, so since I didn’t want to get any scary feds coming after me, I decided to make my way back to my new favourite hangout: Denver Pavilions.

This is a mall-ish complex on the 16^th Street Pedestrian Mall, and is home to a Coyote Ugly saloon (not the reason it’s my favourite, but still!), Bath & Bodyworks (normally not on my radar, but their huge annual sale just started), Forever 21 (is it wrong to love clothes that are meant for 14-year-olds so much?), LA Express, and other fine American chain stores. Ahhhh….

I continued on my way to return a hastily-made Ross purchase (did you know that Ross and TJ Maxx are exactly like Winners…only cheaper?!). Then I headed back to my hotel to meet up with Kels to go to the Canadian Reception. When we got there, we were presented with mysterious little boxes that contained leather-encased USB thumb drives! Best swag ever!

I had a glass or two of bubbly, and we were joined by Kels’s Vancouver counterpart and met a Library of Parliament librarian. We talked shop for a bit and then about the exorbitant price of real estate in Vancouver. Then I was off to ESPN Zone to meet up with another Ottawa librarian who had organized a Senators cheering contingent for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. We talked shop for a bit and then about how Crocs should never be worn outside the home or maybe, if you live in the country, your property. Strangely, the bar was full of Colorado Crush cheerleaders. (Also: ESPN Zone has about six thousand TVs all throughout the bar. Our table had its own TV with speakers built into the booth. And, get this: there are even TVs on the ceiling in the bathroom, so you won’t miss a thing!) On on the way out, we discussed–you guessed it–the exorbitant price of real estate in Vancouver. I love Canadians.

Overall an excellent day. More tomorrow.

Technorati tag: sla2007

This morning’s General Synergy Session features Eugenie Prime, Clifford Lynch, and Stephen Abram responding to questions from SLA membership about the future.

All of their responses were thought-provoking, but I’ve only got time to mention a few of them.

In response to a question about how we can convince our business leaders that they need us, Stephen Abram talked about the need to improve our self-esteem and put an end to the culture of victimization.

Another question was “How can I make my OPAC not suck?” Abrams and Lynch put forward some ideas that are worth some thought.

Abrams said we need to stop thinking that our competition is Google. Google sells ads, not search. And there is a reason that Yahoo gets two and a half times the amount of traffic: they’re no good at selling ads, but they know how to reach an audience segment – for instance, Yahooligans for kids. Search engines improve the volume of results. Info pros improve the quality of the question.

Lynch said another argument is that search engines’ great promise, which they always deliver upon, is the idea that “if you see it in your search results, you can have it with only one more click”. No dealing with interlibrary loans, no having to track down the periodical – it’s the promise of instant access, and this is what is so compelling. Search engines are really good at answering the who, what, where, when questions, but special libraries answer the how and why questions.

Next someone asked about how we should address the changing search and learning styles of the younger generations. The best reply to this was Abrams’: there has been no fundamental change in learning styles. There has been a change in the reward structure of using a particular learning style.

When asked what the most important core competency will be in the next five years, Prime said it’s not a technical one, it’s leadership – the ability to be confident and adapt to change; to handle anything new. Abrams said that as a female-dominated profession, we’ve already got the communication skills to be really good at refining questions. Good point!

Abrams had another good point when asked how we can find out what users want, and why do our efforts never work? He said that it’s all about iteration. The first try always fails. He used this analogy: you see a little toddler teetering around. You don’t look at him and say, wow, what a lousy accountant. Give him time!

Next, a question about what SLA should do to help us show our bosses that we are what they need. Prime said wouldn’t it be great if we could run an advertising supplement on information professionals in Business Week? Heck yeah!

Abrams talked about SLA project to “infect the web” with testimonials from our bosses – so that the message is meaningful to other business leaders. They wouldn’t necessarily listen to us, but they’d sure listen to their peers.

More later on today!

Technorati tag: sla2007

I was too tired last night to write about the Gore keynote. So how was it?

My boyfriend has this very particular was of saying “It was….[long pause]…oh…kay…” meaning not a total disappointment but not fantastic either. That was pretty much my response. It was certainly a huge thrill to see Gore live, but the content of the speech was not as good as I had hoped.

After an hour-long awards presentation session, we welcomed Gore to the stage. Standing 0 (two more would follow). He spent the first ten minutes or so delivering a bunch of crowd-pleasing anecdotes and jokes. He’s a very, very talented presenter. I was getting antsy for him to get to the point, though. Finally he started talking about how much he respects and values information professionals. This part was good. He clearly knows exactly what librarians do and what they are good at. He spoke about learning investigative research techniques while working as a reporter in the early part of his career, and how those skills shaped his philosophies in subsequent roles in congress and beyond. This was pretty interesting, and I felt glad that such a high-profile speaker actually cared enough to research the organization and customize his presentation to us. I felt as though he genuinely shares our values.

The focus of the speech then shifted, of course, to the climate crisis and what role he feels information, the internet, and information professionals must play in addressing the crisis. He touched on how the message became so much easier to understand when technology allowed for better visual representation of the data. I guess for me the downside was that it was SO American-focused. It comes with the territory, of course, that the former Vice President would talk a lot about America. But SLA isn’t an American organization; it’s an international one. And while the bulk of the audience last night would have been American, there were some of us there who weren’t. There were a lot of references that I didn’t “get” because I’m not American. For someone who claims he’s not planning on running in the 2008 elections, it seemed awfully rah-rah, “yea America” to me.

At the end of the presentation, prompted by a question from an audience member, he discussed his Climate Protection Project, in which he trains people from all over the world to learn and deliver his slide show, spreading the word much faster than he can do it by himself. At this point, he did talk a lot about other countries, which was nice.

Anyway, I’m glad that I got the chance to see him talk; it was a great experience and one that not many people get. I just wish it could have been less focused on the States and more on the international nature of our organization – and the climate crisis, for that matter.

Technorati tag: sla2007

Wow! Denver is an awesome city. The SuperShuttle ride in went smoothly, and on the way in I chatted with a librarian from the British Library – neat! I arrived at my hotel at about 6:45pm and had just enough time to discover that yes, it’s a very, very cool hotel. Every floor has a theme, and I’m staying on the Big Hair floor (how did they know that big hair is my eternal quest?). It’s stocked with pictures of ’80s hair bands, Donald Trump, and a 6 foot tall cutout of Marge Simpson.

I met up with Kelsey and we walked around – she’s been here for a day already so she’s an old pro. She showed me the famous Tattered Cover bookstore and all the good shops along the 16th St Pedestrian Mall. We wound up for dinner at a place called Rialto and caught up on the last 6 months’ gossip. The downtown area is absolutely gorgeous. It’s SO clean, people are friendly, and everything seems well-maintained. It has a wonderful feel to it. It made me wish they would do that to Granville or Robson (or both!).

Tomorrow after a little sleep-in, I’m going to poke around the Mall, visit the library, and maybe check out the Capitol Hill People’s Fair, which Kels visited today and raved about. Then we’re meeting up for Gore’s keynote! So exciting!

Technorati tag: sla2007

Well, I am off to Denver for SLA tomorrow. As usual I’m being a horribly disorganized packer, but it’ll all get done. I dusted off my passport and checked the US airplane-permitted items list, so I’m just about good to go.

I’m super-excited to see my hotel, The Curtis, and to meet up with my friend Kels tomorrow night. We’ll be exploring and grabbing some eats at Larimer Square , a little restaurant and shops centre in downtown Denver.

Sunday is the Al Gore keynote, but that’s not until 5:30pm. I plan on spending the day picking up my registration package and exploring the city! There is a legendary bookstore called The Tattered Cover that I can’t wait to poke around in, and all along the 16t Street pedestrian mall, apparently there’s free wi-fi. Sweet.

Monday night I am going to sessions during the day and then meeting up with a librarian from Ottawa and possible other Canucks to cheer for the Sens in the Stanley Cup playoffs. On Tuesday, I’m going to drop by the Friends of FreePint reception, and Wednesday it’s the Scott Adams keynote and then back home again!

I’m also event blogging at the official SLA conference blog, where I’ll post more conference-relevant stuff.

Next post from Denver!

Technorati tag: sla2007