Chartered librarian blogging personal thoughts about professional experiences.Filed under: Events, Non-library stuff | Tags: ARLIS/NY, manuscript illumination, networking, paddleboarding, SLA NY
This week I’ve had two new experiences, all in the name of networking – never let anyone tell you librarians don’t like to try new things! I must admit that neither manuscript illumination nor stand-up-paddleboarding were activities I’d previously thought of as options for professional networking, but I had lots of fun trying them both in company with some great groups of people. Continue reading
Friday June 12th saw me heading up to Boston on a Greyhound bus for SLA’s 2015 conference. After the conference in Vancouver last year I had a much better idea of what to expect, and it being on my ‘home’ coast meant that I knew a lot more people who were going to be there, so it was much less of an intimidating prospect, although I was probably just as excited to be there. Before it all began I spent a very pleasant afternoon exploring central Boston (having visited there previously I didn’t give myself much time for sight-seeing), followed by a lovely dinner with friends, and then jumped into the action rather earlier than I usually prefer to be up and about on a Saturday morning. Continue reading
This was the first Quick Take session I attended, and I must say I thought it was a brilliant concept. A condensed bundle of top tips on a specific topic, with no time for waffle – perfect! This was day 2 of the conference so I had already been putting my best networking skills into practice, and I was pleased to note that I was doing many of the things which Tom Rink recommended, but of course there’s always room for improvement.
Aims of networking:
building and maintaining relationships
getting to know people
building strong foundation for your career
enhance your reputation & credibility
facilitating resource/knowledge sharing
NOT about selling yourself
I’ve been reading quite a few end-of-year-review kind of posts and articles recently, with “things I’ve learned/used in 2010” being a common theme. Maybe it’s because I’m nosey, but I always enjoy this sort of thing, and they often contain information which is either useful or reassuring. Continue reading
