At the past two Leadership
Summits (the winter mini conference) as well as at the last two (or perhaps
three) annual conferences there has been increasing communication about the
alignment initiative, findings of the research, directions and decisions for the
membership. The path forward, we are strongly advised, includes a name
change. Fleishman-Hillard, our consultant, says so. Janice says
so. Gloria says so. But perhaps most importantly, corporate America
says so. I.E., Our bosses or prospective bosses, our clients, our business
partners, our colleagues seem to be letting us know that we need to
re-conceptualize our titling.
Heck, as was made abundantly
clear at this year's conference, as has been reiterated on the leadership list
and in various communications to the membership, John Cotton Dana himself, our
association's founder, was not satisfied with the name Special Libraries
Association. Rather he, accepted the title as holding a place. He
also said, ""the old type of library must modify itself in accordance with the
new needs which the evolution of knowledge and the growth of print have
created." If we substitute "print" with "resources" we can surely
recognize the evolution he embraced as something that hasn't and won't be
contained. Just as it did at its creation, the association is offering us
another chance to shift.
As our SLA colleague below
says, our name is our brand. Don't we want a brand that attracts attention
and evokes respect. Even if you are satisfied with SLA as a brand, can you
be willing to listen to the market place and understand how the brand is
perceived by our clients and prospective clients - and do read into that
"employers"?
To me it is time to get past
the question of whether or not to change our name. We already went that
far when we changed the named from Special Libraries Association to SLA. I
just don't think that got us very far. What we need to do now is start the
much harder work of coming up with an alternative name. As our colleague
below implies, there's a scuffle in the making. But we all have the chance
to come out winners if we forge through it and re-form our brand to something
potent and appealing.
Leslie R. Fisher
2009
President, San Andreas Chapter SLA
From: SLA-FAN Special
Libraries Association--Food Agriculture and Nutrition
[mailto:SLA-FAN@LSV.UKY.EDU] On Behalf Of Cessna,
Jennifer
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 10:55 AM
To:
SLA-FAN@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: [SLA-FAN] SLA &
Alignment
What does a brand
say to you? If I say “Would you like a Hershey’s Kiss?” you know
immediately what I’m offering; you might ask for an Almond Joy instead, but
again, the language is clear and the brand has meaning.
Can we say the same
about The Special Libraries Association dba. SLA? Quite honestly, if I
have one more colleague from Hershey say to me “Oh, you’re a member of the
Symbionese Liberation Army”; I may just flex my 2nd Amendment right to
bear arms! Obviously, I’m joking about the gun, because that would surely
get me fired, but as an association, we are experiencing a bit of a brand name
crises. Even Special “Libraries” doesn’t describe us, but the space where
we work…or the space where we once worked.
So while we are
doing the work to ensure that we, Librarians, Information Professionals,
Researcher, Analyst or whatever you call yourself, are positioned for the
future, it seems like the appropriate time to also evaluate our brand
name. A brand is a bit of a package deal…it’s the name and the good or
service behind the name. So let’s do the work and have the tough
conversations and hopefully when the smoke clears, we’ll emerge as an
association with a brand that is strong and meaningful not just to us but to our
employers, customers and colleagues!
Over the next few
months as the work on the Alignment Project progresses, I’ll be acting as the
Alignment Ambassador for FAN. I’ll provide updates as I get them and am
open to discussion on the alignment project. I can also take your feedback
& comments to the other Alignment Ambassadors and to the Alignment
Committee. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to email
me.
Jennifer
R. Cessna | Lead
Information Research Specialist
The Hershey Company|
1025 Reese Ave Hershey PA 17033 | p: 717-520-8869 | f: 717-534-5069 |
jrcessna@hersheys.com
