Changing the way we state our business

Ha...now that I have your attention (398 views last month…Awesome!)

Many great leaders have noted, “…change generally does not happen without some struggle…”

Now that voting is underway and members have the right to make a decision on whether they are for or against the name change, I just hope we can all get along…LOL

But seriously, whether the name Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals is selected or not, we will still need to move forward with change.  Reflecting on the next steps of the association and the changes to come, I really would like us to change the way we state our business.  Here are some of the things I would like to see the association improve...

· Using the website, brochures, and other collateral do a better job of explaining what the association represents.  For example, on the main page of the website provide a concise statement that says,

“The Association represents librarians and information professionals who work in large and small corporations, information centers, knowledge management services, professional online information services, consultants’ services, government Institutions, law firms, specialist agencies, organizations, departments, and much more.”

I am sorry but the statement, ” Through innovative learning, successful networking…” does not tell me anything about the members of the association.

· If SLA remains the name or not, provide a definition of “Special”.  For example, accompanied with imagery we could say…

“The term "Special" refers to the specialized or specialist services that librarians and information professionals provide to the businesses, institutions, organizations they work for and help strategically improve decision making in an effort to generate or retain revenue through knowledge management and/or dissemination of information which may include information collecting, gathering, administrating, managing, referring, researching, analyzing, collaborating, marketing, web designing/developing, implementation, purchasing, and testing.”

· Concisely and with imagery, state who we serve.  For example, we could say we serve…

o   Members

o   Businesses that employee librarians and information professionals

· Clearly state what we offer to our members:

o   Knowledge Sharing

o   Continued Education through course work, e.g. UClick

o   Information Standards & Certifications regarding:

§  Collecting, gathering, administrating, managing, marketing, referring, researching, analyzing, collaborating, web designing/development, implementation, and/or testing.

o   A conducive atmosphere for networking

o   Job Referrals (Full time and Temporary Projects)

o   Annual Salary Survey; Publications (i.e. Information Outlook, E-Newsletters)

· Finally, clearly state what we offer to businesses we serve:

o   Venues for…

§   Lead generating

§  Advertising

§  Business and Product promotions

o   Referral Services

o   Employment Advertising

  

Comments

[frustrated member]

To add to the "clearly state" list... What the association does to ADVOCATE for their members. I find that the association is well invested in 2 of the 3 parts of their mission. But the advocacy - branding the information professional & conveying the value of the information profession to those outside the industry - is sadly undernourished at best, and just plain ignored at the worst.
I am tired of having my association just preach at me. I know I have value, but does anyone else (non-information related) know? Why does all the responsibility to advocate and market the profession fall exclusively on the individual information professional? Why can't I expect my association to do more than sell me CE and meetings?

[Jamal]

Thanks for your comments. To your point, we are working with a number if businesses that are outside of our profession and they do not have a grasp of who the members are, what we represent, how/who we work for, and what value we bring to the table! Its always disturbing that on the entire front page of sla.org we tell no one outside of the profession in text or graphicly who we are, what we can do for their business, etc.

Why the front page is so important is because people don't read! We need to make a good impression the first time they visit our site so they will want to return. Our front page and marketing material need to focus on quickly explaining to people outside of the profession what we can do for them.

There is no identity crisis! We know who we are but we need to improve how we tell others who we are...Let's start making changes by keeping it simple (KISS)... Start with changing the website!

[Christi Underdown]

Thanks, Jamal. You have defined our collective needs precisely & clearly. Hopefully, someone is listening to these ideas of Change.

[Maura Kennedy]

Jamal, you are right on target; I remember my own initial research on SLA! One of my biggest priorities as SLA's strategic communications director--one for which I made the case at my first job interview with SLA--is to create a Web presence that is aimed at those who do not understand who you are, what you do, why you are valuable to your organization, and what SLA does to increase that value. With the Alignment research, we now have guidance on what to say and how to say it.

[Management Dissertation]

Whenever i see the post like your's i feel that there are still helpful people who share information for the help of others, it must be helpful for other's. thanx and good job.

[cv]

I agree with the statement "change generally does not happen without some struggle…”

If we think to accomplish some work,,believe that half work is done..

-syeds-

[Cv Examples]

You are right Syed, thanks for this inspiring comment.