Greetings All,
Headquarters has asked that each Chapter and Division recruit an Alignment Ambassador to help spread the word on the Alignment Project. Volunteers will facilitate discussion on the name change, among other things. If you have any interest in this activity, please let me know. Member participation is essential to the success of this effort and to our future direction. The details that follow come from Nancy Sansalone, SLA's Chief Operating Officer.
Cindy Shamel
SLA San Diego Chapter President
cshamel at shamelinfo.com
+1 858-673-4673 (GMT -8)
August 6, 2009
First, thanks to all of you for
volunteering to help spread the word about the Alignment Project. We now have
60 Alignment Ambassadors from 25 chapters and 12 divisions! Our overall
goal is to work with chapters and divisions and inform members about the
alignment research and how we can all use the information and language to
enhance our value in the workplace. If you haven't already had a chance
to review some of the current materials on the Alignment Wiki, please go to http://wiki.sla.org/display/align/SLA+Alignment+Wiki
- this will help you get up to speed.
Our immediate goal between now and
the end of the year is to engage members in a positive dialog about the name
change and make sure they review and understand the Alignment research before
forming firm opinions. The Board of Directors is working toward
announcing a new name for members to vote on later this year. Some
of you are already taking part in many of the discussions about this on the
Alignment Wiki, Twitter, etc. - thank you!
We're on target to receive some
tools from Fleishman Hillard next week with training to help us "talk
Alignment" following soon after. Please keep in mind that we want to
ensure that we're providing you with the best possible communication tools that
are visually appealing and easily understandable so timelines may shift
slightly. I think we can all agree that it is just as important to get it
right as it is to get it quickly.
Recent
Activities
- Fleishman Hillard is finalizing
a presentation that can be used by the Alignment Ambassadors to review the
research process and findings in a simple, straightforward manner.
- During August we will provide
online training for Ambassadors on how to talk about the Alignment
research in a way that members can easily grasp.
- We are working with our
consultants at Fleishman Hillard on an online portal for members that will
contain extensive information about the findings of the alignment research
and advice on putting it to work for individual members and SLA
- This will be a work in progress, with new
materials added all the time. Three Board members have agreed to
serve on an advisory committee to help shape the look of the online
portal. They have already talked to the consultants, who are in the
course of redesigning the first prototype.
- The portal will contain an
Alignment Toolkit. In addition to the presentation mentioned above,
it will include a fact sheet, question-and-answer document, key messages
documents, and templates with language specifically informed by the
alignment findings, best practices, etc.
- Comments from MN Chapter Salon
Series discussing the Alignment Project and Seth Godin's Tribes -
http://wiki.sla.org/pages/editpage.action?pageId=34701427
- Ideas for how to use slides
from the "Positioning SLA for the Future" presentation
to generate discussion within your units. - http://wiki.sla.org/display/align/Tools+for+Alignment+Ambassadors
Please contact me or other members
of the PR Advisory Council if you have any questions.
Thank you,
PR Advisory Council
Jill Strand, Chair
Cara Schatz, SLA Public Relations Director
Ann Sweeny, Board Liaison
Liz Blankson-Hemans
Shira Kavon
Heather O'Daniel
David Shumaker
Libby Trudell
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