#SLA2013: Laura Williams’ reflections

SLA Europe DigiComms

Laura Williams shares her reflections on attending the SLA 2013 conference in San Diego as one of our Early Career Conference Award winners.

Being awarded an Early Career Conference Award (ECCA) came as a shock, especially as this was my third attempt at applying, so I wasn’t holding out any hope of success this time either. Perseverance with my applications paid off and thanks to SLA Europe along with the Business and Finance Division I was able to attend the 2013 SLA Annual Conference in San Diego. The build up to the conference passed in a whirlwind of excitement and apprehension, looking through the conference planner everyday and watching the countdown to check in on the British Airways website.  I didn’t know what to expect from the conference apart from a lot of librarians but thankfully I was able to meet with my SLA Europe mentor Neil Infield who had lots of great advice.  Twitter also proved to be a great resource for preparation along with various webinars organised by SLA prior to the event.  It was a great help having familiar faces before the conference began, I was on the same flight as another ECCA, and Neil even inadvertently provided a welcoming party at the airport arrivals gate whilst waiting for another SLA Europe member to arrive.

From the very moment I knew I was going to San Diego, the SLA community was instrumental in making my experience.  Conferences are all about the people. Everything comes down to the people you meet; the discussions we have, the discoveries we make and the ideas we take away all stem from the people of the conference.   So when my Business and Finance division mentor asked to me to think about what I wanted to get out of the conference experience, my answer was about people. I wanted to meet interesting, exciting people and build a more international network of contacts. I was determined to take advantage of being part of a large gathering of information professionals from all over the world, so during the conference I pushed myself to attend as many networking events, lunches and social events as possible.  I introduced myself to groups of strangers, asked my mentors to introduce me to others and sought out Twitter contacts to meet in real life. Networking opportunities are everywhere at SLA conferences; I was even able to attend a baseball game with the SLA Baseball Caucaus and I took the advice of my mentors to attend as many open house events as possible.  Meeting people was the highlight of the experience for me, enhancing an already rich conference experience.

SLA 2013 was a melting pot of job titles, sectors, backgrounds and experiences.  The profile of those in attendance was incredibly diverse extending far beyond the traditionally dominant sectors; particularly in comparison with anything I’ve experienced in the UK.  For the first time at a library event I wasn’t conscious of being one of the only attendees with an unusual employer; instead I was one of many with an unusual employer.  Amongst the many I met at the conference there was a newspaper librarian, a tennis librarian, and information professionals working in the entertainment industry for organisations such as Disney.  It was refreshing not to be alone in failing to fit neatly into a specific sector box, and perhaps more importantly experience a sense of belonging with a professional body.  One key takeaway from the conference was a greater understanding of the breadth and depth of possibilities available to those with information skills. SLA 2013 offered me community and belonging, which I believe is proving to be a turning point in my professional confidence and self-belief.  

In terms of the conference programme, the volume and variety of sessions was overwhelming but exciting with seemingly endless possibilities in terms of learning and development. A particular highlight was the ‘Dream Jobs: What’s It Like to Work There?’ session, as it focused on unusual roles or organisations reflecting my own situation. Mary Ann Williams talked about her current role with a cosmetics company as well as her time working for Disney.  She highlighted the importance of self-preservation when working in corporate organisation suggesting that having a range of diverse skills and being more than one thing is crucial.  In corporate organisations, including the media and entertainment industry, there is a lack of security as library presence is not future safe.  Jonathan Haupt, a wine librarian, struck another chord by discussing the problem of others not understanding what it is you actually do. This is a problem for all library professionals on occasions, but perhaps even more of a dominant issue for those working in a non-traditional role or for an unusual employer.  It is important explain what you actually do regardless of where you work or what you do, but if your job is relatively unknown within your professional community you need make extra effort to describe it.

I would like to thank everyone involved in making my ECCA experience truly amazing. Everyone I met was friendly and welcoming; board members and fellows were always on hand to offer conference advice, whilst other first timers were happy to compare conference experiences. Particular thanks goes to my fellow ECCAs for being generally fantastic; thanks for joining me at evening receptions (and the IT Dance Party of course!), sharing advice and navigating the exhibition hall, as well as being on hand to provide emergency sandwiches.  Finally I owe huge thanks to all within the Business and Finance Division and SLA Europe for making the experience possible.  

All I need to do now is work out how to get myself to Vancouver in 2014 for next years conference!

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