The second post in a series on how to get to the SLA 2014 conference in Vancouver through a variety of awards offered by SLA. In this post, Sara Batts reflects on how she benefited from winning an SLA Rising Star award in 2011.
I’m writing this on the way home from an SLA Europe event. A conference room full of talented, knowledgeable, friendly and expert information professionals, many of whom I’d never have known if I hadn’t been one of the recipients of an Early Career Conference Award in 2009. Five years, three jobs and one award later, I’m proud to be part of an active local chapter, an amazing network and a fantastic global organisation.
In 2011 I was one of five recipients of SLA’s global Rising Star awards. These recognise people in the early years of their information career who have shown potential to lead, contribute, think, create or inspire. It was an incredible honour just to be nominated – knowing there were established and experienced SLA members rooting for me to develop in my career and seeing that I had something to offer the wider SLA.
As a recipient, I travelled to conference in Philadelphia, and took part in a panel discussion with five new fellows and the other four award winners. That was one of my first – and certainly the most high-profile – experiences of speaking at a conference (and being a bit surprised that people actually wanted to listen to what I had to contribute). One of the consequences of receiving an award is that lots of people know who you are – which makes networking much easier – and it also means that lots of people have lots of ideas about what you might do as your next volunteering stint. I joined the Legal Division board, I contributed to the fledgling social media advisory group… (oh, and I carried on researching and writing up my PhD, or I could have done much more!)
I benefited because I got to know more people, in the flesh and online. I was able to contribute to discussions I wouldn’t have been part of, hopefully providing good British humour and international perspectives along the way.
So what’s my advice? Nominate, nominate, nominate. Celebrate the up-and-coming people. Give them a push towards realising their potential and their competencies; let them know that their voices are welcome in the conversation. Help your colleagues practice new skills outside of the workplace. Give people a chance to lead, to learn, to make mistakes, to invent the wheel for their peers – because their experience of the information sector may well be different from yours.