See you at SLA 2009 Conference

Join me at the SLA Conference, June 13-17

Publish or Perish: the who, what, when, where, why and how of e-newsletter publishing - Ticketed Event #300
Saturday, Jun 13, 2009
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 209A

Information centers and libraries face the never-ending need to communicate their value within the organization. One of the most effective ways of establishing a strong reputation with their various constituencies is to publish e-newsletters. This lively half-day workshop gives participants all the skills they need to produce internal electronic newsletters — how to use them as powerful marketing tools, templates for creating attractive and professional e-newsletters, and best practices from the info pro perspective.
This workshop assumes that you aren’t already a newsletter expert, a writer or a marketing whiz. We will cover topics such as:
-What's the Point? Building brand awareness, promoting internal information resources.
-What Will It Look Like?
-What Will Be In the E-Newsletter?
-What Other Issues Should I Consider?
-How Do I Promote My E-Newsletter?

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Building Your CI Skills, Part 1: Using the Opaque and "New" Web for Competitive Intelligence Research - Ticketed Event #415
Sunday, Jun 14, 2009
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 207B

Strategies and Tools for CI Research on the Web: This lively course will provide fresh approaches, strategies and methodologies to conducting in-depth competitive intelligence research on the web. This session provides tools for searching the invisible and deep web, areas that are not accessible through search engines. It also examines how to "look sideways" to glean new information from sources that do not, on their face, appear to be resources for CI research, including blogs, podcasts, social networking sites, and other Web 2.0 content.

Through discussion and exercises, attendees will creatively perform and apply in-depth competitive intelligence research using these sources, and analyze and synthesize this information into accurate answers and actionable information. This session can be taken as a stand-alone course, or it can be taken in conjunction with Building Your CI Skills, part 2.

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Building Your CI Skills, Part 2: What Do I Do After I Log Off? - Ticketed Event #530
Sunday, Jun 14, 2009
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 207B

Adding Value As A CI Practitioner: the ability to truly create added value and to make that value evident to our clients is something that is learned; it is not intuitive nor is it necessarily a part of many information professionals’ skill set. This workshop will equip SLA members to strengthen their role within their organization, enhance the position and perceived value of the information center as a source of competitive knowledge, and develop their CI skills in order to better meet their organization’s information needs. This session may be taken as a standalone course, or may be taken in conjunction with Building Your CI Skills, part 1.

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Painless (No, really!) Negotiating -
Monday, Jun 15, 2009
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Convention Center 147B

Many more things are negotiable than we may think; in fact, much of life involves negotiation, and the effects of not negotiating can be cumulative. This presentation helps you identify who is "the boss of you," develop your ability to reframe challenging situations, and build tools to enhance your negotiation skills and approach every situation as negotiable.

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Lies, Damned Lies, and Annual Reports: Reading and Interpreting Company Financials -
Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 143C

More than just statistics, companies' annual reports and financial statements can be a wealth of information for the business researcher and the CI analyst. Mary Ellen Bates will provide you with the tools to understand financial reports and provide your clients with analysis in addition to just the facts.

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SPOTLIGHT SESSION -- Creating Groupies: How to Add Value, Make Yourself Irreplaceable & Beat the Pants Off Google -
Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: Convention Center 145A

It's no longer enough to efficiently and cost-effectively find the most reliable information available; we also have to ensure that our organization understands the skills we bring to the table. This Spotlight Session looks at practical ways that we can add value to our research products, develop the services that our clients can't find elsewhere and can't imagine living without, and demonstrate that relying on Google (or any other search engine) for making critical decisions is folly.