As you probably know, the next Support Staff Division annual conference is coming up this summer, July 15, 2016. This year, the conference will be held at the Holiday Inn Portland-South in Wilsonville. As you may not know, we are trying a new and exciting format for some of our sessions, and the new format gives you more opportunities for professional development!
This year, in addition to the presentation-style format you’re used to (one or two people presenting to an audience for the majority of the allotted time), we are hosting interactive, panel-style sessions as well. These sessions will involve a short presentation on a theme by the panelists at the beginning, leading into a lightly moderated discussion involving everyone in the room for the majority of the time. You’ll be able to choose which style works best for you, so you can get the absolute most out of the conference.
Of course, we’ll need more presenters and panelists than we’ve had in the past in order to execute this plan, which means more opportunities for you to share your hard-won expertise with your fellow support staffers. As an added bonus, presenters’ conference fee is completely waived! Interested in presenting? Take a look at the themes of our sessions this year:
- Presentation style conference sessions:
- Managing Compassion Fatigue
- Library Ergonomics
- Handling Challenging Patrons
- Interactive panel style conference sessions:
- Interpersonal Skills at Work
- Customer Service Victories
- Training Guides/Techniques/Manuals – Best Practices
If one of our sessions jumps out to you as something you’d feel confident presenting about in either format, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at olassdconference@gmail.com, or alternatively call Justyne Triest or Jennifer Patterson, conference committee co-chairs, at (503) 352-1426 and (503) 691-3074 respectively. Let us know which theme interests you, and if you have questions about the new format or anything else conference related, we can answer those too!
