The Conference Committee: Don't Miss the Call

The conference committee for 2017 is already starting to form and make decisions. The next ten months, we'll be meeting every few weeks, brainstorming, talking to people, and getting everything ready for another great July. There's lots to be done.

There's also space for you on the team! If you're looking to get your feet wet in a state-wide organization, the conference committee is a great place to do it. The time commitment is low and flexible overall, and we can use a wide variety of skills. If you're technically inclined, we can use you. Good with people? Gotcha. Passionate about advocacy for public or academic library support staffers? Your voice is essential to making it happen. Don't waste it!

We're all busy, and we don't all have the time to jump straight in to being on the SSD Board. The conference committee is a fun way to ease your way into that role and learn how to structure the daily work at your job to allow for leadership in the greater library community. 

Send an email to olassdconference@gmail.com if you're interested in joining us or for more information. We look forward to making the OLA SSD 2017 conference happen!

Presentations from the conference now available

Did you attend our conference this year, but can't quite recall all the details of your sessions? Did you have to pick between two sessions that both looked interesting, and now you want to see what you missed? After some technical hiccups, all the presentations from the conference are now up and available for you on Northwest Central!

If you'd like to see them, follow this link  and click through to whichever presentation suits you (including the keynote speech from Eva Calcagno).

If you have any questions or comments about the presentations, we'd love to hear from you. Hope you enjoyed your Labor Day!

August OLA SSD Board meeting - Open to all

Curious about the board, what we do, and how it all works? Got some great ideas to pitch? Come join our quarterly meeting this Friday! This time, we'll be recapping the OLA Board retreat and the recent conference, among other things.

The meeting will be hosted in person at Eugene Public Library. If you find yourself unable to attend in person, we can set you up to attend remotely. Convenient, eh?

For instructions on attending remotely or to get any questions answered, please contact the Chair at ssd@olaweb.org. We're looking forward to meeting you!

The OLA SSD Board and why YOU should join

We've been pretty focused on the annual OLA SSD Conference lately, as I'm sure you've noticed. With all the planning, prepping, and organizing it takes to make an event like that happen, it's easy to get laser-focused on it. And what an event! The 2016 conference had record attendence (by a very wide margin), a new format, and plenty of other new and positive changes that we hope added value to it for you. I know I had a great time and learned lots!

But that's not all OLA SSD does, and we're always pushing to do more. The Conference Committee is one sub-group of a larger SSD organization, and SSD has room for YOUR skills, whatever they may be! We have a number of vacancies to fill on the SSD board if you're interested in an official position, including:

• Chair of the OLA SSD Board
• Continuing Education Committee Chair
• Continuing Education Committee Member
• Conference Committee Member
• Outreach Team Member
• OLA SSD Webmaster
• Board Member-At-Large
• ...plus a number of other positions that will probably open up soon!

Not to mention opportunities to write a guest post here on the blog, offer suggestions for next year's conference, set up a local meet-up between SSD members, and more. We need you!

"So what's in it for me?" you might ask. That's the best part! Not only do you get a chance to work with other people in your field (we're a pretty cool group, if I do say so myself), you'll be beefing up your résumé, expanding your skill set, getting leadership experience, networking like crazy, and doing your part to help out support staffers across the state. If you have time for a meeting every few months and a few minutes a week for some extra work, this really is a golden opportunity. 

If this sounds good to you, send us an email! olassd@gmail.com will reach us directly and we can discuss details and answer any questions you may have. We are excited to meet you!

Thank You!

If you attended the OLA SSD conference this year, we want to extend you a huge thank you! We blew the roof off of our previous attendance record (170 people this year!) and received tons of feedback. You all rock!

If you weren't able to fill out a paper evaluation the day of the conference, we created an online form so that you can get your thoughts to us quickly and easily. Click here to find our online evaluation form.

We'll be posting photos from the conference on facebook and here soon, so keep an eye out for your coworkers and colleagues. We are so happy to have prepped and organized this event, and we're looking forward to OLA SSD 2017.

Last chance to register for the 2016 SSD Conference!

The 2016 OLA SSD Conference is next week! Seven days! We are so excited to see everyone and to hear from our lovely presenters and panelists. But registration is ending this Sunday, July 10th, so this weekend is your absolute last chance to register. 

Click here to register for three of our great sessions or panels. See you next on Friday!

Two weeks to go!

It seems like yesterday we were announcing this year's conference for the first time, but here we are two weeks away! If you plan on attending but haven't yet signed up, why not get your conference registration squared away before you head home for the holiday? Find the link to register by clicking here.

Here's hoping this will be a fun, safe, and relaxing three day weekend!