From: Tony Horava <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2016 18:55:21 +0000

Hello,

I’d like to say a few things about this, to encourage more
submissions.  Full disclosure - I’m one of the conference directors
but I wasn’t involved in the development of this new initiative.

Every year there are dozens of librarians who present their work at
the Conference. They are demonstrating innovative and collaborative
thinking in many areas of library service. Maybe you are developing or
have developed something new that was inspired but what you heard at a
Charleston presentation. Therefore don’t think that your work wouldn’t
be sufficiently important – it probably is! We want to celebrate and
encourage the excellent work that is being done in our libraries.

We are a more innovative profession than we sometimes give ourselves
credit for. Think about new projects or services you’ve helped
develop, or ideas that are about to take shape in reality. We’d love
to hear from you. Proposals that are collaborative are just as
valuable as those developed by an individual– and we know that most
innovation in libraries is not the product of a single person’s ideas
and energy – it is usually a collaborative effort.

Speaking of innovation, I want to clarify what I think this means so
that you can see how broad and inclusive the concept is. The
Merriam-Webster dictionary says that ‘innovation’ is : “a new idea,
device, or method ; the act or process of introducing new ideas,
devices, or methods”.   I’m quite sure that many of you are in process
of implementing or developing services, projects, or activities that
reflect new ideas and thinking, in order to improve what we do for our
users and to better demonstrate our value. It could also be a more
effective and imaginative use of existing resources, to better connect
with our users. I hope this will encourage you to think about
submitting a proposal and to not feel that your work doesn’t meet the
criteria – it probably does!

A last point - don’t worry about having to make a pitch in front of an
audience. This is a friendly and supportive environment, like the
conference itself.  As described on the competition page, “The
Conference will offer presentation coaching to all Finalists, if
desired, in advance of the competition. Coaches will provide feedback
and help Finalists refine and improve their “pitches.”  Coaching will
be available two weeks before the Conference and before the
competition itself.”

Well that’s my pitch for the Fast Pitch; thanks for reading.

For full details, see: http://www.charlestonlibraryconference.com/fastpitch/.

Or you can send queries to [log in to unmask]

Cheers,

Tony

_________________________________________________________________

Tony Horava
Associate University Librarian (Collections)
Bibliothécaire associé (Collections)
University of Ottawa / l'Universite d'Ottawa
Tel : (613) 562-5800 ext. 3645
Fax : (613) 562-5196
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