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 [log in to unmask]