i to i - The Blog

In honor of National Volunteer Week, I'd like to thank all of the AIIP volunteers who work so hard for our association. I'm currently reviewing committee reports, and I'm in awe of everyone's hard work and dedication. It doesn't matter if you've donated three years on the board of directors or three hours on a short-term project. We can't continue to run our association or provide an ever-expanding list of member benefits without you.

Thank you very, very much.  

It's less than a week before the 24th Annual AIIP Conference, and, as president of the association, I'm involved in a lot of last minute, plans, tasks, and decisions. Today, though, I decided to stop being AIIP president and take a look at the upcoming conference from the perspective of Marcy Phelps, AIIP member.

This will be my 10th AIIP conference, and I'm just as excited as I was that first year. It never fails - I always meet someone or learn something new that makes a difference in by business. At my very first conference, I met a person who has since become a client and a friend. A few years ago, I learned from one of the speakers how to format my research reports so they were more useful to my clients. Since then, I always receive compliments on how my company delivers results.

So, what am I looking forward to most this year? I love our opening session, the introductions. Every conference attendee, including vendors, gets to presents their "30-second commercial." It's a fascinating view of the many different ways that we do information work.

I'm looking forward to some serious learning in the general and concurrent sessions. Scott Heintzelman and Michele McKenna are talking about building value into your business, and Cynthia Hetherington is going to explain how to protect my business. Char Kinder will help me hone my consulting skills, and Deb Hunt will present a session on SLA's 23 Things project. I think I'll also head to  the sessions on using mastermind groups, helping clients find internal information, and effective searching of government documents. Then there are the short roundtable and tips sessions, where I always pick up a few new ideas that can be put to use right away. What other conferences offer sessions that are specifically designed to help independent info pros improve their businesses?

I'm also looking forward to the networking. We're normally a shy group of people, but somehow we manage to mix, mingle, and get to know each other during breaks, the Friday networking lunch, and the many special events. I love to add the skills of fellow AIIP members to client projects, and this is where I meet those people.

I'm looking forward to being inspired by this year's Roger Summit Award Lecturer. Peter Shankman, HARO (Help a Reporter Out) founder, will be presenting "It's Not Web 2.0. It's Not Web 3.0. It's Simply Life," and I can't wait to hear his take on social media and viral marketing.

I'm always on the lookout for new products and services that will help me work more efficiently and deliver better information to my clients. That's why I'm looking forward to chatting with our exhibitors to learn about the latest tools of the trade.

Finally, I'm looking forward to having some fun. I've signed up for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame event Wednesday evening and will take a Yoga lesson from Betty Story. And I'll be catching up with old friends, many of which I met at that very first AIIP conference.

I'll see you in Cleveland!

Does AIIP and the independent information profession do well in a down economy? I was recently asked that question by Marydee Ojala in an interview over in the Information Today blog. Barbara Brinko also posted some of my follow-up comments.Finally, make sure you listen to Mary Ellen Bates' take on the situation.

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to represent AIIP at the Online Information conference and exhibition in London. For me, this was one of the highlights of my year as president - for several reasons:

The AIIP President's Breakfast traditionally kicks off the event just before the exhibition opening. I enjoyed chatting with members and vendors and getting to know several that I hadn't met before. The breakfast really highlighted what a collegial and diverse group AIIP is. Many, many thanks to Dialog for their continued sponsorship of the breakfast, and to FreePint, for also providing support.

The AIIP exhibit stand remained busy throughout the event. It was exciting to tell so many people about our organization, our members, and the kinds of work our members do. Inquirers wanted to know about becoming an independent info pro, and about hiring an independent information pro. It was encouraging to see that information work is a thriving industry.

I was honored to have the chance to present a session called, "Could Your Next Employer be You? A Look at the Independent Information Profession." In the session, I illustrated how the skills you learn working for someone else easily transfer to working for yourself. My slides are posted at the AIIP website. To help people gain some insight into what an independent info pro does, we've also included a compilation of some of our members' recent projects.

Online Information is an important, global gathering of information professionals, and, in my opinion, it's critical that AIIP continues to participate.

AIIP members are an active, influential group within the information industry, and that point becomes quite clear from this list of members speaking at the upcoming Online Information 2009 conference and exhibition in London. Many thanks to AIIP member Betty Story for putting the list together:

Monday 30 November

9:30-17:00
Preconference Workshop: TURBO CHARGE YOUR WEB RESEARCH
Mary Ellen Bates, Owner, Bates Information Services, USA

Tuesday 1 December

*Free Seminars- Exhibition Hall Information Masterclass Theatre   

11:00 -11:30  
*USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE
Marydee Ojala, Editor, Online Magazine, USA

11:45-12:15
*THE EVER CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF SEARCH: GOOGLE IS NOT ENOUGH
Karen Blakeman, RBA Information Services, UK

13.15 – 13.45
*WILL YOUR NEXT EMPLOYER BE YOU? A LOOK AT THE INDEPENDENT INFORMATION PROFESSION
Marcy Phelps, Phelps Research, USA

14:00 – 15:30    
LIVING LARGE IN LEAN TIMES: ADDING VALUE WHILE CUTTING COSTS
Mary Ellen Bates, Owner, Bates Information Services, USA

EVALUATING, RECOMMENDING AND JUSTIFYING WEB 2.0 TOOLS
Marydee Ojala, Editor, Online Magazine, USA

16:00-17:30
TWITTER 101: TOP TIPS FOR INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS
Karen Blakeman, RBA Information Services, UK

Wednesday 2 December

*Free Seminars- Exhibition Hall Information Masterclass Theatre 

11:45-12:15  
*GO 2.0 YOURSELF
Mary Ellen Bates, Owner, Bates Information Services, USA

14:00-14:30
*TEN TOP TIPS FOR FINDING COMPANY INFORMATION
Arthur Weiss –AWARE, UK

14:15-15:30
A TOOLKIT FOR SEARCHING THE SOCIAL WEB
Mary Ellen Bates, Owner, Bates Information Services, USA

Thursday 3 December

11:30-13:00
THE DIGITAL GUTENBERG: NOW WHAT?
Ulla deStricker- deStricker Associates, Canada

At the Internet Librarian Conference last week, I had the privilege to present the tenth annual AIIP Technology Award to Attaain Inc. for AttaainCI, a competitive intelligence and market intelligence tool. Daryl Scott, Attaiin Inc. CEO, was on hand to receive the award. Honorable mention was given to FreePatentsOnline. You can read more about AttaainCI and the award on the AIIP website.

At this time, I would also like to thank Iuliana Pop (I.C.A.R. Consulting:Library & Information Services), chair of the AIIP Awards Committee, and everyone on the Technology Award judging panel for their hard work and willingness to volunteer their valuable time and talents:

Susanne Bjorner, Bjorner & Associates
Mark Goldstein, International Research Center
Judy Koren, ResearchWise Associates
Linda Stevenson, LucidityWorks LLC

Many thanks also go to AIIP Industry Affiliate, Information Today, Inc.(ITI). Each year, ITI generously provides time in their busy conference schedule for this award presentation. They also included a mention in their conference blog. Finally, thanks to Cindy Shamel and Ellen Naylor, our "official" event photographers. This truly was a team effort.

How would you like to win a $350 Kindle prize package, or earn valuable credit toward your AIIP membership renewal or 2010 conference registration?

AIIP's Friendship Program is our exciting new membership drive that pays valuable awards for every new member that you refer this fall.  

For each new member who lists you as their referral source, you will earn US$50 AIIP Bucks toward your membership renewal or 2010 conference registration. There's no limit to the number of AIIP Bucks that you can earn.  

The member with the most referrals at the end of the program will also win a Kindle prize package worth $350.

This program runs through December 15, 2009. Visit the AIIP website for all the details.

As I've been catching up with my professional reading, I'm amazed by how many of our AIIP members have written articles in these publications.

First we have board member Ulla de Stricker's feature article, "Creating Influence through 'Being There'" in the July/August issue of the Special Libraries Association's publication, Information Outlook (I said I was catching up!).

In the her cover story for September's Searcher magazine, Lark Birdsong writes about information literacy training. Also in this issue, Tom Wolff describes his work on the PIUG wiki, and Peggy Garvin's regular column explores sharing library & museum photo collections on Flickr.

Congratulations to Ulla, Lark, Tom, and Peggy on the publications of your articles. AIIP members are a pretty influential crowd!

AIIP Industry Affiliate, Free Pint Ltd., has published a special report on our 2009 Annual Conference. It's a great collection of insights and commentary from those who attended the conference, and it's interesting to see the common theme that runs through each of the contributions. You can download the report at the AIIP website.

Thanks to FreePint for donating their production time for this, and to everyone who took time out of their busy post-conference schedules to contribute to this report!

Barry Diller, chairman and chief executive officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp, recently referred to free web content as a "myth." As someone who frequently buys and sells information, my reaction to this headline was, "Well, of course!" But further on in the article, Diller is quoted as saying that the Internet "...is not free, and is not going to be." That's where I took some exception to what he said.

Anyone who works with information for a living will tell you that the Internet is not free. It takes people to run the Internet: content created by people, equipment built by people, and software designed by people. And, as anyone who has hired people knows, that doesn't come cheap. But
what about those times when something on the web has more value when it's free?

The AIIP board recently decided to move AIIP Connections, the association's quarterly electronic publication, to the public area of our website. Because it is considered a member benefit, AIIP Connections has historically been kept in the members-only area of the site. Over the years, the policy changed, and we put just the current issue on the public side of our site. Now we are offering free access to all issues, from July/August 2008 forward.

The publication has always been a member benefit, and it still is. When more people read about AIIP and its members, it becomes more valuable to all. When our members have the opportunity to spotlight their talents and their businesses to a wider audience, it's a win-win for everyone.

So, if you haven't read the informative and practical articles by our members, you can now catch up with AIIP Connections.