Notes from the SIPA annual conference

I got home a couple hours ago from Washington so I had a whole flight to reflect on the past three days at the Mayflower. Here, in no particular order on some thoughts I had:

Wow. For an industry in the midst of an unprecedented transtion coinciding with an exceptional market downturn, this was an upbeat group. I have no doubt that we'd all be happy if it were 2007 or early 2008 again but it's not and as a group, we seem ready to take on the challenges coming at us.

It was great to see so many familiar faces -- my family members who I only get to see a handful of times a year. It was also a pleasure to meet so many new faces, from the US, and from countries around the world.

I brought home enough great ideas to make this conference worth FAR more than the price. I took away practical ideas from every session I attended. I can't begin to name them all, but one particular standout in my mind: Mark Ragan's (from Lawrence Ragan Communications) was a compelling story that ought to be required viewing for all (it was videotaped and is available for purchase). If you missed it, be sure to buy this session.

In the coming year I look forward to traveling to as many chapters as possible, in this country and abroad, to meet members and share more ideas to help us all profitably take advantage of emerging opportunities in the specialized information field.

If there were any lingering doubts in peoples' minds that social media is going to figure prominently in our future, they should be dispelled. Social media technologies -- Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn (and many other current and future sites), not to mention blogging, wikis, online video -- need to become core competencies. SIPA's Twittering is minimal at this point but that will be changing. And you can join the SIPA LinkedIn group (also Facebook, although I think LinkedIn is likely to be more useful from an association perspective). Also, let's LinkIn to each other. You'll find me on there and I welcome the chance to connect with you.

As I mentioned in my first speech as the new SIPA president today, I am convinced that SIPA is faced with the need for revolutionary change. As an association, we have the opportunity to lead our industry, and our members, by example, by embracing the need for new ways to package, price, and promote the great content that SIPA already creates, and to aggressively develop content (both copy and events) to address emerging areas of interest. It's a challenge, but no more of a challenge than what we all face in our day jobs. We'll get down to it. Stay tuned ...