With attendance numbers of around 100 Colorado information professionals, Colleague Connection 2012 was a rousing success.  See Robert Linz’s fantastic photos here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmlinz/sets/72157629929403429/.  Last Thursday evening was filled with delicious food, delightful conversation and networking, and an interesting and informative speaker in Erika Napoletano of http://www.redheadwriting.com/.

One highlight of the evening was the result of Erika’s shushing contest, which had no winner, for apparently our colleagues were happy to hear the story of a young girl raised in a houseful of books, who spent her weekends at the public library. “I’m not a librarian, but my sister is.” That quote sums up much of Erika’s passionate speech, as she asked us to think about unpopular v. unlikeable thoughts. Unpopular thoughts are generally the thoughts that need to be voiced, and we as information professionals need to be ambassadors of information and our services. “I am an information addict.” As information professionals, how are we serving our information addicts? We are perfectly positioned to demonstrate our value and bridge the chasms between parents and educations, educators and dollars, and dollars and sense. If we build our support structure with champions like Erika Napoletano, who wants to be surrounded by librarians at the Zombie Apocalypse, we can brand ourselves as the valuable and necessary professionals we are, regardless of our specific job titles. Overall, the crowd enjoyed Erika’s engaging and thoughtful speech on the important work that we do every day.

I want to thank CAL, CoALL, SRMA, CCML, and the University of Denver Library and Information Science Program for co-hosting this event with RMSLA. I can’t wait until next year!

- Rachel Bates Wilfahrt, RMSLA President-Elect

Hello Fellow RMSLA’ers!

Colleague Connection is coming up very soon, register now as space is limited! It is a great chance to mingle with fellow information professionals and librarians from the Denver area.

The event will be held at the University of Denver’s Ruffatto Hall on April 26th from 5:30 – 8:30pm. The speaker for this event will be Erika Napoletano (https://plus.google.com/u/0/112623722232653545872/about) and (http://www.redheadwriting.com/).

The personally sponsor a student please contact Susan Bertsche at sbertsche@denverlibrary.org

Please register here: http://bit.ly/y2v0Rj

Hope to see you all there!

Save the Date!

The Colorado Association of Libraries, in conjunction with the Colorado Association of Law Libraries, the Colorado Council of Medical Librarians, the Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Special Libraries Association, and the University of Denver Library and Information Science Program, is pleased to present Colleague Connection 2012.

5:30 – 8:30pm, Thursday, April 26, 2012
Ruffatto Hall, University of Denver, 1999 E. Evans Avenue, Denver, CO

Colleague Connection is an annual event sponsored by Colorado library and archives organizations to encourage networking and learning among students, paraprofessional staff, librarians, archivists, trustees and friends of libraries. All information professionals are invited to join us.

Details and registration instructions will be shared when available.

Remember to register for the Colleague Connection by Thursday, March 31st! This is a GREAT networking opportunity. Colleague Connection is an annual event sponsored by Colorado library organizations to encourage networking and learning among students, paraprofessional staff, librarians, trustees, vendors and friends of libraries. Networking happy hour from 5:00-6:30 PM, with dinner and keynote to follow.

Date: April 6, 2011
Time: 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Cost: $35.00
Register: http://tinyurl.com/CollConn2011

KEYNOTE: CHANGE HAPPENS! …And Emotionally Intelligent Leadership Work

Transformational leadership is all about change, and emotional intelligence (EI) helps people deal with the change effectively.  Camila will share her thoughts and ideas on how emotionally intelligent leadership is helpful in designing and implementing change in our libraries and why it works in these changing times.

Presented by Camila Alire, Past-President of the American Library Association for 2009-2010, currently serves as Professor of Practice (adjunct) for the Simmons College PhD program in library managerial leadership and professor (part-time) at San Jose State University's LIS executive MLIS managerial leadership program. She is Dean Emerita at the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. She has served as Dean/Director of Libraries at University of Colorado at Denver.

Please join us for this years’ Colleague Connection on Wednesday, April 6, 2011. Colleague Connection is an annual event sponsored by Colorado library organizations to encourage networking and learning among students, paraprofessional staff, librarians, trustees, vendors and friends of libraries. Networking happy hour from 5:00-6:30 PM, with dinner and keynote to follow.

KEYNOTE: CHANGE HAPPENS! …And Emotionally Intelligent Leadership Work

Transformational leadership is all about change, and emotional intelligence (EI) helps people deal with the change effectively.  Camila will share her thoughts and ideas on how emotionally intelligent leadership is helpful in designing and implementing change in our libraries and why it works in these changing times.

Presented by Camila Alire, Past-President of the American Library Association for 2009-2010, currently serves as Professor of Practice (adjunct) for the Simmons College PhD program in library managerial leadership and professor (part-time) at San Jose State University’s LIS executive MLIS managerial leadership program. She is Dean Emerita at the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. She has served as Dean/Director of Libraries at University of Colorado at Denver.

Date: April 6, 2011
Time: 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Cost: $35.00
Register here: http://tinyurl.com/CollConn2011

Location:

Driscoll Center North Gallery and Ballroom University of Denver
2055 E. Evans Ave.
Denver, CO 80208