{"id":97658,"date":"2015-07-29T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=97658"},"modified":"2015-07-28T10:18:47","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T15:18:47","slug":"tips-for-post-conference-networking-ask-a-special-librarian-july-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=97658","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Post-Conference Networking: Ask a Special Librarian"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Ask a Special Librarian \u2013 July Edition<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>What to Do With That Stack of Business Cards: Tips for Post-Conference Networking<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tracy Z. Maleeff<\/strong><br \/>\nLibrary Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/librarysherpa\">@LibrarySherpa<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.librarysherpa.com\">LibrarySherpa.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Joshua LaPorte<\/strong><br \/>\nLaw Library Assistant \u2013 University of Connecticut<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/joshualaporte\">@joshualaporte<\/a> &amp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/JoshuaLaPorte\"> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/JoshuaLaPorte<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/TracyJosh2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-medium wp-image-93919 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/TracyJosh2-200x300.png\" alt=\"TracyJosh2\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/TracyJosh2-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/TracyJosh2.png 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>In this installment of \u201cAsk a Special Librarian,\u201d Joshua LaPorte, Law Library Assistant from the University of Connecticut Law Library, explains how \u00a0you convert all those connections you just made at a conference into lasting professional relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Conferences are a wonderful opportunity to network, to learn about new ideas, and to develop the <i>spark<\/i> that can get you thinking creatively about new services or procedures to implement at your library. \u00a0They are also a lot of fun!<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, we often return to overflowing inboxes, festering assignments, and work piled up on our desks. \u00a0It is so easy to quickly fall back into the regular daily grind. A few weeks later the conference is a distant memory and you have a pile of business cards from people you can\u2019t remember the faces of.<\/p>\n<p>Before you follow the advice of <a href=\"http:\/\/libetiquette.blogspot.com\/2006\/06\/conferences-returning-from.html\">A Librarian\u2019s Guide to Etiquette<\/a>, there are several simple things you can do post-conference which will help you remember those ideas, develop relationships with those contacts, and retain that new energy you gleaned at the conference.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>While you are at the conference, take a few minutes each night when the day is finished to go through any business cards you\u2019ve accumulated that day. \u00a0<strong>Take a few notes on the back of the card to help you remember who that person was.<\/strong> \u00a0If you can\u2019t remember the person who gave you the card, look over your schedule for the day to try to find contextual cues. \u00a0If desperate, do a Google search to see if you can find a photo of the person. \u00a0If you remember, \u00a0jot down what you spoke about and anything you promised to follow-up with them about.<\/li>\n<li>When you return from the conference, before you dig into queued-up work and start clearing out your inbox, <strong>take some time to go through the conference program and think back to each program you attended.<\/strong> \u00a0Write down the name of the program and a few things you remember from it. \u00a0If there were ideas presented which you want to take back to your own library, get them into your task\/project management system now.<\/li>\n<li>If you know someone who presented, or if you were \u00a0really impressed with a presenter who you have not met, take a moment to send them an email with your feedback. \u00a0If you had an idea or a question, reach out with it. \u00a0<strong>Believe me, the presenter will appreciate your positive feedback. \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Over the weeks following the conference, <strong>dig into the business cards you received and send brief emails to everyone you met.<\/strong> \u00a0Follow-up on questions or conversations, compliment people on their poster-sessions, and just let people know you remember them and were happy to meet them. \u00a0On her Library Sherpa blog, Tracy Z. Maleeff says you need to <a href=\"https:\/\/librarysherpa.wordpress.com\/2014\/08\/19\/cultivate\/\">cultivate your network like a garden<\/a>; think of the first meeting as the seed, and this is the water you add to help it germinate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>If you learned about something particularly useful or salient, invite your colleagues or classmates to a brown-bag lunch to share it and talk about how you can implement it at your own library.<\/strong> This reinforces the professional relationships you need to maintain within your own work environment. Collaboration and sharing of information builds rapport and can solidify working relationships.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Spending some quality post-conference time going over your notes, following up with contacts and reviewing your recent conference experience is a great way to add value to the foundation on which your future professional development is based. Take your lessons learned and those people you met and use that as a springboard towards your next professional and personal goals!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ask a Special Librarian \u2013 July Edition What to Do With That Stack of Business Cards: Tips for Post-Conference Networking Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa &amp; LibrarySherpa.com Joshua LaPorte Law Library Assistant \u2013 University of Connecticut @joshualaporte &amp; https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/JoshuaLaPorte In this installment of \u201cAsk a Special Librarian,\u201d&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=97658\">Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":94001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[146,231,69,233,6774,5,3592,4660,4126,10,16,6874,59,111,6741],"class_list":["post-97658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-advice","tag-ala","tag-article","tag-articles-2","tag-ask-a-special-librarian","tag-bio","tag-blog","tag-business-cards","tag-conference","tag-inalj","tag-job-hunting","tag-joshua-laporte","tag-sla","tag-tips","tag-tracy-z-maleeff"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Tracy-and-Josh.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-pp8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}