Dear colleagues,
Greetings from Washington where the cherry blossoms have given way to dogwoods, and the tulips and daffodils are almost done blooming.
I am happy to report that this is been a productive and exciting spring here at ASIST Central. The rewards process is well underway, and we anticipate announcing award winners in early June. We have had many nominations for our various honors, and are looking forward to celebrating our colleagues when we meet in Melbourne in October. Thanks to the many volunteers who are serving as jury members to evaluate the outstanding nominations that we have received. This is a significant undertaking and we very much appreciate their time and talents.
The call for papers for the 2019 annual meeting in Melbourne close last week. I am delighted to report that we had some 200 proposals for both long and short papers, and work is now underway to review the submissions and give timely feedback to the submitters. I am optimistic that the significant demonstration of interest in presenting at the 2019 meeting suggests that attendance in Melbourne will be strong and diverse. The next deadline for submissions is for panels, and those are due on 28 May. We strongly encourage panels that feature perspectives from around the globe, and particularly those from the Asia-Pacific region. If you are in need of ideas for people to contact in the region, don’t hesitate to get in touch with ASIST staff. We are happy to help make those connections for you.
As Elaine has reported her column, the Board of Directors had a very productive and engaged meeting in College Park following the iConference earlier this month. This was the first opportunity in my tenure that the Board has had to really step back and think about how we can provide meaningful and tangible resources and benefits to you as members. A next step in this process will be a member survey that will be shared soon with all of you. We hope to glean useful insights into the wants and needs of our membership through this instrument and encourage you to take the time to give us detail and thoughtful feedback in the survey. The more we can understand about the challenges you face and how we might assist in addressing them, the better we can tailor your membership experience.
I’m happy to report that we received meaningful feedback on the draft revised Constitution & Bylaws that were shared with the membership in January. The open comment period ran from January until 1 April. The feedback we received has been compiled and shared with the Board of Directors who will be giving their feedback and determining what recommendations will be incorporated the final version of the final revised Constitution & Bylaws. Those recommendations that the Board decides not to incorporate into the final revised bylaws will be addressed in a future column in this publication. We anticipate putting the final revised Constitution & Bylaws out for a vote in conjunction with the Board election which will take place in early to mid-June.
As you will see elsewhere in this publication, the call for nominations for the ASIST Board of Directors has been opened. We are seeking nominations for President-Elect, Treasurer, and Director-at-Large. The Board recently approved job descriptions for all officer and at-large positions, and we encourage interested candidates to review those job descriptions carefully to ensure that you are qualified for the position and able to assume the responsibilities thereof. We are optimistic that we will receive a significant number of nominations from around the globe and will are particularly hopeful that those nominations will represent the diversity of geography, profession, and thought that is represented within our membership. Anyone seeking more information on being a member of the ASIST board is welcome to contact me at lmiddleton@asist.org.
As always, we at ASIST Central are here to serve you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know how we can be of assistance. I look forward to seeing many of you in Melbourne in October and hearing from many of you over the course of the next few months.
Warm regards, Lydia