Event Review by Siobhan McGuinness: Information Professionals Expo 2017 and the SLA Europe Networking Nibbles and Drinks event

SLA Europe DigiComms

Our thanks to Siobhan who kindly accepted to offer a review of the Information Professionals Expo 2017 and the SLA Europe Networking Nibbles and Drinks event that took place in Dublin.

Siobhan McGuinness is  Chair of SLA Europe’s Digital Communication Committee, & is SLA’s Leadership and Management Division 2016  Career Advancement Award Winner.

The inaugural Information Professionals’ Network Expo took place on Friday 19th of May in Dublin Business School. It was organised by the Information Professionals’ Network, led by the amazing Marie O’Neill. SLA Europe was delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor and host the Networking Nibbles and Drinks event at the Expo.

CB Resourcing kicked off the day with a presentation from Jayne Winch. The presentation covered interview preparation, CV advice and other help hints when applying for jobs. CB Resourcing, a U.K. recruitment company that specialises in the world of Library and Information Management, was a great addition to the event connecting the right people to the right jobs.

The day continued with the arrival of the employers which included Amazon, Arcline, Interleaf and Microsoft along with a number of other employers. Dublin City Public Libraries were on hand to inform students and new information professionals about the career possibilities in the public libraries. Library Jobs.ie, which is a well known website for Irish LIS jobseekers provided excellent career advice.

The attendees were then invited to meet with various library and information professional organisations and to show how these organisations can help build their CPD portfolio. Seema Rampersad, Membership Chair of SLA Europe, was on hand to meet with attendees and inform them of the many benefits of being a member of a library and information professional organisation and of SLA Europe. Seema also spoke to attendees about the many ways people can get involved with SLA Europe from committee work to writing feature blog posts and submitting conference papers. Other organisation such as The Library Association of Ireland , Academic and Special Libraries and New Professionals Day Ireland were also present.

At the same time, a speed mentoring session was underway with approximately 15 mentors giving their time to provide the attendees with insights to their careers. The mentors (from corporate libraries, government libraries, and public libraries) ranged from early, middle and late career stages which gave a wonderful scope to all attendees

From 4pm onwards over 50 attendees made their way to the sponsored SLA Europe networking event. Seema Rampersad, SLA Europe Membership Chair, was introduced by Philip Cohen former president of the Library Association of Ireland. Seema gave a great talk on her career and her present position within the British Library. The audience were also told about the importance of her SLA Europe membership throughout her career.  She also spoke about her position in SLA Europe which includes providing advice to existing and prospective members, being a point of contact for all queries relating to membership and volunteering. As this was SLA Europe’s first event in Ireland Seema told the audience about SLA and the many benefits of being a member. Seema also mentioned how Irish members have already had success in the SLA LMD Career Advancement Award and the Early Career Conference Award.

Seema encouraged anyone who was interested in finding out more to contact to her.

A great networking evening was had at SLA Europe Networking Nibbles and Drinks event. A huge thank you to Marie O’Neill and the team at Dublin Business School library. Congratulations on a hugely successful careers fair for library and information professionals. Conversations have already started for next year’s Information Professionals’ Network Expo which will be held in UCD, Dublin (date to be confirmed)

 

Pictures courtesy of Caroline Rowan, Claire McGuinness, Lara Musto.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left to right: Siobhan McGuinness, Neasa McHale, Seema Rampersad

Left to right: Marie O’Neill DBS, Jessica Bates University of Ulster, Claire McGionness, UCD.

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