by Nisa Bakkalbasi

Happy and successful New Year to all PAM members and Bulletin readers!

Welcome to the new Executive Board of the Division:

Chair: Nisa Bakkalbasi (through 12/2012)
Chair-Elect: Stella Ota (through 12/2012)
Past Chair: Ruth Kneale (through 12/2012)
Treasurer: Michael Chesnes (through 12/2013)
Secretary: Elizabeth (Beth) Brown (through 12/2012)

I want to thank Ruth Kneale, for her tireless work, enthusiasm, creative ideas, and endless energy in 2011 and welcome Stella Ota, as Chair-Elect, and Michael Chesnes, as Treasurer. All new officers for the current year are listed at the PAM Staff Page (http://pam.sla.org/manual/staff/current/). Please extend a thank you to them all for their commitment to PAM. If you are interested in volunteering in any of the committees, please let me know.

I am delighted to begin the New Year with congratulatory announcements. First, congratulations to Ruth Kneale, who was nominated by PAM Division and selected by SLA Awards & Honors Program as a Fellow of SLA in recognition of her leadership in her career as information professional. I am also delighted to announce that Mr. Narendar K. Wadhwa is the winner of the 2012 PAM International Award. Mr. Wadhwa, serves as the Scientist & Head at the Knowledge Resource Centre, National Physical Laboratory in New Delhi, India. Thank you to Khue Duong, chair of the International Relations Committee, and his co-chair, Catherine Vu, for their outstanding work in coordinating the entire award process.

Stella, Ruth and I had the opportunity to attend this year’s Leadership Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, 25 – 28 January. 2012 President Brent Mai launched the Summit with the association’s vision for 2012-2014. We’ve attended sessions on how the association’s initiatives and priorities will affect our division. A most exciting component of the Summit was the research and best practices developed to date on the year-long Loyalty Project, which was led by James Kane. Leaders from the six chapters who have been working with him shared their experiences in following areas: member relationships; leadership relationships, engaging remote members; community relationships and vendor relationships. Stella, Ruth, and I can’t wait to put what we learned into practice as we plan programs for our division.

I would like to take this opportunity to give you a brief update on program planning for Chicago. Many thanks to dedicated and energetic PAM Staff and our generous sponsors, 2012 program is coming along very nicely. In the light of our current fiscal realities and rising cost of sessions, in 2012 we will offer a program that is simpler but rich in experience. Due to the increasing cost of food (e.g. $46 p/Boxed Lunch), beverages (e.g. $95 coffee p/gallon), and A/V equipment (e.g. $972.00 LCD Projector and Screen), we had to cut on food, beverages, and projections systems from some of the sessions. As we get closer to the date, I will be sharing details through PAMnet. The session moderators have been hard at work to ensure there will be engaging discussions on timely and relevant topics. Please take the time to respond to their calls as they seek your input.

In closing, I look forward to seeing all of you in Chicago in July. Even if circumstances prevent you from attending the conference, there are many ways for you to get involved. Just drop us a line.