Executive Connections

The Hits Keep on Coming

I am very excited about the response we have received from members to the advertisements that have been running in the Wall Street Journal.

In answer to a question raised in an earlier post on the subject, Dow Jones & Company graciously has agreed to allow SLA and our members to forward the ads or have them reprinted or reproduced for their use for a period of three years with the following language on all materials, "© Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Co., Inc. Reprinted for SLA with permission. All rights reserved." This language appears at the bottom of the advertisements.

Also, several of you have asked me for more detail about the genesis of these ads and whether additional ads will appear. SLA and Dow Jones have agreed to join forces to support a co-branded advertising campaign in the Wall Street Journal that calls attention to the important role of information professionals. The campaign will consist of a variety of ads that will run through June 2011 and will be refreshed periodically. The media value is undisclosed, but SLA also will create online advertisements over the next few months. SLA and Dow Jones will create new ads with a similar message every three to four months, and Dow Jones will notify SLA each time these ads run.

I am very pleased to tell you that a 1/6-page version of the ad ran again today in the Wall Street Journal on page C8.

Once more, I would like to say a special thank you to Dow Jones for their tremendous support of the profession and SLA over the years. We appreciate it very much.

SLA Says It "Big"

I hope you had an opportunity to see the advertisement that appeared in the Wall Street Journal before and during the 2008 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO in Seattle promoting the role of information professionals. The ad, which ran on a full page three times last week and once on a half page the week before, is the result of a partnership between Dow Jones & Company and SLA. The newspaper reaches about two million people a day, including C-level executives and other senior managers.

Kudos to Stacey Bowers and Cara Schatz of the SLA staff for their creative ideas and outstanding initiative in working with the Wall Street Journal to develop this memorable and historic ad. We had dreamed of having advertising exposure of this magnitude for years. And now, thanks to Dow Jones, we have seen this dream realized, and it is continuing. Please join me in thanking Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal for this opportunity and for all the support they have given SLA and the profession over the years.

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts, views and opinions on this posting. Please respond below or send me an email at Janice@sla.org.

China Earthquake: Hitting Home

I am sure all of us have been touched deeply by the toll of human suffering resulting from the recent cyclone in Myanmar and the devastating earthquake in China. While Myanmar and the Sichuan Province of China are thousands of miles away from my home in the United States, we are linked to the the victims of these disasters not only by our common humanity, but, in some cases, by the profession for which you care so deeply.

I am including a link to a letter concerning the fate of four librarians in the ravaged Province of Sichuan.  While it is testament to the massive devastation there, it also is a reminder that we are not really very far from one another and the values we share, no matter where we live in the world. 

If you are interested in making a donation to relief efforts, the following link will take you to one of the organizations accepting donations to assist quake victims. There are a number of other organizations also providing disaster relief.  www.worldvision.org

I would like to hear your thoughts, opinions or ideas on this topic.  Please feel free to respond below or contact me by email at janice@sla.org.