SLA John Cotton Dana Award 2020

I was honored to receive the SLA John Cotton Dana Award on October 6, 2020 in recognition of my contributions to the Special Libraries Association and the library and information sciences profession.

I like to think of this prestigious award as the Oscar of the library and information sciences profession. More details about the award can be found here:

Catching up on how new metrics provide added value for published research

Being required to isolate yourself at home provides an opportunity to get to that extra reading and watching recorded webinars on topics of interest you always meant to do but didn’t have the time. 

New Metrics

Those of you interested or involved in research will want to learn more about new metrics tools and how they are used to measure the interest and impact of published research as it is discussed in the online environment. New metrics are altmetrics that augment bibliometric analysis to get a broader understanding of the impact of published research.

I spoke about new metrics in a webinar sponsored by Soutron Global (https://soutronglobal.com/) in December 2019. The webinar recording is available here:
https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/4485040274576162563

In the webinar I mention the book “The New Metrics: Practical Assessment of Research Impact” edited by Elaine M. Lasda, Emerald Publishing, c2019. This book gives a great overview of bibliometrics and altmetrics followed by chapters describing case studies of implementations in various environments including one I did at a natural history museum.

 

 

Ex Libris buys Innovative – consolidation in library software market intensifies

Consolidation continues in the library software marketplace as Ex Libris announces purchase of Innovative.
https://www.exlibrisgroup.com/press-release/ex-libris-signs-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-innovative/

Not a surprise given the reality that the library marketplace for managing physical materials, even combined with managing growing digital content, is shrinking and jobs/roles are disappearing and morphing – including in academia. With budgets also tightening with more senior executives and management wondering why such systems are needed as library physical requirements are shrinking (in their minds) the library marketplace continues to be more challenging for software providers to be able to make money and stay in business.

I have been following and analyzing these kind of agreements and mergers for many years. This official announcement is big picture and very sparse in what it all means. My assessment is that they will probably indicate Innovative teams and location will remain at this point. But I bet they will shrink quickly after the first year, if not totally disappear. I believe in 3 to 5 years maximum the Innovative ‘brand’ will be gone as the next versions of the software are melded into the overall Ex Libris architecture. This is not necessarily a bad thing for customers from a functionality standpoint depending upon how that all is implemented. Pricing is a whole other issue.

I agree that this looks more and more like a monopolistic environment — OCLC offerings as one of the few other large system competitors available notwithstanding. Let’s see what happens and how they spin this at ALA Midwinter and other major meetings.

Back to Basics: Value of Professional Associations and Conferences to You and Your Organization

It is timely to remember and share some thoughts about the value of a professional association. The value comes from not only being a member but also by being active in one way or other because despite issues that occur in any organization, they have their value both short and long term.

The SLA Leadership meeting in New Orleans is coming up in a few weeks and the annual meeting in Cleveland will be in June. It is a great opportunity to meet colleagues, enhance leadership skills, and enjoy the city.  January and June are some of the prime conference times for librarians and information professionals. Do you participate in one or more of these? There are many other meetings and activities that occur throughout the year that are also valuable but that are not necessarily directly associated with a professional associations and those should be considered as well.

OK, so what is so good and valuable about these things? The information industry is turning upside down and sideways many times over and has been for a long time. Participating (notice I don’t say attending) in conferences in person or at least virtually enables you to hear about what is going on and talk with other people who are dealing with all of it.

A couple of key points:

*Conferences are a good investment if you take full advantage of what they offer – so while everyone’s financial situation is different, just because your employer doesn’t pay for your expenses doesn’t mean you can’t/won’t/shouldn’t participate. Success comes from investing your time, effort and money throughout your career, not just when you earned your graduate degree. You invested in your education to get yourself going in a career. It doesn’t stop there. You have to continue to invest in yourself and as stated previously that takes time, effort and oh yes, money. Let’s look at this a bit more closely in a way you may not have done so previously.

Many times people complain about the cost of conference registration, workshops and the typical travel costs on top of that. Indeed, it is an investment and sometimes it is just not feasible to have that kind of expense on a regular basis. But how about this. Think about how much it costs for a credit hour at a typical university — not when you went to school (for those of us who have been around a while), but now. The cost will be on average several hundred dollars to $1,000 and lots more (depending upon the school) per credit hour. This adds up to lots of thousands of dollars over a one to two year period. If you were willing to spend that kind of money to get your degree, don’t you think spending a small portion of that on a reasonably regular basis to keep yourself informed and well prepared is worth it?

Another point is the opportunity to meet friends and colleagues you already know and to make new friends. Many people talk about how they discovered a job opportunity or learned something new or simply made some new, fabulous friends at a conference. The job marketplace is more dynamic than ever, and you never know what may change at a moment’s notice. It is not unusual to have a career in many different arenas over time, and those contacts you make at conferences become invaluable in understanding what is possible. All in all, it’s important to invest in yourself and take advantage of the many opportunities provided in lifelong learning at conferences and by other means.

 

Putting knowledge to work — skills and experience learned through real life SLA activities

One of the tag lines used in the past for the Special Libraries Association has been “Putting Knowledge to Work”.
This year SLA had an in-person leadership summit in January in New Orleans that by all accounts was a valuable experience for the attendees. While I am currently president-elect of the Southern California Chapter of SLA and this would have been an appropriate meeting to attend, I was already committed to too many other things at the home base and could not take the time or expense. More on that shortly. That being said, I am very glad others were able to take advantage of the opportunity to gain leadership training and commiserate with colleagues.

So, why was I not there? I was “putting knowledge to work”. This year I am a co-host to a very important international meeting of approximately 40 librarians and other representatives of the Biodiversity Heritage Library partners. The event is happening in mid-March and I need to use all energies toward this effort as well as keeping things going in my daily work responsibilities as a solo librarian in a very busy institution. I plan to do some reflection on this whole process after the event is done.

Requirements for the meeting includes gaining senior management commitment to the event, collaborating with colleagues, arranging and scheduling facilities, contracting with vendors for catering, negotiating funding, and so much more. Having had many opportunities to do these tasks over the years as part of leadership opportunities in SLA, I knew I could put this knowledge to work. I have had training and learning opportunities in various jobs and other associations, but not as much as through my involvement in SLA.

So, in short, I wasn’t at the SLA Leadership Summit because I was using the skills and experience from SLA and needed to focus on details at home base. I do plan to attend the Leadership Summit next year and encourage others to do as well whether they are an elected, appointed, or aspiring leader.

Altmetrics for librarians

About 6 years ago a new area of tools was developed that helps collect and measure mentions of research articles online. Altmetrics helps to gather information about research and enables expansion of the understanding of the awareness and potential value of the research.  The field is known as altmetrics and it supplements the typical information found with citation analysis that form the basis for impact factors. There are a few companies with products and services providing altmetrics. I am working with the Altmetric for Institutions product from Altmetric – a Digital Science company based in London, UK .

Librarians in research institutions would find this set of tools of interest and can read my paper or watch a presentation I gave about it at the VALA2016 conference in Melbourne, Australia in February 2016. This is the link for it: http://www.vala.org.au/vala2016-proceedings/1000-vala2016-session-6-hulser.

Digitizing audiovisual collections and more in 2015

The interesting thing about the information profession is that it is forever changing and challenging. I have been so busy with various projects that I have neglected my blog but here are some thoughts to ponder.
For the past few months I have been involved with the California Audiovisual Preservation Project. Through this grant I am getting a number of films and audiotapes digitized that are in the library’s collection at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. They can be accessed through the California Light and Sound section of the Internet Archive (www.archive.org). Some of the items are raw footage of events at the NHM Exposition Park site as well as the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park.

I’ll have some other projects to talk about in the near future as well.

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SLA: How YOU Doin’? Part 3: Fact, Fiction or Political Nuance? We Are Professionals?

My first posts about the SLA2014 conference in Vancouver focused on the environment, the business and more. What was interesting to me was that there was also an undercurrent of disquiet among a number of people who were either in leadership or had been in leadership positions at one time or other. A lot of it seems to stem in particular from whatever went on at the Leadership Summit earlier this year. I wasn’t there, so that’s where it gets a bit complicated for me at least.

Before I go any further, I have to say that I thought about all of what I am discussing in this set of blog posts with ideas thrashing about of how to work toward positive energy and solutions to issues with SLA. It can’t be done alone, but it also can’t be done with people overtly, covertly, and subversively  undercutting each other. With that in mind, here is a photo I took near the end of the conference looking out from the Convention Center.

Storminess in the distance almost a metaphor for some of feeling of the SLA Conference in Vancouver

Storm clouds in the distance almost a metaphor for some of the feeling of the SLA Conference in and around the Vancouver Convention Center

 

He said, she said, she said, they said…
Oh no you/they/she/he didn’t! Oh yes you/they/she/he did!

Apparently some things were mentioned about leadership responsibilities at the Leadership Summit in Memphis. All sorts of conversations have been going on since that time and during the conference where more discussion was held in all sorts of places about the financial, operational and governance situation SLA is now in. As I understand it the Division and Chapter cabinets also dealt with some of the issues but I wasn’t at their meetings this time around so I cannot comment on the proceedings. Perhaps those who were there can chime in, but here we go with he/she/they/you said whatever.

A few folks (who, like me, also weren’t at the Leadership Summit)  expressed thoughts during the Vancouver conference  of who said what, when and why. Others who were at the Summit have told me some of that was not true or never was said or was not heard as it was stated. <SIGH> This carried over into the Vancouver conference such that some people went to a dinner as a large group but did not go to a meeting of the same group the next day because of the topics to be discussed. In retrospect I think one or more of the topics should not have been discussed at that meeting and instead more appropriately at the annual business meeting. I got caught up in the discussion like everyone else, so tsk tsk to me too! Well, people from that group know exactly what I am referring to but this is not the forum for me to comment further on it. However, I will likely say more in an appropriate other place where they can discuss or ignore as they wish.

Anyway, in addition to those actions, some of the same people who skipped the meeting did show up at the annual business meeting. While there they dissed the proceedings about the very topics discussed or avoided at the business meeting – with a bit of validity, I am sorry to say. It was too bad we could not have some professional discourse during the business meeting, to agree or to disagree, but get on with solving the issues at hand instead of sniping and demonstrating skills at passive/aggressive behavior.

All I know is that I no longer can be confident in anything I’ve heard except when I have been witness to it – I know, simple logic, but I’d like to believe that my wonderful colleagues would be truthful with me one way or other. Apparently this is not the case, and that is disappointing.

We know there are issues and questions around the sale of the SLA HQ building, as well concerns about decisions being made about and for the Association by the SLA Board of Directors and SLA HQ. Well, that is what they are respectively elected and paid to do what they do. They all need to be held accountable, as do elected leaders of the recent past, and all of us as voting members who had some influence on the issues as well. I had hoped some of these concerns would be addressed during the annual business meeting in a concise, logical way and not dragged out. Well, instead of that potential lengthy discussion, it was avoided all together. Yes, things were gone over at Leadership Summit according to the summaries I have read, but many in the business meeting audience WERE NOT THERE or may not have had seen any of the summaries distributed by a few unit leaders. As I discussed in my previous post, in the business meeting nothing really happened. OK, let’s say it didn’t happen to the depth a number of us expected.

So where does that leave things? Up in the air I’m afraid, with factions of one sort or other holding their ground, being perturbed or even strongly ticked off about one thing or other. You would think we were talking about things in another well known and much larger library association. Let’s see what happens over the next few months, what the pending first annual report to the membership says, what actions do take place, the results of those actions, and hope that this all settles out over time for the best.

I’m sure I’ll have some more thoughts, so stay tuned for a possible part 4 though it could go in a completely new direction. Check in and see!

 

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SLA: How YOU Doin’? Part 2: The Business Meeting That Wasn’t

The Olympic Torch on the shore of Vancouver Bay. A fascinating sculptural site during the day.

The Olympic Torch on the shore of Vancouver Harbor. A fascinating sculptural site during the day.

The Olympic Torch at Vancouver Harbor. It looks best in the evening lit up like this.

 

 

 

 

 

Business Meeting, Business Meeting – Where are you?

According to many sources and many of our own personal experiences, we know that the essential purpose of the annual business and membership meeting of an association is to comply with by-laws to show accountability for finances and services provided to the membership. There is typically communication of accomplishments, challenges, and plans for the next few years to strengthen accomplishments and address challenges whether financial, operational or other.

This communication demonstrates transparency of operations to all stakeholders and helps to ensure confidence in the management and leadership of the association. The meeting also provides an opportunity for old business to be addressed if anything is outstanding, new business to be brought forward, and a forum for asking questions and clarifications of data presented and actions taken or planned. It also helps raise awareness of all the work done for the membership and shows the association’s value to them.

That is all well and good but there was not much of any of that in the SLA2014 annual business meeting in Vancouver. Attendees heard a revival type speech from the treasurer to all work as ‘one SLA’ with a mere smattering of data shown on charts but never spoken. The CEO and president gave well-deserved kudos to SLA staff and volunteer committee members and acknowledged that the SLA HQ building was up for sale. That was essentially it. There was no call for old business, new business, and no opportunity to ask questions at all. So let’s break it down a bit, shall we?

First off, I am sure we will be told that much information has been issued in reports or other documents available online. True or not, the audience deserved a summary of key accomplishments and an outline of key challenges and what is being done to address them. We also should hear what was discussed and perhaps voted on in the SLA Board meeting held the day before the conference began. Being told these are tough times brings no added knowledge to those of us willing and dedicated to stay to the end of the conference and attend the business meeting. I recall officially hearing the attendee numbers maybe once or twice in the past few years, so this is NOT a new thing done only by the current Board and SLA HQ and it is a very, very bad trend.

Let’s get specific. When the treasurer stood up to give his presentation, the audience saw 3 images of data over about a 20 minute span of time. The first was a map of the world sectioned to represent the chapters and that was an interesting graphic but didn’t tell us a whole lot. The second was a graph showing membership numbers in steady decline over the last few years where we are currently hovering around 8,000 members. At one time we had a membership of around 14,000 so that gives you an idea of the difference today.

The third image was a graph showing how expenses and revenue compared over the years, with revenue far exceeding expenses a while back but in the most recent past we are barely able to make enough revenue to meet expenses. The treasurer did make a brief comment to that effect with the graph displayed, but that what the extent of the facts we heard or saw at the meeting.

What I wanted to know and didn’t hear was:

* Attendance numbers for the conference – members, vendors, total. Why? The conference is often spoken about as a key annual revenue source for the association. Therefore the numbers of members and the numbers of vendors attending and participating in the conference have a direct impact on the economic health of the association. We as members and vendors cannot fully understand or assist in fixing a declining participation in the conference – or the association for that matter – when the facts are kept from us. Given that the business meeting is held at the end of the conference, the SLA staff clearly have those numbers handy. This is not the first time this has happened, so it more than the current Board and SLA Staff to call to question.

Be assured I feel the conference itself was extremely productive for me in many ways for my library and institution from a business standpoint, for me professionally in enhancing my awareness of what others are doing that I could do as well, knowledge of products and services, as well as for me personally in being able to see my many friends and colleagues and meet new ones.

SLA Past President and me checking out the scenery during a fun dinner across the bay from Vancouver

SLA Past President Deb Hunt and me checking out the scenery during a fun dinner across the bay from Vancouver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here is my anecdotal observation until we get an apparently forthcoming ‘first annual report’ to the membership, according to the Treasurer. Despite the lack of room availability in conference hotels near the ‘action’ due to being ‘sold out’, there appeared to not be a huge amount of membership attendees at this conference. I know the U.S. Government employees were unable to travel internationally, so that was one of perhaps a few key reasons. Nonetheless, I can recall in past years jostling through a crowd at the INFO-EXPO opening and it was a smaller crowd this time for sure.

While walking around the INFO-EXPO exhibit hall (ah, the questionable on-going need for a conference center exhibit hall — a topic I shall speak of again at another point) there was at least one entire aisle that was empty, there were several empty stalls to the back of each row of exhibit booths, and there were a number of ‘table top’ exhibits instead of full booths. It wasn’t as cavernous a feel as it was in Chicago or San Diego, but still felt a bit sparse. While thanking the vendors for their participation and getting good information on their products and services, I asked them about the customer traffic and their general opinion about the space and all. Many were very happy with the people they met and the business discussions, but said they did feel the traffic flow to be on the light side with few examples of large crowds at any one time. One vendor who has participated for years indicated that he felt SLA was ‘running on fumes’ and has been for a few years. He assured me that his organization would participate in the annual conference as an exhibitor through whatever SLA goes through even if it is to an endpoint – an endpoint that he thinks could come in a few short years or less. He thinks there is a core 20 or 30 vendors that would do that as well because of their loyalty to their customers and SLA. And for those of you who think you know who this vendor is, you would be wrong as it is someone else for sure.

Mind you, I know of several vendors who did not exhibit this year at all but did attend the conference. At least one significant vendor had their CEO in attendance and likely conducted individual meetings rather than exhibit. Hmmm… was that because of the booth expense, their own interest in cutting general travel and conference expenses, or ???

* Financial summary of the Association. Are we in a deficit (what time of day is it?), barely meeting expenses – apparently so, or making money (nope!). Many of us have budgets and run a ‘business’ so we can appreciate the challenges of revenues and expenses. We also know we work hard with our colleagues and senior management in our workplace to get things done with the limited resources available. So, stop playing shadow puppets and give us the skinny on the numbers! To hear a member of the Finance committee tell me in a side conversation at another point in the conference that we are barely squeaking by to meet expenses and had to make tough decisions on what to fund was enlightening but that should have been said by the SLA Treasurer, the CEO and/or the current President.

* The SLA HQ staff situation and what is really going on at SLA HQ – The CEO thanked her hardworking staff for their efforts in getting yet another conference accomplished. They are amazing indeed and we hear there are fewer of them, but this year we have no idea how many or the challenges. I recall that was addressed in more detail in the past and helped us understand the complexity and effort required to make the conference happen.

Many niceties were expressed by the CEO about cooperation of her and her team with the SLA Board of Directors and conference planners. She also mentioned the sale of the HQ building but that’s it – mentioned it. What else is going on with SLA HQ? How is the Association faring as compared to others? We know ALA has lost members as have many others. What does the ASAE membership say about their organizations? Inquiring minds want to know if we are an anomaly (doubt it) or one of the many in a crowd of struggling associations?

As an aside, it would have been nice to have a conference program booklet with all the maps of the conference center and hotels included. The Convention Center map was printed in the larger special conference edition of Information Outlook and there were no maps of the hotel locations or meetings held in them.

SLA CEO Janice LaChance speaking to the attendees at the Annual Business Meeting

SLA CEO Janice LaChance speaking to the attendees at the Annual Business Meeting

* The status of the sale of the SLA HQ building and the plans for the expected revenue from the sale. Oh, it was mentioned by both the CEO and President, but that’s it – mentioned. The sale is happening, though maybe not be able to close a deal for a long while, and there are lots of discussions about it but we aren’t going to update you on it here. Many of you are not privy to the SLA Leadership or LMD discussion list where many questions and answers were posed, but there was a dissemination of a summary through e-mail. It’s a hot topic and we don’t want to discuss it further and no, you can’t ask questions here even though this would be the place for you to do so. Nope, waste of time, can’t do it, won’t let you, so don’t try. In fact, we won’t even provide a Q&A part of the meeting so you can’t! — How can you have a “business meeting” with no questions by the membership about the very topics presented or absent?

President Kate Arnold addresses the SLA Annual Business Meeting at the close of the conference

President Kate Arnold addresses the SLA Annual Business Meeting at the close of the conference

It’s been a few days since returning from the conference but it is only now I feel like I was given a date drug and sent on my way before realizing we didn’t have an actual business meeting but rather a series of presentations and platitudes. This has to change.

Up next: SLA: How YOU Doin’? Part 3: Fact, Fiction or Political Nuance? We Are Professionals?

 

SLA2014: How YOU Doin’? Part 1 – general thoughts on the Vancouver conference

Yes I know it’s been a while since I last did a post. Well, here it goes! This is going to be split into a few posts because I’ve got a lot to put out there for contemplation and maybe reaction.

This past week I participated in the SLA2014 annual conference in Vancouver, BC. There are so many positives to participating (note, I don’t say attend because passiveness at a conference doesn’t get you very much payback). Anyway, when I go to these events I look forward to seeing friends and colleagues from all over the world, share ideas, discuss issues, learn a few things, talk to vendor partners and potential new ones who can help me with needs of my library services and institution, maybe share a few pearls of wisdom – ok share a lot whether you want to hear them or not ;-), and have some fun too.

A side note — When I arrived at LAX and got off the parking lot shuttle I walked to the entrance door for Air Canada and was struck really hard in the leg by a luggage trolley that a kid was swinging around. I felt like Nancy Kerrigan when she was hit with that bat by Tonya Harding’s boyfriend. It soon hurt so bad and continued to hurt on and off during most of the conference. Put me out of sorts a bit and I didn’t dance much at all — that’s right, I didn’t dance but a little bit Sunday night at a dinner event and not at all at the IT dance party.

OK back to the conference. I have to talk about the good stuff first because that is so unlike me. Yep I said it! Overall the conference was worth the trip as it usually is. There is also some stuff that isn’t so good and I’ll mention a few briefly but the details will be covered in future posts.

Cameron and I on the train from Vancouver airport to downtown. Inexpensive and a nice way to get into town in reasonable time.

Cameron and I on the train from Vancouver airport to downtown. Inexpensive and a nice way to get into town in reasonable time.

After stopping to pick up my conference registration and dropping off stuff at the hotel (more on that in a short bit) I went to the First Timers event hosted by SLA Fellows. From there we went to our annual dinner. This time it was the Cactus Club Cafe along the harbor. Everyone had good food – well except I got the tough steak, but they covered my drinks so it worked out. Anyway, here are a few pics from that night:

SLA Fellows Dinner in Vancouver

Ann, Mary Ellen, James and others at the SLA Fellows Dinner in Vancouver

SLA Fellows Dinner in Vancouver

Kate, Bill, Monica and Mary at the SLA Fellows Dinner in Vancouver

SLA Fellows Dinner in Vancouver

Peter, Ruth, Wei, Dorothy and others at the SLA Fellows Dinner in Vancouver

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the conference itself I spent a lot of my time in the INFO-EXPO on purpose so I could get the information I needed for projects at work. I was on a mission. If I found time for sessions (and there were a lot of good ones to try and attend), I would go to them – I really didn’t have the time other than some unit business meetings and presentations in them. As a result I brought back key items for use at work regarding discovery tools, updates on content management systems, new tools for citation management at the institution level, possible different ways to pay for and deliver content, a small bit of swag, and nice conversations with vendor partners and colleagues during dinners around town.

Dinner sponsored by Soutron Global at the Salmon House across the bay. Fun evening with happy people, good food, fun entertainer on a synthesizer, incredible views of Vancouver and more, and a bit of dancing.

Dinner sponsored by Soutron Global at the Salmon House across the bay. Fun evening with happy people, good food, fun entertainer on a synthesizer, incredible views of Vancouver and more, and a bit of dancing.

Not so good was the total mess up by SLA Housing Bureau that should never, ever, ever be used again. I tried reserving a room just a few days after housing registration opened up. Nope, ALL rooms at the conference hotels were unavailable except for a waiting list. The kicker was that some nights were available but NOT the Tuesday night. WTF?!!! The conference was scheduled until 6PM Tuesday, so how many people were going to be able to leave that day if they wanted to attend the business meeting and final panel? (Yep I used the ‘attend’ word and more on that in a future post — a LOT to say on that topic)
I tried 3 days in a row to find a room and was even willing to pay the ‘harbor view’ price but nothing changed. Others told me they even called and got no help along with big attitude. Apparently a few weeks later some rooms became available but not for long. Didn’t know that until too late. Good thing my roommate’s company had a block of rooms so we had some place to stay. It was the Westin Bayshore. Nice place and rooms, though the closet was in the bathroom — yep, in the bathroom. I’ve traveled all over the world, but never saw that before! Bad news: it was one of the farthest places from the Convention Center.

Yachts docked in Vancouver harbor with Westin Bayshore hotel in background

Yachts docked in Vancouver harbor with Westin Bayshore hotel in background

An up side to that was I got some nice exercise and walks along the harbor shoreline and through the park paths and enjoyed seeing the people and scenery.

Park along Vancouver Bay shoreline

Park along Vancouver Bay shoreline

 

Mother Mallard duck guiding her duckling back to a nearby pond. So cute! Everyone gave them plenty of room and let them proceed to the side before continuing on.

Mother Mallard duck guiding her duckling back to a nearby pond. So cute! Everyone gave them plenty of room and let them proceed to the side before continuing on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know I’ve posted some pics and talked about stuff out of chronological order, but that’s the way it is. Almost done for this post and look for “SLA: How YOU Doin’? Part 2: The Business Meeting that Wasn’t”. I’ll be getting into some tough love folks, tough love!

Lastly, a good decision was to buy some Godiva chocolate from the Duty Free shop on the way home. Jumped right to the end but it was too good to wait! I had to use at least some of that leftover Canadian cash. What? I walked by all the alcohol and went for chocolate — the folks at work are VERY glad I did!