Hello SSP Members!
We’ve recently had our winter Board of Directors (BOD) meeting. So this is a great time for an update on what we’re doing and how the Society is progressing.
What’s New?
Our volunteers, committees, and their chairs continue to work diligently. This work includes launching and operationalizing new and revised programs:
- The Communications Committee has taken over production our weekly newsletter, RE:member
- The Professional Development Committee has transformed the travel grant program into the SSP Fellowship Program, offering students and early career professionals the opportunity for more integration into the world of scholarly publishing and more interaction with, and support from, SSP
- Regional events continue to gain momentum, with two additional events (one in Boston and one in Durham) in October and evolving plans to continue in these locations and extend to more cities in 2016
- The Scholarly Kitchen, with support from the Education Committee, held its first webinar. Attendance and feedback were excellent. Expect to see more Scholarly Kitchen webinars!
Special thanks to the Marketing, Communications, and Development Committees as they continue to support SSP programming. Their tireless efforts get the word out to members and sponsors and keep all of our programs moving.
It’s important to note that many of the initiatives above have their roots in the SSP Strategic Plan. In the last BOD meeting, the Executive Director presented a unified and prioritized strategic project portfolio. The priorities were discussed, refined, and accepted by the BOD. We will now use this structure to evaluate current activities and new opportunities.
Comings and Goings
After two fun and productive years, Margaret Reich has decided to step down as our program director. Margaret helped us define this role at SSP and has had tremendous positive impact on all of our programs. We will all miss her!
Our Executive Director, Melanie Dolechek, along with a small search task force, is in the final stage of selecting a Program Director. Expect more news on that soon!
Also, with the size and scope of the Education Committee expanding, Peter Froehlich, Director, Purdue University Press, and Head, Scholarly Publishing Services at Purdue University, has agreed to step up from his role as committee member to become the third co-chair of the Education Committee. He will join Mary Ann Baynes and Heather Staines architecting, managing, and supporting SSP education programs. Please welcome him to this new role.
What’s Next?
We are planning regional events for the Boston and Durham areas as well as new locations. We have had interest in starting regional events from folks in San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Washington. Reach out to me or Melanie Dolechek if you would like to get involved in one of these locations or if you would like to recommend alternative regions.
There are several opportunities to take advantage of SSP programming this Spring, via the 2016 Webinar Series as well as the second Scholarly Kitchen Webinar, The Future of Data Publication, scheduled for May 10th.
And of course, we hope to see everyone in Vancouver for the Annual Meeting. The response to the call for presentations for this meeting has broken all records and the program will be excellent. You’ll be hearing about our keynotes shortly and registration will open next month.
We’d love to see you!
Ann Michael
SSP President, 2015-16
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