September 19, 2016 – A seminar session titled “Develop Somebody-Even Yourself: Mentorship, Career Development and Networking” will kick off two days of fall seminars presented by Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) with a full day digging into mentorship and career development. The seminars will be upon us in just a few short weeks, running October 4-5 at the American Geophysical Union in Washington, DC.
Registration for the event is now open, with bundles for the entire seminar series available as well as options to attend individual sessions. A networking event will be held in the evening of October 4, following the first day of the seminars.
The “Develop Somebody-Even Yourself: Mentorship, Career Development and Networking” seminar session will explore the interconnected world of mentoring, career advancement, and networking will panelists who have firsthand experience in scholarly communication. Mentorship can provide a fresh perspective for those just starting out, looking for a new opportunity, or with years of experience under their belt. Conversely, there’s a lot to learn from sharing your experience with someone at another level or in a different function as a mentor.
This year’s seminar series takes a different approach than recent events by starting with an all-day seminar instead of splitting the day into separate topics between morning and afternoon sessions. Organized by SSP Education Communication Committee members Heather Ruland Staines, ProQuest SIPX, and David Thew, David Thew and Company, day one of the seminar will cover mentorship, career development and networking across four separate panels featuring industry experts. There will be two morning panels and two afternoon panels with a lunch break in between. These panels include:
From Mentee to Mentor (and back again) – Life Cycle of Mentorship
Moderator: David Thew, David Thew and Company
Panelists:
Maeg Keane, Bio One
Adrian Stanley, Digital Science
October Ivins, Ivins eContent Solutions
Mohammad H Asadi Lari, STEM Fellowship, UBC
Advancing your Career Through Mentorship
Moderator: Jessica Loayza, AIAA
Panelists:
Cathy Holland, Digital Science
Miranda Walker, Wolters Kluwer
October Ivins, Ivins eContent Solutions
Creating an Office Culture of Mentorship
Moderator: Melanie Dolechek, Society for Scholarly Publishing
Panelists:
John Odike, Taylor & Francis
Adrian Stanley, Digital Science
Angela Cochran, American Society of Civil Engineers
Networking for Career Development
Moderator: October Ivins, Ivins eContent Solution
Panelists:
David Myers, DMedia Associates, Inc.
Elizabeth Demers, Johns Hopkins University Press
Angela Cochran, American Society of Civil Engineers
We spoke with the event organizers, Staines and Thew, to get a better idea of what the Fall’s first SSP seminar will offer attendees:
Typically, each day of the fall seminar features two sessions covering different topics. What is different about this topic that demands a day-long focus?
Staines: The mentorship plenary in Vancouver, the new SSP Fellow program kickoff, and some other sessions like my: Get the Promotion! panel were very well received by Vancouver attendees. One our goals with the fall seminars is to play off of what was popular at the annual meeting. Once we started to talk about a seminar, it became clear that the topic could be approached in a number of different ways—folks at different points in their careers, folks with different objectives in mind as to why they wanted to be mentored (changing job roles, back in the office after leave for childcare or other reasons, women mentoring other women, diversity in the workplace, talent management and retention, formal vs informal programs, pros and cons of having a mentor in your own office, mentors outside the industry)—it was just too big for one day. Once we decided to include networking and to hold a networking event afterwards, the day just came together.
Who is the intended audience for this seminar and why should they attend?
Staines: Everyone can benefit from a mentor, regardless of their job role or career stage, so we are actively speaking to folks at all levels. Plus, everyone can benefit greatly from being a mentor—I learn so much from my mentees, about their different roles, different parts of the world (I’ve got mentees in four countries currently!), their professional development needs. Whether you look at mentoring as something that can benefit you personally or something that you can pay forward, knowing folks in the industry better can be extremely rewarding.
What can attendees expect from the seminar?
Staines: They can expect very practical advice from folks at all career levels, in a variety of different roles, who have experienced being mentored and being a mentor themselves. We believe that the audience participation will add valuable perspectives that we couldn’t always represent on our panels (small organizations, startups, vendors, libraries). Expect a conversation. Expect problem solving. The networking panel at the end of the day is meant to talk about the wide strategies and benefits of networking in general, but also practical tips that attendees can take right to the networking event!
Why do you think this topic is important and timely?
Staines: Mentoring is never out of style. However, given the economic recovery that we find ourselves in, many folks may feel that now is the time to jumpstart their career either on a different track or with a different company. Most jobs these days are found by word of mouth, so you want to be a known brand in your industry. You want folks out there who know your strengths and can spot an opportunity for you even if you are not actively looking. We’re also an industry that seems to be continually in flux, so knowing folks in the broader ecosystem (at other types of publishers, vendors, startups and libraries) gives you valuable perspectives that can help you adjust to changes and to thrive on them.
Is there a particular topic you’re looking forward to seeing discussed?
Staines: I can’t pick favorites among my panels—they are like my children! If there is one I’d most like to participate in though, it would be the networking session. I love people.
Thew: I’m particularly interested in the afternoon session on cultivating a corporate culture of mentoring. Is there a difference between professional development – typically skills-based training related to job responsibilities – and mentoring, where individual career trajectory is often a key discussion point and motivator for the mentee and potentially at odds with the immediate requirement s of the employer – and how does an employer address this? Should external mentoring be embedded in any corporate mentoring program? And how does an employer address the need for mentoring at the senior end of the scale, where executives may be looking for support outside the core skills base of the organization?
What do you hope attendees will take away from the seminar?
Staines: I hope they feel energized about becoming a mentor and finding a mentor for themselves. I hope they pick up—and share–practical networking strategies that can help them at events where they know a ton of folks or where they know no one. I hope they feel ready to take on the world!
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