Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been very busy with Career Development Group events over the last month or so since I took over as Events Co-Ordinator.

At the end of November we ran a very successful event on reflective writing, which was well attended (21 professionals) and received some excellent and positive feedback from those attending. The event ran very smoothly, with special thanks to the Chair, Vice-Chair and Treasurer, who were all really supportive and encouraging and also to Margaret Chapman, who facilitated the event. Ensuring that those attending prior to the event also helped ensure that the expences were covered and didn't mean I had to chase up outstanding payments. Booking the venue and arranging refreshments was a lot more straightforward than I anticipated and I was pleased that everyone seemed to get a lot of the event and with the uptake of the course. It was really good to see that non CILIP members and Para-Professionals also came along.

The second event I've been involved in organising was our second ever New Professionals Career Event at Leeds Metropolitan University. The event involves speakers from different sectors coming along to give an insight into the profession to those studying a Librarianship Degree and to pass on advice and tips for future professionals. Once again the event was well attended and the Students seemed to gain a lot from the event. The event is also a good way of networking with the Universities across the county running Librarianship courses.

I'm currently involved in working with the CILIP Branch to run our next regional Member's Day and Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held in York in April, which promises to be a successful day and filling our Events Calendar for 2010 with visits, courses and workshops for Information Professionals across the county.

In a work context I've also been busy organising a programme of Polish Christmas events, which are being held across Leeds in both Museums and Libraries. The particular event I'm responsible for will be an evening event aimed at families with a series of performances throughout the evening by a Violinist, string quartet and Polish folk band accompanied by some school children, who perform some traditional Polish dancing. There will also be some traditional Polish food and refreshments and exhibition of Polish artefacts associated with Christmas. The programme of events aims to highlight the Polish culture and its traditions around the festive season and is a great opportunity to work with Museums.