SydneyPLUS Thanks for Thanksgiving (US)

SydneyPLUS staff librarians working in our headquarters in Vancouver, BC, Canada are fortunate to live in such a beautiful place, which is evident by this photograph from Jeff Xerri, SydneyPLUS Implementation Consultant Librarian on his way to work. We wish all our US-based clients who wish to celebrate Thanksgiving a Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully many of you will have the opportunity to visit us during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, or perhaps you will see a rainbow when visiting us at the SLA 2014 conference to be held in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Selling Your Library

On Monday, November 16th, some of the staff attended a workshop on “Developing & Presenting the Value Proposition” by Maggie Weaver. The session was intended to help library management develop a presentation and demonstrate the value of their services.

The workshop provided the reason for developing value propositions, a formula for developing the propositions, and specific steps for presenting the pitch.

Some of the recommendations may appear obvious, such as focus on how your library service is going to “accelerate or increase gains” instead of “reducing costs.”

Other suggestions, such as “small samples” being acceptable for making conclusions, and how to measure anything, particularly services, may be new to many librarians.

If you want to know whether or not to use a pie chart or bar graph, then this workshop is right for you; it gets to this detailed level near the end.

Another upcoming workshop some of the SydneyPLUS staff librarians will be attending, if you happen to be in the area of Vancouver, BC:

Sales Techniques for Non-Sales People Seminar offered by the Simon Fraser University (SFU).

As librarians, taking courses on marketing and sales techniques can only better serve our profession. Marketing our library services has never been more important.

LawPort Website Launched

LawPort originated under the San Francisco based company SV Technology, Inc., when it formed in 1999 in response to the emerging demand for knowledge management products and services for the field of law.

Over the years, LawPort has become the legal industry's leading Web foundation, portal and knowledge management applications suite. At its core, LawPort® provides a complete Web infrastructure, integrating the Intranet, Extranet and Internet sites to unleash and organize critical information previously locked in the firm's back office systems. LawPort's® comprehensive suite of legal applications, including Matter Centricity, Knowledge Management, Proposal & Bio Management, Experience Tracking, SharePoint/.Net Collaboration, and Financial Modeling, provide unique and out-of-the-box value to law firms.

In 2007 the company was purchased by SydneyPLUS International, a leading developer of KM solutions for numerous Fortune 1000 companies. Headquartered in Vancouver B.C. Canada, LawPort continues under the name of SydneyPLUS | LawPort.

Prevent Pollution With SydneyPLUS

As autumn has arrived at our headquarters, in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, and the falling leaves has made us reflect on how nature is constantly “recycling.”

At SydneyPLUS International, we practice Pollution Prevention (P2) year round, which has us not only recycling, but minimizing pollution.

Environment Canada defines Pollution Prevention as a movement:

“…when people change their plans, practices and habits in order to reduce the generation of pollution and waste at the source….”

While there are many examples of P2, and Environment Canada has a “tip sheet” for your business, we want to share with you a couple of stories involving SydneyPLUS staff.

SydneyPLUS encourages staff to bicycle to work because Richmond, BC is relatively flat and the maritime climate makes the weather the same from day to day, if a bit rainy. “I bike to work every day,” says R&D staff person Gordon Tisher. “It prevents pollution and improves my health…” With showers provided on site and secure storage, SydneyPLUS makes it easy for staff to bicycle to work, and it helps to be part of a community that promotes cycling, such as the convenience of taking a bicycle on public transit.

Turning off the lights is a simple step to preventing pollution. If you have visited our headquarters for training, then you may have found yourself briefly in the dark. “While not our intention,” chuckles Mark Maslowski, Manager of Marketing, “we have had staff turn off the lights in our conference room with the clients still in it when leaving the room… it is part of our routine for staff to finds ways to conserve energy.”