An Interview Conducted by Steven Hamilton (ALA Charter Member) with Jeff Paslay (2009-10 SBS President)

2010-02-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

Jeff, lets begin by having you tell us why the ALA and SBS are considering a merger.

In 2008 both organizations were going through strategic planning and both came to common and shared goals for increasing services to members, to have more international presence and to increase the diversity of their membership. Early in 2009 the two organization presidents had a conversation about how the two groups might work together to achieve these strategic goals. A working group was set up that met throughout 2009 to study this topic and they eventually developed the recommendation that a merger of the two organizations be considered. It was felt that a merged organization would have a stronger international presence, greater membership diversity and be able to provide a greater depth of services.

What are some of the specific things that a merged organization will do for the membership?

Where we saw the real value in an organization that combined the strengths of the ALA and SBS was in an ability to draw on an expanded combined network of experts and that together we could develop a much wider variety of services to offer our members. We also saw that this would give us an opportunity to reach out internationally and to establish programs, either meetings, symposia, or virtual courses or other educational forums that would be inclusive of diversity that exists across the globe.

A merger also provides our vendor community, which are a strong member component of organizations, a means for more efficient marketing investment and the benefits of a stronger reach of the organization globally.

So both the technology user and technology provider members will benefit.

What will happen to the current ALA and SBS organizations? Will they disappear?

That’s a key question. As the two organizations have discussed and explored this merger over the past 12 months, both agreed that it was important to maintain the identity of the memberships of both the SBS and the ALA. We’ve proposed that within this merged organization we will have two sections, a Biomolecular Sciences section and a Laboratory Automation section. It’s the intent to empower these two sections to be able to propose meetings, symposium and educational services. Both will maintain their own journals and will drive toward fulfilling the needs of their section members. It’s clear that even though we’ll have a merged organization, from a scientific standpoint we’re still going to provide for the members of the two current organizations the ability to maintain their scientific identity and to focus on the needs of their section members.

So, a person could be a member of one or both sections, depending on their interest?

That’s correct. Individuals will be a member of the merged organization and they will have the choice of joining and participating in the activities of one or both sections. That’s where the real strength of this merger comes from.

What will become of some of the current activities, such as the large annual meetings, journals and other programs?

Our current vision as we bring the two organizations together is that there will be a transition period into 2011. During this transition we will have two annual meetings, one that represents the original SBS meeting and another that represents the original ALA meeting. Planned symposium for this period will continue, as will any virtual services currently offered. During this transition period the new Board of Directors, together with the leadership of the two sections will be working together to develop a longer range strategy toward all activities.

Jeff, you are a member of the provisional Board of Directors of this proposed merged organization, correct?

That’s correct. As we moved through the process of developing all the documents necessary to present to the current membership for their evaluation and approval, we’ve put into place a provisional CEO and a provisional Board of Directors. The Board consists of 9 members, representing both the ALA and SBS. We have a very well-balanced group working with our provisional CEO, Greg Dummer, to develop the strategies and policies for the proposed organization and transition period.

What’s the next step after all these documents are prepared?

At this time, we’ve developed the package of documents that are required for the merger of the two organizations. Those are being reviewed by both the SBS and ALA boards for approval. Once those documents are approved by both boards, we will launch a campaign where we will present the proposal to the two memberships. We intend to launch this campaign soon, in the spring of this year. The membership will then have the opportunity to read the documents on a website. We intend to have some forums at the upcoming SBS meeting in Phoenix . We also intend to have a means to answer questions that are posed by members through the website. We hope to schedule the member vote on the merger by the middle of this year, and if approved the merger would be effective in July.

So, the merger is subject to member approval?

Most definitely. Both memberships need to understand what the proposed merger entails, from an organizational standpoint and from the standpoint of the benefits they will receive as members of the merged organization. They definitely have a vote in making this happen.

Both Boards of Directors are 100% behind the merger proposal, and will be reaching out to their respective memberships over the coming weeks to communicate their perspective as to why this is the best path forward for the two organizations and the opportunities it will give all of us to grow our scientific societies in the future.

SBS-ALA Merger Blog

An Interview Conducted by Steven Hamilton (ALA Charter Member) with Jeff Paslay (2009-10 SBS President)