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The Secret of Success of the European Chapter who won 3 awards in 2020!



Sam: Hi, I am Sam Chu, the current director of ASIS&T Chapter Assembly. It’s really great to see the four of you. You were present in the European Chapter and also European Students Chapter and last year you basically shocked a lot of ASIS&T members by getting three awards out of five, all for your Chapter. So that’s really wonderful, and of course it's about what your Chapter and also what the student Chapter got, but anyways it's all from Europe, that's really marvelous. So perhaps you can share your secret of success and of course everybody would like to know who you are. So can we go around the zoom table, perhaps we can have Crystal say a few words.

Crystal: Hi, I’m the current chair of the European Chapter and last year I was the chair elect, so I worked with Aylin and Isabelle and Franziska last year and I'm still working with Aylin. Aylin is our past chair this year, and then Franziska still works with us on the newsletter.


Sam: Thank you Crystal. Perhaps Aylin can go next?


Aylin: Sure, hi everybody my name is Aylin. As Crystal said before, I'm right now the past chair. Last year I was the chair and I was working and I’m still working with Franziska and Crystal, and also with Isabelle because she's working in the same Department [as me].



Sam: Thank You, Aylin. Isabelle, can you say a few words?


Isabelle: Yeah sure, I'm Isabelle, I worked together with the others last year in the European Chapter and was responsible for the newsletter. I’m not so active in the European Chapter this year but I'm still watching you remotely and seeing the success. I saw the new newsletter that was very nice.


Sam: Thanks a lot, Isabelle. Franziska, can you say a few words please?


Franziska: Hi, I'm Franziska, I worked on the newsletter last year for the European Student Chapter but I'm not in the European Student Chapter anymore, I'm now in the European Chapter because I'm not a student. I worked on the new newsletter and I'm also the communication officer for the European Chapter.


Source: https://www.asist.org/2020/10/08/chapter-update-10-20/

Sam: Thank you Franziska, thank you all for the brief introduction. The most important thing that everybody wants to learn, as I mentioned in the beginning, is what kinds of good things did your team do that led to the success of receiving three awards for your Chapter last October at the ASIS&T AM?


The three awards were: Chapter Member of the Year Award for Aylin, Chapter Event of the Year Award due to the Health Information Behavior event [Information Science Trends 2020], and the Chapter Publication of the Year Award, jointly obtained by European Chapter and European Student Chapter due to their newsletter. OK, please.


Aylin: I can start and then maybe Isabelle, Franziska, or Crystal can jump in. So, I think one of the important things is the communication and the meetings. It is important to have regular meetings. I can say this because one year before, we had a longer break where we have not met with each other and where we did not have for example every two weeks a call. We realized that if we have a call every two weeks, we are more productive because we can exchange ideas and we can catch up more quickly on things [...]I think that's one of the important things I recognize from myself [on] how projects can be done or planned, and how collaboration can be a good start.


Sam: Thank you Aylin and who else would like to continue?


Isabelle: I can continue. So I definitely agree on what Aylin said and also according to this, during the meetings it was really openly engaging in discussions, it was very open where you can always bring in new ideas, new recommendations, new plans.


Isabelle: They are different, for example, smaller projects, where people say ok, we want to do this so we are responsible for the communications, we want to do the newsletter, and we also want to continue the great Health Information Behaviour Event, which was initiated by Dirk Lewandowski (HAW Hamburg, Germany). Then it started, and a lot of ideas emerged. There are always enough of us to talk about and submit ideas, and also to share the lead on different projects. So it’s not just one person managing everything, but there are different kinds of groups who are responsible for different kinds of events or ideas.


Sam: Thanks so much Isabelle, and then Franziska or Crystal please?


Franziska: I wasn’t involved in the European Chapters last year so I can’t share much on this, but since I switched to the European Chapter this year, I can see a difference between the European Students Chapter [and the European Chapter]. For example, there is a lot of thorough experience and open communication.


Franziska: In the European Students Chapter we were all students and we didn’t have all the experience and the insights. I think that’s an important factor, to know what you’re doing and everyone can give their own experience and insights, so you can build together. I mean of course you can also do that in the European Students Chapter but I think it’s a different kind of dynamic that takes place and I think you grow with each other. That’s something I observed a little bit in the European Chapter.


Sam: Thank you Franziska, and Crystal please.

Crystal: The thing is, I never thought of the experience of what the Student Chapter could bring, that’s so interesting. I remember when I was a PhD student, we just had a group of PhD students, and we all went through together like a community and took care of each other. I think that’s where things like getting involved [happened], we went further into the world then, and we still knew each other, we still do things together, and we ran our own conferences with PhD students, all that kind of stuff. Crystal: We weren’t fortunate enough to have the Student Chapter of ASIS&T back then, but when we went to ASIS&T the first year, everybody had to make a poster. And then one person was nominated to carry the poster on the plane etc. It’s like once you’ve had that experience, you kind of feel like “yea, I could do that again”, but then doing it the first time takes a lot of work, and it’s a big commitment. Doctoral students are sometimes worn off their feet, and they don’t always have enough time. But I think you still feel pressured, in the same way if that makes sense.


I think one of the things that helped last year was that the students working in the Student Chapter were brilliant in organizing and doing things together. In the past, they had shown that they had run that scientivity competition, and it’s really creative. So I think that was something really good, people were creative, and all that stuff was like the perfect storm and it all came together at the right time. So, there’s more than one thing that makes it a good Chapter, Sam.



Sam: Thanks a lot, Crystal. I think all four of you have been very concise in sharing all the good things you have done. Earlier I mentioned the European Chapter awards, so that is the Chapter Event of the Year Award, that is your team, who has done the event called the IST 2020 Health Information Behaviour (Europe).


For this particular event, can you share a bit more? Firstly, what this event is about, and the good things about it? Also participants' responses and evaluations if any. And in any case, I know this was a really great event that many people enjoyed, so if you can also share all sorts of wonderful things that your team has done to put it together, that would be very helpful.


Aylin: Ok I can start, so for this event I think Isabelle has introduced some of the background information on how this event was organized by one of our past chairs, Professor Dirk Lewandowski. I think it was in 2019, and he had the idea to establish an event called the Information Science Trends which enabled not only the officers of the European Chapter but also, the country representatives, and ASIS&T members in Europe, to organize at least one event a year around one topic, to bring people together who are working on this topic. As Lewandowski is doing research about search engines, he started with that topic in 2019, and last year, I think because my dissertation was on health information behaviour and we had, within the officers also research about this topic, we decided to have the second one with the topic of health information behaviour, and that was the idea of the event. Until now the European officers started and organized those events, but they are open, so that we are also happy to support members who may be say hey I have a topic idea, maybe I have a funding and I would also like to do an Information Science Trends event in, for example, Barcelona, or Madrid etc., across Europe, and then we also as a Chapter can then support them with the experience, how to organize everything, review processes, and so on. And that is the idea of this event.


Isabelle: Thank you Aylin, I think you described it perfectly. It is really a topic changing event, but also the focus always lays on places where researchers can just pass opportunities, challenges, and aspects, on the topic which is selected for the year. As Aylin already has said, we had two of these events, one related to search engines, and the other related to health information. One of them in person in Hamburg, and the other digitally on zoom meetings. They were all very nice events.


Sam: Thanks Isabelle and Aylin for your sharing. I wonder if Crystal or Franziska have anything to add?


Crystal: I think it was a really great event, and also a very successful one because people were very dedicated. We were in that event for over three days, and bearing in mind all the people were undergoing a zoom fatigue already. So it was in the afternoon for like half a day, and it worked out very well. It was well attended by newer members to ASIS&T, and also people I recognized a long long time ago when I started. In other words, there was a real blend in the membership that came, so that was really nice as it led to a nice discussion at the conference.


Aylin: I want to add, looking back to the event, one of the main ideas is to be active and to be in discussion, and also to be recognized. As Crystal mentioned, there are people long years back who may have been involved, or who are still involved, and there are also new members. I think that is important. Not only the topic and the event itself, but also to be there and to provide a platform, no matter if it is a webinar, a small talk, or a coffee break.


Isabelle: Exactly, so the event was something that enables discussion. I remember that in the initial planning of the first event, it was really important for us not to have an event that generates competition with the workshop at the ASIS&T annual conference, and we also don’t want some really strict conference discussions either. We wanted an open discussion-based conference, so in addition to the existing events of ASIS&T, there was another opportunity, but not something that was similar to what was done at the ASIS&T conference.


Sam: Thanks so much, Aylin please.


Aylin: So one last point is that not everyone in Europe had the possibility regarding [access to] funding, and regarding other factors [such as] flying to the ASIS&T annual meetings. And then they might not be feeling connected to all the ASIS&T members but also to ASIS&T members within Europe. I remember that one of the main ideas for this event was for people [during face to face events] to have the possibility to be able to fly to the country next to them instead of to America or Australia, etc., so it was like a local event. I think that was also one of the main reasons why Professor Lewandowski wanted to establish this event, so as to provide [an opportunity for researchers to meet] locally.


Sam: Thank you all. So I think we have discussed enough regarding the award - The Chapter Event of the Year. Now, I want to move on to perhaps, the Chapter Publication of the year award. So regarding the newsletter. that was very well done by both the European Chapter and the European Students Chapter, would anyone like to start on this first?


Franziska: I’ll start, so I think what’s great about the newsletter is that it is a joint publication. So, it’s not only professionals, but also student insights [that are involved]. I think it’s very interesting to see what the European students are doing. We always had a section titled “I was at,” where all the students could say things like “I was at this or that [event], and my topic was xxx.” I also think it's interesting to see what the students are doing, those who know a lot about their profession and their research. It’s not so easy to share your voice when you are a student, and I think it's a great thing to share with each other. So, I believe the joint aspect is what is really important in the newsletter and why it's so great.


Sam: Ok, thanks a lot Franziska, anyone else would like to talk about it?


Isabelle: Yeah sure, so as Franziska has mentioned the joint element is a big thing in the newsletter, it’s especially also because the newsletter is something which has a long history within the European Chapter and also within the European Students Chapter. It’s something the European Students Chapter started a long time ago, way before I was on the board, I can’t remember if the first newsletter was from 2011 or 2010, but it was something that was continued.


We have lots of field reports as Franziska has mentioned, and at some point in the past, we had the idea, especially since both Chapters (European Chapter and European Students Chapter) started to work more closely together, to also do this on the newsletter, to have a joint publication where we can have much more different perspectives and from different positions, such as bachelor students, master students, PhD students, professors, and working information scientists. Besides this, one thing that was very interesting about the newsletter that made us consider submitting it was that it's a thing which also represents the Chapter - European Chapter and European Students Chapter.


Sam: I see, very interesting, Aylin please.


Aylin: I think another thing is that, as Isabelle has mentioned, the newsletter has a long history. I know that when I was asked if I wanted to write something for the newsletter as a student, I’d be very happy about it. I think that's exactly the point Franziska mentions, while being a student, and also if you’re in the beginning of your career or doing research, it’s really a pleasure to be asked to write a few sentences, about which conferences you attended and what your presentations were about. I think that’s a great point, and I wanted to mention this because I remember how I felt when I was asked to write a section about where I was at.




Sam: Ok, that’s wonderful. Anything to add from Crystal?


Crystal: Well, I think that the newsletter was just really interesting. For me it’s a nice way to keep track of what goes on in your chapter. [It’s] kind of like your corporate history. I didn’t have the experience these guys had [regarding] your student contributions, but I think it’s really nice, I’m making a note for myself to make sure we’re doing something like this again for our next newsletter.


Sam: So maybe the last question regarding the newsletter is that how often does the newsletter come out, and how is it different from the other newsletters that you are familiar with? So what makes it so special and so good?


Crystal: In fact, I don’t know of another newsletter like this in ASIS&T. So, I actually think it’s quite unique in the organization.


Isabelle: This is a very interesting point. I know that there are other different kinds of publications from other Chapters, but since we are also talking about the “secrets,” what I would like to give as an advice is if the Chapter put so much effort into doing something like an event, and also in doing something like a newsletter, they should also make use of any resources that helps to advertise its events, via social media, and email, etc. For the newsletter, we always send the newsletters to the contributors, we also have our own list of emails from the European areas, where we know a number of universities who receive this newsletter, and we also have the social media posts about it. This is something which also ensures that the community will not only appear in the newsletter but also read about the newsletter.


Sam: Ok, so anything to add from anyone?


Aylin: So adding on to the “secrets”, as I have mentioned before, being active in the Chapter can take up a lot of time, apart from your research agenda or your teaching duties, but I think it is important not to get tired. So, as Isabelle also said, people also need to read about it, and sometimes the feedback is not always so, that everyone did read it. So, I think the important thing is that if you enjoy creating the newsletter, if you enjoy asking people what they are doing, then not to get tired of doing it, even though there may be a low response rate. I think that is also the “secret” to do it continuously if you enjoy it, and also not to be demotivated in say the lower numbers of how many people are reading or sharing your newsletter. Because again, this is how, as Franziska has mentioned, the possibility to grow and gain experience while working on it.



Isabelle: Yes, definitely, and also I want to add that, it’s also not a must for a Chapter to come up with a long list of events, so, it’s totally ok to have only one or two things. For example, it depends on the group which is working on the respective year, and it’s also ok to have maybe only one smaller contribution but everyone is contributing as much as a person can contribute. It shouldn’t be putting a lot of pressure on the members.








Franziska: I want to add to this point. I think it’s really interesting that you have different points of view, so it’s not like one person writes all the text and then it’s done [and] it’s all the same. But [instead], we have like twenty different people who wrote something for the newsletter, we have interviews and the “I was at” section, [and also] different sections, which makes it more fun.


Sam: I see, thanks so much. No wonder your chapter has gotten this award. Lastly, the award I’d like to talk about has more to do with Aylin, but Aylin wouldn’t have gotten the award if it wasn’t because of the good efforts from the others. So Aylin, can you talk about the “Chapter Member of the Year Award,” obtained mainly by Aylin but definitely also from the contribution of others?











Aylin: I will try to keep it short. So, as I was looking back on this award, I really think this is only possible if you have a great team, and if your team is working together with you on projects. So as the others have mentioned, it is important that we see ourselves as a team and we are working together. For example, maybe as a chair, you probably have some more ideas, but if you have ideas and there’s nobody who supports you or agrees with you on doing this, then you can’t have that many ideas, but if nobody is working with you on it you’re alone. So, this is why again, I would like to say that this award is also representing the whole team, because one person can have ideas to start things, but you also need a team, you need friends, you need people who are also ready to work on all the ideas with you. You also need to follow the others. I think that is also important, that you are not only following your own ideas or business, but you are also listening to others and doing projects that they are sharing or suggested [by others]. In the end, I was very honoured because the officers last year suggested nominating me, and I think that was for me a big thanks from them, and I was really honoured that they thought about it.


Sam: Thanks a lot Aylin, is there anything else to add from Isabelle or Franziska?


Isabelle: I guess Aylin described it wonderfully. It’s a teamwork effort. But at the end you also need someone who puts things together nicely, and Aylin did it very well so she really deserved to be nominated.


Franziska: I didn’t work with Aylin in the context of the European Chapter but I work with her now. She’s not the Chair anymore but she still does so much work, and is so involved even though she’s not really an officer anymore. I’m so impressed because she doesn’t really have to do it but she’s constantly showing so much effort, so I can totally see why she got the award.


Isabelle: In more general aspects, I would like to comment that Chapter leaders and Chapter officers should also be brave enough to apply for the different awards, and no need to think for example, “oh, this is so specific, one person, should I apply, how does it appear to others” or “is our publication good enough to be submitted for Publication of the Year Award?” Just try.


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Crystal left & she sent in her comment about Aylin after the interview:


First, Aylin was a fine leader. Absolute rock star! She listened to her board, rounded up all points made and kept the agenda moving without a hitch. She is a very tough act to follow!


Second, I think the members of the board were there as colleagues who respected each other and wanted to support one another. I have been on committees before where members were using membership as a box ticking exercise - not as an opportunity to contribute. My experience of the EU Chapter is that everyone is committed and that everyone contributes in various ways. Such a nice group to spend time with! And that’s the thing - I naturally detest meetings, but I always enjoy meeting with this group. We generally meet on Fridays - a time of the week when I am pretty tired from work and family commitments and definitely over-zoomed....yet this is always a meeting I look forward to. Like I said, such a nice group to spend time with! Lots of positivity, enthusiasm for new ideas, and strong know-how around diverse subject areas and tech to support our work. I always learn something new. In fact, I learned new things just by coming to this meeting today.

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Sam: Just a couple of responses, so Aylin is now the past chair, and a past chair serves as an advisor, giving support and help whenever needed. So it’s really great to see that Aylin is also doing a great job in her new role. Regarding Isabelle’s suggestion for all Chapters, that if you have done something good enough, then try applying for an award. In fact, this can be a very good strategy for Chapters to think about what they may be able to excel in, in their year of service, and try to do as well as they can. Then consider applying for an award. Even if they don’t get it, it's fine. At least they already achieved a very high level of success according to their criteria. So I just wanted to say that I cannot agree with Isabelle more. When anyone or any Chapter thinks that they have done something good enough, please do try to apply for an award. Or even as soon as you take over your responsibility to serve in a certain position in the Chapter, maybe talk to other members in the Chapter and discuss what you think you can excel in, in the coming year, and see whether you can aim for an award. This helps set a very high benchmark.


Sam: So, just one last topic. That is, regarding the goals of all Chapters, so basically the four general goals. Actually you have already shared on some of this, but then I’d just like to see whether you have anything to add regarding points like, providing a channel of communication, providing opportunities for people to meet, representing ASIS&T in the international arena or other activities, and whether you have provided a more tailored membership experience. So, feel free to talk about any of these, if you have anything to add, but if you think you have already talked about all these, then you don’t have to repeat them. So anyone?


Aylin: Maybe I can also talk for Crystal, because she’s this year's Chair and I think she's really doing a great job in trying to be active every month. So to be a community and to fulfill the ASIS&T goals, to offer a platform where members can get together or exchange ideas and get to know each other, there is not always a need to create only an event like the IST.


Aylin: You can also have coffee breaks, or for example we also have a coffeelecture or book lecture, where we would invite authors of books to talk about the book. I think these are also the kind of activities you can do which don't require much effort and time, and I think that is also important to achieve the goals of ASIS&T, to be a community, and to enable members to join and get new contacts as well as share experience.


Sam: Thank you Aylin, so does anyone else have something to add?


Franziska: I just wanted to add that teamwork is really important. I’m new to the European Chapter but everyone knows each other already, everyone’s very welcoming and you totally feel valued for your opinions and you can share freely what you think. I think it’s the combination of different minds that makes it so successful, and open communication is also important to achieve different goals and aspects.


Sam: Thank you, so maybe just one last question, that is, may I know where each one of you is located. I know that Crystal is in Ireland, and I think Aylin is somewhere in Germany?


Aylin: Yes, I am in Düsseldorf, Germany.


Sam: Oh yes, and Franziska is also in Düsseldorf right? How about Isabelle?


Isabelle: I am also in Düsseldorf.


Sam: Oh, well Düsseldorf is definitely doing a great job. I think that’s about it, unless anyone has anything else to add, or we will end.


Isabelle: No thank you, I don’t have anything to add. It was wonderful to talk with you all about this. Thank you for the invitation.


Sam: Thank you Isabelle & all. It was really great talking to you all. Hope to see you all online, or even better face-to-face in the next ASIS&T Conference 😊


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Crystal’s “last words” through an email:


Crystal: Thanks all! And see you at our next meeting. Isabelle, I am dreaming up a new and exciting role to lure you back to the board again! 😊


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Isabelle’s “last words” through an email:


Dear all,


As I was on holiday during this time, thank you, Sam, it was cool! 😊

Thank you, Crystal. Maybe I'm lured back to the board again; however, I think the current board is doing an excellent job! 😊


Best,

Isabelle

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