Quantum² Highlights - May 2004
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You are receiving Quantum² Highlights, a newsletter of the Dialog leadership development program for information professionals. Unsubscribe information can be found at the bottom of this message.

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Dear Quantum² Member,
We're working feverishly to prepare new sessions for you for the upcoming months.  Look for workshops on cost justification and branding to help you round out your professional development.

In this issue of Quantum² Highlights:

• Quantum² Web Sessions
• Upcoming Quantum² Sessions
• Quantum² CE Courses at SLA Annual Conference
• Quantum² Topic of the Month
  

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Quantum² Web Sessions
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The following WebEx session will be offered as part of the Quantum² program in the coming months. The World Clock http://www.worldtimeserver.com/ will translate the hours to match your local time.

Assessing Clients' Needs: Map the Information Flow
June 17, 2004 - 2:00 p.m. GMT

The following WebEx session is being conducted for the Special Libraries Association's Leadership Management Division:

Defining the Value of Information Services: Beyond ROI
July 22, 2004 - 2.00 p.m. EDT

To register for these WebEx sessions, and for more information, please visit http://quantum.dialog.com/training/workshops/.

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Upcoming Quantum² Sessions
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Dialog will be holding a Quantum² day at the following cities in Europe:
Brussels, September 14, 2004
Amsterdam, September 15, 2004

Workshops to be delivered at each:

Linking Information Services to Compelling Business Events
Enhancing the Value of Information Service Products
Defining the Value of Information: Beyond ROI
Look for more information in next month's newsletter regarding registration details.
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In the United States, Quantum² sessions will be offered at the following Updates:
San Francisco, Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Defining the Impact of Information Services: Cost Justify the IRC
Creating a Brand Identity (Luncheon speaker)
To register, please call 1-800-3-DIALOG and speak to a customer service representative.

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Quantum² CE Courses at SLA Conference
in Nashville, Tennessee
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On June 5 and 6, 2004, at the Special Libraries Association Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, a team of Quantum² staff will be presenting a number of sessions as Continuing Education (CE) Workshops. To attend, please visit the SLA Conference Web site http://www.sla.org/nashville2004/conferenceevents.htm to register your interest.

ROI Preparation & Defense: Saturday, June 5, 2004 from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Ticket #115, Price $199/MBR, $299/NMBR
Assessing your Business & Strategic Competencies: Sunday, June 6, 2004 from 8:00 a.m. - 12.00 p.m.
Ticket #250, Price $199/MBR, $299/NMBR
Creating Brand Identity: Sunday, June 6, 2004 from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Ticket #310, Price: $199/MBR, $299/NMBR

As always, your suggestions for workshop topics are welcome and encouraged. If you know friends or colleagues who would benefit from Quantum², please encourage them to sign up today at http://quantum.dialog.com/.

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Quantum² Topic of the Month:
Environmental Scanning
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There is always a need for environmental scanning to uncover those major occurrences -- we call them compelling financial events -- and then to link them to the services offered by the Information Resource Center. Here is an excerpt from a white paper supporting this topic:

       
What Are Compelling Financial Events?
Simply put, compelling financial events are major occurrences involving money that affect the constituencies of greatest importance to the IRC. The theory is that:

People don't change unless they must; and

People don't spend money unless they have to; and

They usually wait until it is almost too late.

The theoretical corollary also holds true: when forced to take on a project, cost is only one of the variables. Time constraints (speed of response) and quality also come into the equation. Results are more important than cost containment.

Some compelling financial events are internal to the organization that houses the IRC; some are external. All compelling financial events have the following characteristics. They:

• Require organizational action;
• Have defined sponsorship;
• Draw resources; and
• Mandate outcomes by a specific date.



Examples of Compelling Financial Events include:

• Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures;
• Product changes or introductions;
• Regulatory/legal changes;
• Societal developments (e.g. Elections);
• Staffing pattern changes (work-at-home, layoff, ramp-up);
• Markets opening or closing; and
• Changes in a distribution channel.

These compelling financial events grow out of dynamics, which are more like general trends. A dynamic is the sluggish economy. A resulting compelling financial event is a workforce reduction. A dynamic is being more security conscious. A resulting compelling financial event is a change in security regulations.

Focusing on compelling financial events is vastly more powerful that attending to dynamics: dynamics are not time-specific and do not mandate outcomes by a specific date. But for compelling financial events: money is available, and someone is accountable for spending it to achieve a time-specific outcome.

A significant portion of the IRC's work should be dedicated to anticipating and reacting to Compelling Financial Events.

To read the complete white paper, please go to: <http://quantum.dialog.com/media/pdfs/compelling_events.pdf>.

Regards,
Betty Jo Hibberd
Senior Manager, Information Professional Development, North America
Dialog
betty.jo.hibberd@thomson.com