Participants will:

• Identify planning techniques librarians and library managers can use in an uncertain future
• Gain insight on how to identify trends before they happen
• Learn new ways to think about change and how it can be used as opportunity    

Stephen Abram, MLS, is a Past President 2008 of SLA and the past-President of the Canadian Library Association.  He is the Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Markets for Gale Cengage.  He was Vice President Innovation for SirsiDynix and Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute. He has been VP of Corporate Development for Micromedia ProQuest and Publisher Electronic Information for Thomson. He ran libraries for Suncor, Coopers & Lybrand, Smith Lyons Torrance Stevenson and Mayer and Hay Group. Stephen has been listed by Library Journal as one of their first "Movers and Shakers", the 'key' people influencing the future of libraries and librarianship. He has been awarded SLA's John Cotton Dana Award as well as being a Fellow of the SLA. He was Canadian Special Librarian of the Year and Alumni of the Year for the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Information Studies. He was President 2002 of the Ontario Library Association as well as sitting on the SLA Board of Directors as Director and Secretary. He gives over 90 international keynote talks annually to library and information industry conferences and writes articles and columns for Information Outlook, Feliciter, Access, Multimedia & Internet @ Schools, and Library Journal. He is the author of ALA Editions' bestselling Out Front with Stephen Abram. His blog, Stephen's Lighthouse, is a popular blog in the library sector.

Laura La Rose

Laura La Rose is a research specialist at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C. in Milwaukee.  Prior to becoming a law librarian, Laura worked for seven years as a management consultant for Accenture.  She was selected as an AALL Leadership Fellow in 2008.  Formerly, she was a member of the private law libraries special interest section’s continuing education committee. Currently, she is a member of the AALL membership committee and the co-chair for the public relations committee and the library school liaison to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin.  She was recently elected Vice President/President Elect of the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin for the 2010-2011 term.  Laura holds an MLIS from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

Sarah T.  Stephens

Sarah T.  Stephens is the Chief Knowledge Officer at Sutherland Asbill and Brennan LLP. She is responsible for Sutherland’s libraries and research services, directs and strategizes the firm’s knowledge management initiatives, and supports the development of a competitive intelligence program.  She recently led the design and implementation of an intelligent search (Ask Sutherland) product that locates and connects information from Sutherland’s various internal information sources.  Prior to this position, Sarah was the Manager of Library and Research Services for Sutherland’s D.C. office.   She was instrumental in conceptualizing the design and unification of the firm’s two regional libraries (Atlanta and Washington) into one consolidated service unit.   As a result of her leadership, Knowledge and Research Services staff now respond to requests from all firm offices, provide user education in-person and virtually, and are an integral part of Sutherland’s Client and Practice Development projects.  In addition to an MLIS from McGill University, Sarah holds an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.