Authored by:
Tonya Edvalson
Membership Chair, SRAI
Email: tonya.edvalson@hsc.utah.edu
I’m on the airplane traveling home from another successful Section Meeting in SRAI. The Northeast hosted us all in Boston from March 18-21, 2018. Our section leadership represented us well: Cindy Morin, the Northeast Section President, and Lynda Olin, the President-Elect of the Western Section (standing in for Tony Onofrietti who had a last-minute commitment and couldn’t join us). Because of our great volunteers, speakers and SRAI Headquarters, our members had another packed meeting with sessions and workshops.
This meeting had a strong contingency of “Newcomers.” Almost a third of the attendees were joining us for the first time! It took me back to my first meeting and how I found SRAI members to be some of the most welcoming and brilliant people I had met in the profession. It was exciting to really think about our roles in supporting each other. It was equally as thrilling to see the groups come together, friendships form and photos taken while the hugs were given when we had to say goodbye.
Our Newcomers have so much wisdom and shared some great insights on what we can do in the future to make it even better. I was impressed that so many jumped in and helped us with so many constructive comments. It gave me pause, when I thought about our membership and the mentoring that goes on in such an informal way and watching these relationships grow. As your Membership Chair, I am grateful to each and every one of you for what you give to your profession. We all make a bigger difference than we give ourselves credit for sometimes. As we go throughout our days supporting researchers, it is important to give ourselves that same support. SRAI is that perfect place to rely on each other for those opportunities.
I really haven’t been a member of SRAI that long, compared to some of the amazing men and women that have really paved the way for us as members, but nearly nine years after my first meeting all of these individuals along the way have encouraged me to get involved and there is no way to quantify the growth I have achieved in that amount of time.
I’m looking forward to hearing the report from our Midwest/Southern Section Meeting coming up April 15-18. If you haven’t had a chance to look at their program or details of the meeting, make sure you do! If you are attending and “been there done that,” reach out to the Newcomers. It was a blast spending so much time with them in Boston. If you are a Newcomer, please don’t be shy! We are so glad you have chosen us to spend your time away from work and family while learning more about the important work that we do every day. In either case, the one who has attended a few or many conferences or this is your first one – GET INVOLVED! We need your voices. You can volunteer on site, attend the networking events the planning committee has put together for you and participate in dinner groups where we really have some fun.
Always feel free to reach out to me with any ideas that you may have to make your experience with SRAI better. It’s important to us that we make all the progress we can towards the investment you have made by joining SRAI for your professional development and networking opportunities.
#Membership