THE LIGHT TURNED ON

Have you ever had one of those moments when you feel like the light suddenly comes on in your mind?  I had one today. Our class had a presenter named Mr. Robert Benson and he was a good one.  He was engaging and effective.  While he was speaking to us about communication techniques with one's staff he led us into the "why" part.  The "why" part is why we do what we do  Why do we put the key in and turn that lock each day at the library?  Why do we work so hard with low budgets and not much assistance?  Why do we get so involved in planning programs and promoting the resources at our library?  The answer is because we believe in what we are selling.  And what we are selling is our brand and that is a very important message to communicate properly.  

This week many of us have been struggling to really understand what a brand is.  One could take a quick response and say, "Well, I work at a library and I promote books."  That is true but it is so much more than books.  Why do we care about the books?  What effect do books have on people and is a library just about books anyway?  That answer is a definite no.  Many years ago that would have been a good answer but not today.  Libraries offer so much more than books.  There are all kinds of vital resources to be found at the local public library.  I could write several pages on those but time does not permit me to do so.  Just know that they answer to why we do all this is because we believe in what we are selling and what we are selling is knowledge that leads to improve the quality of life for individuals which in turn makes for a better community.  

So today while Mr. Benson was speaking to us about all this many of us had the darkness we had been kind of floundering around in this week turn to light suddenly.  Many faces around the room suddenly seemed a little less worried about the upcoming presentation hanging over our heads.  People seemed excited and ready to get started sharing the "why" of it all.  

Pam's Point:  Sometimes it just takes a different perspective and approach of explaining to enlighten people. Some presenters have a gift at reaching people and I believe Mr. Benson had that gift with us today.