Brand-tastic!

Now that is what I’m talking about.  I dreamt about libraries.  No, don’t stop there.  Yes, I did have the re-occurring dream that I’m working in a 3 storey building that I cannot clear of customers however many times I pace the floors or tackle the tannoy, but it’s not that that I want to talk about.  Today I woke up truly inspired by what Girl in the Moon had posted on Twitter about branding.  You see, I checked in with Twitter just before dropping off to sleep and today here I am wanting/needing to post my thoughts about personal brand.  Result.

I’m not sure that I have much more insight to add than you will find at CPD23 Thing 3 or at thewikiman but I do encourage you to check both out, along with Girl in the Moon.  Also, I encourage you not to be as uncomfortable or dismissive of the idea of  a ‘personal brand’ as I was when I started cpd23 a few months back.  It would also be good if I could get the image of library-related tattoos out of my head, the images come unbidden each time I read the phrases ‘personal brand’ or ‘personal branding’.  I bet there’s a webpage somewhere devoted to the body art of library lovers but I doubt that I should go there.  I digress… The key message is that whether you want to acknowledge this or not, you already have a brand.  People already have an opinion of you so why not try to influence it for the better?

There is perhaps also an idea about individuality forming in my mind.  Using a nom de plume for the blog felt constraining at first.  How could I be trusted to talk about any issue with any degree of authority without being a named representative of an organisation?  The kind of kudos that comes with a job title.    However, I’m starting to feel some mental demarcation, the formation of a personal/professional boundary.  As an individual I have a body of professional knowledge drawn from years of work and study, I have a personality (insert wry facial expression of your own choice at this point) and opinions and if I wish to express these then the degree of anonymity provided by the pseudonym is liberating.  I am free of any pre-formed ideas that readers may have of a librarian who works within a particular sector or who performs a particular role.

And the gratuitous Narcissus?  Well apart from the fact I have daffs in May.  I was thinking of a revolution in the online world of libraries and information, a metaphorical Librarian Spring if you will.  Finally,  if there’s a prize for corniest title of a cpd23 thing 3, I’d be in with a shot.

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