During CAA’s Steering Committee election, we’d like to hear from Steering Committee members about their work with CAA. Greer Martin joined the CAA Steering Committee last year.

I was new to both Chicago and CAA when I joined Steering in 2016. Although I was a longtime listserv subscriber, I had only been a member for about a month. Running for Steering seemed beyond my reach: I did not know very much about CAA, hadn't served on a subcommittee, and knew very few Chicago archivists. But when the call went out for candidates, a colleague encouraged me to put my name in the running. 

Serving on the Steering Committee is an excellent compliment to a first-year experience, be it in CAA, in Chicago, or in the profession. I learned how the organization is run, what its subcommittees do, and most importantly, I got to know other Chicago-area archivists. I met a lot of people very quickly, and my professional network of local archivists - people who can answer questions, tell you about their collections, offer advice - expanded outside of my institution's archives unit. 

It's important for Steering to represent new members, recent grads, and the newly-arrived, as they make up much of the membership. I would encourage other newcomers to join the Steering Committee. Your input is valuable, and you will get so much out of it! 

Deadline for submissions is Thursday, March 16.

Feel free to contact Greer or other Steering Committee members with questions.