{"id":32662,"date":"2024-01-23T10:48:46","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T15:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-clarivate-innovative.pantheonsite.io\/?post_type=blog&p=32662"},"modified":"2024-03-12T10:53:31","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T14:53:31","slug":"how-the-iug-helped-me-colleague-connections-job-support-and-career-changes","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/how-the-iug-helped-me-colleague-connections-job-support-and-career-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"How The IUG Helped Me: Colleague Connections, Job Support, and Career Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

This guest post comes from our very own Maisam Nouh, Technical Solution Consultant at Innovative. Maisam previously worked at The Ferguson Library in Connecticut and has participated on the Innovative User Group (IUG) Steering Committee and served part of a term as IUG Chair before joining the Innovative team.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After my library switched to Innovative software, I heard of the Innovative Users Group (IUG) but I had no idea what it was exactly. After attending an IUG meeting at the former ALA Midwinter conference, I told my library director that I just had to start attending the IUG conferences. The enthusiasm of the attendees at the conference was contagious. I immediately started asking how I can get involved. I learned so much from the IUG community. I was able to write my first python script after attending a session. I also got to meet so many Innovative employees either from product, customer support, or leadership. Those connections helped my library to become a beta and\u00a0<\/span>development partner<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I learned so much from the community that I wanted to give back. I had the pleasure of being a part of the steering committee, first as a member at large as a co-coordinator for Idea Lab (now\u00a0<\/span>Idea Exchange<\/span><\/a>), and eventually became the IUG Chair for a short time until I started working for Innovative.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I began thinking about switching careers, my first thought was always, \u201cWhat if I could work at Innovative?\u201d I recall at my second IUG conference, I had a meeting with Michael Monroy, Director of Solution Consulting, we were chatting about an idea I had for the product, and he suggested that I would fit in well at Innovative. Then a few years when I was looking for change, I found a job opening on Michael\u2019s team. If it wasn\u2019t for the connections I had made at IUG conference, I wouldn\u2019t have found this great job and feel this sense of belonging with my colleagues.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Innovative Users Group helped me significantly during my role as a Sierra system administrator and supported me when I made the job change to the vendor side of libraries. If it wasn\u2019t for the opportunity to meet amazing people, I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today. Best of all, I\u2019m so glad that I\u2019m still able to come to the IUG conference and connect with all the friends that I have made over the past few years.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, you\u2019ll be able to find me at the Innovative booth at\u00a0<\/span>IUG 2024<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or roaming the hallways and chatting with friends. Please stop by and say hello!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maisam Nouh, Technical Solution Consultant at Innovative, previously worked at The Ferguson Library in CT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32663,"template":"","categories":[472,521,430],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32662","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-idea-exchange","category-innovative-libraries"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow The IUG Helped Me: Colleague Connections, Job Support, and Career Changes - Innovative Interfaces Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The New Jersey consortium will offer Polaris, Vega Promote, Vega Discover, Vega Program, and Innovative Mobile\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/how-the-iug-helped-me-colleague-connections-job-support-and-career-changes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How The IUG Helped Me: Colleague Connections, Job Support, and Career Changes - 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