In This Issue Return to LES Home Are You an Experienced Licensing Professional? Become a CLP President's Message: Global Excellence In Licensing And Acquisition Through Certification Foundation Focus Grad Student Business Plan Competition Goes Global Ted Cross Receives The 2007 Frank Barnes Mentor Award 2007 Annual Survey Of The Licensing Industry Mark Your Calendars For Foundation Day 2008 LES Foundation Board President Retires What the Heck is Mentoring? Annual Meeting Recap Vancouver Local Chapter Plays Key Role In Meeting 2007 Deals of Distinction Awarded At Annual Meeting: Consumer Products Chemicals, Energy and Materials High Technology Healthcare Industry/University & Government Laboratories (IUGT) About the LES Deals of Distinction Awards Program Traveler’s Guide: The Local Chapters Calgary Ottawa Toronto LES 2008 Spring Meeting & LESI Conference: Licensing Without Borders LES Calendar of Events		What the Heck is Mentoring? (And other questions you always wanted to ask!) By Jim Vlazny, Co-Chair, LES Mentoring Committee LES Mentoring is a program that helps new members learn about LES by partnering them with experienced LES members. The program builds on the long tradition of LES members helping and guiding each other. Plus, it’s a great way for new members to get the most out of their LES experience! Jim Vlazny "Mentoring" means different things to different people; thus, the confusion about what LES Mentoring is and what it is not. It is not about career guidance or providing on-the-job assistance in licensing. It is about helping new members learn what our organization has to offer–networking, local chapters, numerous committees and industry sectors, annual and seasonal meetings, education, etc.–and, about helping them get involved in things that interest them and will help them professionally and personally. What are the criteria for being an LES "mentee"? (One of the nice things about being a committee chair is that you get to make up new words.) Basically, you should be a new LES member, i.e., have joined within the last year. However, if you’ve been a member longer and have been inactive or just want to learn more about LES, we’ll take you into the program. What about being an LES mentor? You should have some knowledge of LES, and be familiar enough with our organization to know where to go to get answers to questions. Anyone that’s been around LES for several years and has been somewhat active in our organization should qualify. It’s easy to become an LES mentor or mentee. Just contact LES staff member Christine Mercado, mercadoc@les.org. She’ll add you to our list. We try to pair up people quickly, but since we usually have a surplus of mentees this may take a little time, so be patient. If, however, you don’t get paired up within a month, feel free to contact any member of the Mentor Committee, to check on where things stand. It’s also relatively easy to get out of the program. While we ask a mentor and mentee to try to work together for a year, sometimes there’s just not a good fit. This is okay-there’s no penalty for not staying with the program. We do ask, however, that you let us know so that we can learn what works and what doesn’t, and can also make a reassignment if appropriate. Speaking of fit, we try to pair mentors and mentees primarily by geography since we’ve learned that proximity and the ability to meet face-to-face are keys to success in the program. We also try, when possible, to take industry sector into account. Do you still have questions? Check with any member of the Mentor Committee listed here: Jim Vlazny (Co-Chair): jamesvlazny@aol.com Mona Sabet (Co-Chair): msabet@cadence.com Wendy Lim: wendy.lim@intel.com Mike Dansky: dansky1@verizon.net Arlene Morris: Arlene_Morris@Affymax.com Walter Copan: WCopan@cdti.com James Foley: jefoley@smartbiosciences.com Christine Mercado: mercadoc@les.org
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