When I joined ORCID back in May 2015, I had no idea what an amazing community I was becoming a part of. Four and a half years later, as I look forward to my next adventure in the wonderful world of information infrastructure — in my new role as Director of Community Engagement for NISO, starting on November 11 — I know for sure that ORCID really is all about the people.
First, of course, are the millions of individuals who have now registered an ORCID iD. Our users are at the heart of everything ORCID does, especially in this, our Year of the Researcher, and the growth in the number of registrants — and in your use of ORCID — has been nothing short of incredible. Shortly after I joined ORCID, we celebrated our 1.5 millionth registrant; today there are 7.3 million of you and counting, an almost five-fold increase. And the number of connections to ORCID records is growing apace; for example, there are now over 46 million works connected to ORCID records. While I clearly can’t possibly know all our users personally, I do feel that I’ve got to know a lot about you, thanks to your participation in the regular community surveys we’ve implemented since I joined ORCID, and your engagement with us on Twitter, where we now have close to 30k followers. I’ve loved working with our community to refine our messaging and create outreach resources that help you, our all-important users, better understand the why, what, and how of ORCID!
Our members and consortia are equally important, and I’ve been lucky to meet many of you, virtually and/or in person at various meetings and events I’ve attended around the world over the past few years. Your support for the organization, via both your membership fees and your outreach efforts and integrations, is essential for ensuring ORCID’s future sustainability. And your willingness to share your experiences — with us, with other ORCID members and consortia lead organizations, and with the wider community — and to learn from them, is a great demonstration of our global ORCID community of practice. Thank you!
Now for the hard part — the many wonderful people I’ve been lucky enough to work with directly during my time here. There are too many of you to name everyone individually, and I am SO grateful to each and every one of you. I’ve learned so much — from my ORCID colleagues, from our Board members, and from the many dedicated individuals who have shared your time and expertise so generously in ORCID community events and initiatives over the past few years. Your willingness to participate — by joining our working groups and task forces, commenting on our recommendations, sharing your ideas and feedback, and so much more — has been a real inspiration.
I do want to take this opportunity to call out a few people whose support — and friendship — I have especially appreciated during my time here: the lovely ORCID Community team (who I worked with from 2016 through last September) for always giving it your all; my fabulous fellow Directors (past and present) for being there with and for me, through thick and thin; and my wonderful counterparts in the Crossref/DataCite/ORCID gang of three.
Leaving ORCID is bittersweet. As I hope you can tell, I love our community and I’ll miss working here enormously. But I’m not going far — ORCID is a NISO member and partner! — and I’m already looking forward to seeing many of you at Crossref LIVE19 in Amsterdam and/or at PIDapalooza 2020 in Lisbon, not to mention at the first ever NISO Plus meeting in Baltimore, MD!
Thank you!
And (in the ORCID team’s native languages) see you soon! اراك قريبا, ще се видим скоро, 再见, tot ziens, à bientôt, bis bald, hamarosan találkozunk, また近いうちにお会いしましょう, greitai pasimatysime, te vejo em breve,
Увидимся, adios
