NATLE FYI

Good Afternoon and Happy First Friday!

As we embark on a new year at NATLE, look for a refresh on the 4th Monday Zoom Series, as well as updates from AAJ State Affairs on the timely issues many of you are facing on the legislative front.  While the Zoom Series is monthly, the frequency of the State Affairs updates has yet to be determined.  The idea is to provide the real-time status of bills such as UM/UIM, trucking, AI, asbestos, and encourage any on-the-ground insights from the TLAs.  This input will be included in the updates from State Affairs.  The exact format and anticipated attendees are also TBD, but discussion will include audience participation on lessons learned and arguments that worked, or didn’t.  The first of these updates will be January 19th, so stay tuned for an announcement next week.

We still have seats available for the Winter Meeting, but I recommend reserving your room ASAP – the JW Marriott is sold out for Saturday, but the AAJ conference accommodations page has links to nearby hotels and a handy counter with “nightly availability”.  Check out the NATLE conference flyer on the event page for registration steps and links.  More information on topics and speakers has been added this week, so check back for the latest.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. In case you’re still here…In this space a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was participating in a clinical study run through the hospital.  It was conducted over the course of a few months and after two MRIs and a PET scan, the last procedure was a spinal tap to collect a few mLs of fluid.  This was my first lumbar puncture and, thankfully, it ended up not being a big deal.  The only near-miss in the dignity department was that I almost passed out.   I didn’t think it was imminent when my face got really warm – which I let him know about – but then I said, “Oh, and there goes my hearing”.  In case you’ve never [almost] fainted, it sounded like I had earmuffs on and the doc and nurse were talking to me from far, far away.  Without my having to move a muscle, they had me on the bed in one smooth, calm maneuver…obviously something they’d practiced.  The doc performing the tap reassured me that it’s not an unusual reaction to fiddling with the spinal column.  It was nice to hear that I’m not a wuss. 

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

This is arguably the quietest week of the year in NATLE-land, so this is a short Wrap.

Registration for the Winter Meeting is strong at over 50, including Justice Partners.  If you haven’t had a chance to sign up, I recommend reserving your room at the JW Marriott since the block tends to sell out.  Check out the conference flyer on the event page for registration steps and links.  More information on topics and speakers is being added as it comes in, so check back for updates.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great New Year's Eve!

P.S. In case you’re still here…Not one to be accused of passing up excitement, I made use of the quiet week and cleaned the filters in my dishwasher and vacuum cleaner.  Good times. 

Good Morning and Happy First Day of Winter!

We notified Esquire Bank that they received Board approval to become NATLE’s newest Gold tier ($10k) Justice Partner.  They are very excited to join us again in Austin and are mulling a breakfast or break sponsorship.

The last Speaker Profile for Steven Stout is delayed while he’s out of the office.  As part of the Winter Meeting agenda on Sunday, Feb 11, he will talk about the value of the state societies of association executives, as well as the Certified Association Executive designation, dispelling any myths about the course and exam.

If you plan to come to the Winter Meeting and can arrive by about 5pm on Friday (Feb 9), our Justice Partners TrialSmith, Skribe and Counsel Financial will host a Happy Hour for NATLE members near the Marriott.  The conference flyer is available on the event page along with registration steps and links.  More information on topics and speakers is being added as it comes in, so check back for updates.

The NATLE executive committee (Valerie O'Brien, Joan Maloney, Sara Schuett, Alison Dodge, and Barbara Jorden) confirmed that the now-Board decided the Leadership Symposiums will be held virtually in the even years.  That puts us in April 2024 for the next one.  Stay tuned for more information on the programming, but in the meantime, please let me know if you have suggestions for topics and/or speakers.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a wonderful holiday!

P.S. In case you’re still here…Since I’ve been freed from the obligation/hassle/tension of gift giving – Dad has everything he could possibly want (and multiples, no less) and I’ve finally convinced him that it makes me anxious to get more “stuff” – I can avoid the cluster of harried humanity at the mall, but still take advantage of the online deals if I really want something.  Case in point, I’m sitting on my new QOR360 active-sitting chair.  While I didn’t technically get a monetary deal, it is my gift to myself of (hopefully) improved posture…I catch myself slouching, big time, as I work on my computer.  To pay for it, I’ve been part of a study through the clinic at the hospital that is looking at the effects of a drug on the memory of women “of a certain age” and I had been wondering how to best spend the modest check for participating.  This new chair seemed like the perfect excuse.  Merry Christmas, to me. 

Good Morning and Happy Friday --

The next Speaker Profile of the Winter Meeting will go out this afternoon on Alysia Roden, CMP, CEM.  She is the VP of Sales with Visit Austin and will talk about the benefits and ease of working with your destination’s Convention & Visitor’s Bureaus.  She’s an Aggie, so all you sports fans, be sure to “bring it”.

If you plan to come to the Winter Meeting and can arrive by about 5pm on Friday (Feb 9), our Justice Partners TrialSmith, Skribe and Counsel Financial will host a Happy Hour for NATLE members near the Marriott.  The conference flyer is now available on the event page along with registration steps and links.  More information on topics and speakers is being added as it comes in, so check back for updates.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. in case you’re still here…so, the story of Dad’s scam incident from last week gets worse.  Over dinner Friday night at our new favorite pub, he said (brace yourself), “Besides my debit card number, I also gave him my social security number.”  I don’t doubt that he also shared his date of birth for the trifecta, so I immediately tried putting a freeze on his credit.  Turns out, he’s not even in the reporting agencies’ system – he paid off his mortgage years ago and has never had a credit card.  I’m still waiting to hear from his financial advisor if that alone is a blessing that will prevent someone from opening a new card or if we should set him up with a card for the simple reason of being able to then implement a freeze.  The end of this week can’t come fast enough.  I’m looking forward to picking up a pizza tonight and catching up with a friend I’ve known for 30 years. 

P.P.S. Happy First Birthday to Clifford Hinkle!!

Good Morning and Happy Friday --

This afternoon, our Justice Partners Working Group will meet with the Esquire Bank representative for the final step in vetting their products and services for relevance to NATLE’s members and your TLA members.  As long as they pass muster with the Working Group and receive Board approval, they'll join us in Austin as our newest Gold tier Justice Partner.

The first Speaker Profile of the Winter Meeting went out this week about Pete Allman, CPA, CFE.  He will address Association Tax & Financial Matters.  Trust me, I encouraged him to come up with a sexier title for his session, but despite not making it any more colorful, the subject is always timely.  The “CFE” stands for Certified Fraud Examiner, so maybe he’ll lead with a juicy anecdote.  Additional profiles will come out next week along with a call to bring examples of your favorite non-dues revenue ideas.

If you plan to come to the Winter Meeting and can arrive by early afternoon on Friday (Feb 9), our Justice Partners TrialSmith, Skribe and Counsel Financial will host a Happy Hour near the Marriott.  The conference flyer is on the drawing board, but the broad agenda is available on the event page along with registration steps and links.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend and Happy Hanukkah!

P.S. in case you’re still here…I got a panicky phone call from Dad yesterday morning.  He said he’d received an email on Wednesday morning from Microsoft telling him that his email had been hacked.  Yep, you know what’s coming.  Long story short, he called the number in the email and gave them his debit card number to purchase the highest level of security to prevent this from happening again.  While he was still describing (justifying) why he did it, I was already pecking out a quick note to his Morgan Stanley rep to alert her to the scam and to cancel the card.  Dad started to get suspicious only when the not-really-a-Microsoft agent then pushed him for his bank account information.  You’ll only hear me say this once, but thank goodness Dad is so literal.  He pushed back by saying that his funds are with Morgan Stanley and it’s not technically a bank.  Besides, he continued, his daughter (me) handles his finances.  How is it that these people’s brains don’t melt from the burden of being so evil to prey on the vulnerable?

Good Morning and Happy Friday --

I met with the new accounts representative at Esquire Bank this week to talk about their services and transferring some of NATLE's funds from Ameris Bank. I'll keep you posted.

A Save-the-Date blast went out this week with steps to get registered for the Winter Meeting. The Planning Committee has put together a great program covering timely topics including diffusing member conflicts, non-dues/value-added revenue, AI tools, and association and employment law and tax compliance. I encourage you to arrive by early afternoon on Friday (Feb 9) to join our Justice Partners TrialSmith, Skribe and Counsel Financial for a Happy Hour near the Marriott. The bird's eye view of the agenda is available on the event page and I'm working on the flyer with more details.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend.

P.S. in case you’re still here…I hate that Burlington is in the national (and global) news since last weekend for all the wrong reasons. I now recognize the false bubble I imagined enveloped the whole of Vermont and kept it removed from the senseless violence that happens in other parts of the country. That bubble popped with four gunshots and (thankfully) an arrest. The fact that there are pockets of extremism in the state was brought home for me back in the early 2000s when we (the VT TLA) hosted Morris Dees from the Southern Poverty Law Center. His office ran background checks on one of my board members and me since we were his transportation for the 5-minute commute from the airport and back. Apparently, a group in central Vermont was on their radar since they'd made threats toward Dees and the SPLC in the past. The three young men affected by last weekend's violence will all live, but one may never walk again. I have no words to express my sadness and disappointment that this kind of evil happened at
all, let alone, in my corner of the world.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday --

It was great to see so many of you in Leesburg and I hope you felt the program was valuable professionally and socially.  The evaluations aren’t exactly flooding in, so I’ll issue a reminder on Monday.  The results will be compiled and shared with the committee and participants, and then kept as a resource to plan future programs.  A survey for non-attendees will be distributed on Monday.

We talked about a webinar topic (basically, a how-to-lobby primer) for this month’s 4th Monday Zoom Series, so look for an announcement by mid-next week.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend.

P.S. in case you’re still here…so, after we wrapped up the GAC on Tuesday and I stashed my suitcase with the concierge, I had about six hours to kill before a grad school friend came down from Frederick, MD to get me so we could hang out for a few days.  (This is the same good sport who jumped at the chance to go on the wine-tasting riverboat cruise two years ago and who I joined in Daytona last year so she could check out the Margaritaville...her now-ex-husband hated to travel.)  Not one to thumb my nose at a reasonable suggestion, I followed the advice of several very smart GAC attendees and signed up for a massage to kill that time at the Lansdowne spa.  It had been since way before the pandemic that I’d had a massage and certainly my first 80-minute massage.  I won’t say she came close to working out the knots, but she sure found them…ALL of them.  I’ll be darned if I was going to flinch, but at one point when she had rolled over the same pebb ly wad of knots in my shoulders, she asked, “How is it going for you?”  This was minutes into an otherwise silent massage, so I was going with the assumption that she meant the massage and not my day.  I replied, “Boy, that sure is tight.”  With still a few hours left in my wait for Nancy, I parked myself at the C&R bar off the lobby to get some work done and fought hard to keep my forehead from bopping the keyboard.  We ate dinner at Rebellion in Leesburg (I highly recommend getting their mayo to go with your fries…it’s smoky and completely transforms the fries.  I should have asked for the recipe), visited Harpers Ferry on Wednesday, and I flew home yesterday.  It was great to reconnect with an old friend, but my new suitcase lost a wheel on its debut voyage.  I’ve filed a claim, but what a PITA.

Good Morning and Happy it's (just a) Friday --

I sat in on the day-and-a-half AAJ BOSS Summit earlier this week in Stowe, VT.  BOSS stands for Business.Operations.Supervision.Strategy and this debut program was attended by the full spectrum of new to seasoned attorneys and sole practitioners to large law firms.  There were also a few office managers in the nearly 100-person audience.  I’m not privy to the evaluation forms, but the dialog and lively discussions left me thinking that this was well received and will become a regular offering.  AAJ will be collecting feedback from attendees on the agenda, as well as the location.

The NATLE GAC is two weeks away and registrations are still trickling in.  If you have reserved a room at the Lansdowne, but no longer need it, please let me know before you release it so that we can switch it to someone who may be on the wait list.  I’m still collecting the lunch orders for the Working Lunch session and need to forward our final numbers next week.

Brian Yacker’s presentation provided a balance of new topics along with a refresher from his session on Association Law at the Annual Meeting in Seattle last year.  This 4th Monday Zoom Series was recorded.  Let me know if you'd like to view it.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Hug your loved ones.

P.S. in case you’re still here…I haven’t decided if I’ll pass out candy this year or turn off all the lights and muffle my doorbell to foil even the most persistent ghouls.  It’s somewhat weather-dependent since I’d really like to drag my fire pit from the back patio out to the driveway like several of my neighbor’s did during the pandemic.  That first year, 2020, I did turn out the lights and instead of opening my door to Sneezy, Dopey, and Coughy (that’s one of the dwarves, right?), I took a walk around the ‘hood to see if anyone else was being as cautious.  I remember that it was pretty cold, but the hearty souls with their firepits rigged up clever candy-delivery devices to maintain that physical distance.  There were simple sling shots to launchers (think potato gun) to impressive Rube Goldberg-style contraptions.  I’ll never be that creative, but I can at least be that social and the best thing is I won’t have to eat the giant bag of Snickers myself.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

We are a mere three weeks from the NATLE GAC and we still have room if you’re on the fence about attending or your volunteer leadership finds themselves available in the middle of November.  Share the program and encourage them to join us.  For those who are registered, you received an email earlier this week with four options for the Working Lunch on Sunday, Nov 12.  I’ll send a reminder out next week to gather the outstanding orders.

Brian Yacker, of Baker Tilly, will present a refresher on Association Law, and he has added “creating an appropriate accounting infrastructure, and a summary of ‘red flag’ reporting issues” to the lineup of topics he’ll cover.  This presentation will earn a CAE Ethics credit so register to attend our next 4th Monday Zoom Series this coming Monday.  It’s free and all members are welcome.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. in case you’re still here…I ventured down to Newport, RI on Wednesday for an overnight.  Because I had reached out to the local Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, they took the reins and came up with a schedule of sites to see based on our criteria for the Governmental Affairs Conference and its events.  A CVB team member who is local to Newport and very knowledgeable about, well just about everything, drove us around.  The hotel comp’d my room and fed me, and I personally covered the gas, so it was no cost to NATLE.  One of the topics on the drafting table for the Winter Meeting is tentatively “understanding the value of the CVB”.  I can’t say enough great things about the very smooth 24 hours I spent in that cool little city.  The all-access entry to potential event venues was worth the angst this control-freak endured by handing over the itinerary to a stranger, and the warren of one-way streets would have made me late to every appointment.  The CVB has always been my resource for images to use in the programs, but if I can swing the transportation, I’ll continue to reach out to them for help in the meals and accommodations department.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday (the 13th)!

We have added information to the NATLE GAC program this past week, including panelists from the Florida Justice Association who will talk with us about “When Your Governor Goes National: What to do when your legislative plans get scrambled”.  Don’t miss out on all of the informative roundtables and timely topics.  Please confirm that you and your staff and/or leadership have made reservations at the Lansdowne – there are a few who are registered, but I don’t see their names in the room block.  Also, watch your email on Monday for a chance to place your lunch order.  We will have a Working Lunch session on Sunday, Nov 12

Save the Date – February 10-11 – for the NATLE Winter Meeting!  While the format is being drafted for the historically more intimate audience, all attendees will benefit from the roundtables and discussions on non-dues revenue ideas to speakers with expertise on AI tools and how the new tech can make your life easier.  The AAJ Registration page is open and that’s the first step before making a hotel reservation, plus it generates your event badge and access to events.

Earn your CAE Ethics credit by attending our next 4th Monday Zoom Series on October 23rd.  Brian Yacker, of Baker Tilly, will join us for an Association Law refresher to his presentation at our Annual Meeting in Seattle last year.  Click on the link to register for the Zoom calendar invite.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. in case you’re still here…yes, it’s Friday the 13th, but I’m not superstitious.  I will just keep my fingers crossed (haha, I suppose that’s superstitious-adjacent) that today goes smoothly since I’ll get my COVID and flu shots this morning.  I tend to tolerate vaccines without the physical blow they deliver to some…knock-on-wood…so, as long as I’m still upright this afternoon, I also have a dental cleaning in the books.  These days, while the maples and beeches are at about peak color in my little corner of the country, I need to add a few extra minutes of travel time to account for the visiting leaf peepers.  They’re ok on the rural roads where they can pull over to admire the scenery and not risk weaving over the centerline.  It’s a little different on the highway, though, when you come over the crest of a hill and take in the broad valley.  The crazy quilt of reds to yellows can usually get a “Wow!” out of this VT native, but I get my eyes back on the ro ad in case the out-of-town drivers are here for the experience and didn’t think to rub their rabbit’s foot before getting behind the wheel.